Wharf42 is absolutely delighted to be able to introduce Hillary Laureate, Aimée Christensen, as a keynote speaker at the 2035 Oceania Summit in October.

Over the past six months, the Summit has been working closely with the team at the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) to identify opportunities to engage Fellows with the Summit. The EHF mission is to incubate solutions to global problems from Aotearoa New Zealand, and make a lasting positive impact on the world. With more than 500 technologists, creatives, investors, entrepreneurs, educators and systems designers, EHF and its Fellows provide an amazing opportunity to address some of the significant challenges being discussed in October.

Accelerating solutions for a resilient world, Aimée Christensen is a Hillary Laureate (2011), CEO of Christensen Global Strategies and the founding Executive Director of the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience. She has extensive experience in climate change and sustainability strategy in the government, corporate, investment, and philanthropic sectors. Known as a thought-leader who also delivers results, she was trained as an environmental and energy lawyer and has deep experience in energy policy in Washington, D.C. She founded Christensen Global in 2005 and her clients have included the Clinton Global Initiative, the Global Ocean Commission, Microsoft, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the United Nations Development Program. She has a track record of creating platforms for collaborative impact and action and has served on numerous boards and advisory boards including with the American Council on Renewable Energy, the US Homeland Security Department’s Sustainability and Efficiency Task Force, and the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.

Aimée negotiated the first US bilateral climate change accord (with Costa Rica) and wrote and successfully advocated for the adoption of the first university endowment investment policy on climate change (Stanford University in 1999).  Aimée’s 5th Sun Valley Forum took place in July 2019, with a number of her fellow Laureates contributing, alongside a large cast of international leadership participants.

Supporters of  Aimée’s work 
For the Hillary Institute, whose mission is is to recognise, reward and nurture great leaders who will provide answers to such challenges as climate change, poverty, disease, peace and justice, Aimée’s service and leadership is inspiring and encapsulates the spirit of Sir Ed. Her climate action work also holds great significance for The Edmund Hillary Fellowship made up of more than 500 technologists, creatives, investors, entrepreneurs, educators and systems designers, from 57 nationalities, all committed to New Zealand as a base camp for global impact.

To learn more about the 2035 Oceania Summit, check out the Summit portal here.