María Neira and Christa Hasenkopf are our new Senior Fellows

Public health and environment experts Dr María Neira and Dr Christa Hasenkopf are Clean Air Fund’s inaugural Senior Fellows. The internationally renowned leaders are partnering with us to make the case for critical interventions to tackle air pollution within global decision-making forums. 

As Senior Fellows, María and Christa will provide strategic counsel on Clean Air Fund’s initiatives and evolving priorities. The fellows will also engage in high-level meetings and global events with decision-makers on pollution and health-related issues. Their extensive experience, expertise and networks will be invaluable to driving progress towards our goal of creating a world where everyone breathes clean air.

Dr María Neira is a physician and global public health specialist in environmental health and climate change. She served for over 20 years as Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO), where she provided strategic leadership on the health dimensions of climate change, with a strong focus on air pollution. 

María serves on several high-level boards and advisory bodies, including as a Board Member of the Lancet Countdown on Climate Change and Health, and a commissioner of Our Common Air. Alongside advising national governments and intergovernmental bodies, she contributes regularly to scientific and policy publications on planetary health and evidence-based public policy. 

Air pollution is the greatest environmental threat to health — and entirely preventable. Joining Clean Air Fund as a Senior Fellow is an opportunity to sharpen the health argument, accelerate bold policy, and turn clean air from aspiration into reality. Because protecting the air is protecting life itself.

Dr María Neira

Dr Christa Hasenkopf is the inaugural Director of the Clean Air Program at the University of Chicago Energy Policy Institute (EPIC), where she founded the EPIC Air Quality Fund, focusing on unlocking policy impact in low- and middle-income countries. She also co-founded OpenAQ, the tech nonprofit behind the world’s largest open air quality data platform. 

Christa serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council for Clean Air and the Our Common Air Commission. She was also the first Chief Air Pollution Advisor to the Medical Director at the US State Department when it first expanded air quality monitoring to diplomatic facilities worldwide. 

Clean air is one of the highest return investments in global health and economic growth, yet it remains dramatically underfunded. Through this fellowship with Clean Air Fund, I look forward to identifying and elevating high impact opportunities that philanthropy is currently overlooking.

Dr Christa Hasenkopf

Our CEO, Jane Burston OBE, commented on the importance of this collaboration for Clean Air Fund:

I am thrilled to welcome María and Christa as our inaugural Senior Fellows. Christa’s ability to translate data into actionable information is second to none, and María’s leadership on global public health continues to shape the way the world understands the impacts of air pollution. I can’t wait to collaborate even more closely with these inspiring leaders.

Jane Burston OBE, CEO of Clean Air Fund