DrDanae Maniatis Forests, nature and carbon markets
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Leadership

Leading teams and organisations, including interim roles

I take on leadership roles in organisations working on nature-based and natural climate solutions. That can be an interim role while a leader leaves or a strategy is reset, or a defined period leading a team, a programme or a portfolio.

A motivated team with a clear direction while the organisation changes, and a clean handover to whoever leads next.

Tell me about the role

For

  • Boards and steering committees
  • Secretariats and coalitions
  • Organisations in a transition: a leader leaving, a restructuring, a strategy reset

What I bring

  • Team and portfolio leadership
  • Motivating a team and each person in it
  • Interim and transition leadership
  • Partnerships with governments, funders and companies
  • A technical grounding in what the team actually does

Training

Current roles

  • Member of the Steering Committee, Science Panel for the Congo Basin, convened under the auspices of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
In practice

Teams and programmes I have led

  1. 2025
    Forest and Climate Leaders' Partnership
    Forest Carbon Credits Lead, on secondment. I led the Partnership's workstream on forest carbon credits and carbon markets
  2. 2018 to 2019
    UNDP Asia-Pacific Climate and Forest Team, Bangkok
    Senior Policy and Technical Advisor and Team Leader. I led the regional team and the REDD+ portfolio in Asia-Pacific
  3. 2018 to 2019
    Three institutional partnerships for UNDP
    Focal point for the partnerships with the European Forest Institute's REDD+ Facility, the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, and the CMCC Foundation
  4. 2011 to 2013
    Regional forest monitoring project for the Congo Basin countries
    FAO Team Leader. I supervised the team, presented the project to the Congo Basin Forest Fund's Governing Council and led the negotiations with the African Development Bank through to signature
  5. 2011 to 2013
    UN-REDD focal point for the Democratic Republic of the Congo
    Lead Technical Officer for FAO on monitoring, reporting and verification, and on forest reference levels

“Her approach to leadership was through being a kind and approachable individual, with a big picture outlook, razor sharp ability for task allocation, delegation and synthesis.”

Jerome Gaugris, Director and Senior Partner, Flora Fauna & Man Ecological Services, writing on LinkedIn in March 2025. Quoted with his permission.

“As an anecdote, I saw her drawing ideas in a piece of paper that later became impressive and useful research, published in one of the most prestigious journals.”

Carlos Riano, Forest and Land Use Governance Expert, European Forest Institute, replying to the same post. Quoted with his permission.