Board
Lionel T. Marumahoko – Chair
Lionel T. Marumahoko is a highly accomplished business leader with over 25 years of experience at The Coca-Cola Company, where he provided executive leadership across 36 Sub-Saharan Africa markets. He has lived and worked in 8 African countries, gaining deep expertise in navigating the continent’s diverse business environments. Lionel has a strong track record in expanding markets, enhancing operations, and leading mergers and acquisitions. Currently, he is Managing Partner at BPL AFRICACONNECT, advising organizations on growth strategies and market entry across Africa. His hands-on knowledge of the African landscape, combined with his passion for driving sustainable development, positions him as a key leader in addressing some of the continent’s most pressing challenges.
Mirjana Škrba – Treasurer
Mirjana Škrba has been on the SolarAid board of Trustees since January 2018 and held the position of Chair between June 2020 and September 2024. In her role as Treasurer she supports the organisation by overseeing its governance and finances.
Mirjana is the COO of Carbon Tracker Initiative Ltd, an independent not-for-profit think tank whose mission is to help markets and state actors align energy system capital allocation to the finite planetary limits of the Paris Agreement. She has been with Carbon Tracker since March 2016, helping the organisation develop and grow. Before that she worked as an auditor for ten years, specialising in international NGO clients and grant audits (USAID, DFID, EC).
She qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2008 with Deloitte LLP. She studied European Studies at Trinity College Dublin.
John Faulks
John Faulks is commercial lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in a wide variety of roles in private practice, the not-for-profit sector and as an in-house lawyer. He was Company Secretary and General Counsel at Solarcentury for 15 years and a key player in taking the business from start-up in the UK to a £200m turnover group active across 4 continents, and keeping it on course as an ethical business, which included setting up SolarAid.
John advises on a wide range of commercial law and governance matters. He also has government affairs experience having spent 6 years with the RSPB, as EU lobbyist, and participated in the UN negotiating sessions of the Climate Change Treaty as part of the legal team advising the Alliance of Small Island States.
He qualified as a solicitor in 1990 with Clifford Chance, and has a law degree from Oxford University and a Masters in Environmental Law from King’s College, London.
Ujunwa Ojemeni
Ujunwa Ojemeni is an impact investing, energy and development expert with experience in the areas of opportunity maturation, financing, and policy focused on driving the achievement of SDG 7, and an advocate for gender inclusivity.
At the Office of the Honourable Commissioner for Energy & Mineral Resources Lagos State, she drives policies, investments opportunities and implementation strategies to deliver reliable energy to the citizens of the State. She is also an Advisor with the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN). Ujunwa has coordinated several energy projects and funds worth over $400 Million previously at Axxela Limited (energy infrastructure project development) and All On (off-grid energy access investing).
Ujunwa is the founder of the African Women in Energy Development Initiative (AWEDI Network) focused on promoting the growth of women in the sector through mentorship programs, career sponsorship (acceleration), networking opportunities, professional development and leadership training for women across the value chain.
Jamal Gore
Jamal Gore has worked for 25 years to drive sustainable energy and climate change initiatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Jamal is the Director of Confluence Sustainability, a consultancy that supports low-carbon, climate resilient project development, and advises Carbon13, a climate tech incubator. He has worked on behalf of clients including the African Development Bank, the World Bank, FAO, IUCN and the Green Climate Fund.
Previously, Jamal co-founded Carbon Clear (now part of the EcoAct group). There he designed one of the first Gold Standard carbon offset projects to support households in conflict zones, which won a U.N. Millennium Lighthouse Award in 2013. Before that, Jamal was Global Projects Director at the Virgin Group’s charitable foundation and served as Africa Energy Program Officer at Winrock International.
Jamal holds an MBA from London Business School and a MA degree in Energy & Resources from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Chartered Member of the Society for the Environment, a Fellow of the Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment and a Full Member of the Energy Institute.
Chris Austin
Chris Austin, CBE, is an accomplished senior leader specialising in economic and social development, international negotiations, and public sector management. His global career spans the UK, US, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe, where he has built lasting relationships at senior levels across governments and institutions.
Chris has led large teams, managed multi-million-pound budgets, and handled high-profile, complex policy issues, including overseeing UK aid in Afghanistan and directing the UK response to the Ebola outbreak. He has chaired the International Accounting Education Standards Board and advised Prime Ministers. Passionate about lifelong learning, Chris holds an MBA and an MSc in Public Management. Chris has been married to Karin since 1995; they have two adult sons, currently both at university. Chris is a keen but not very good golfer and passionate about cricket, especially the way it helps forge communities and friendships.
Emma Colenbrander
Emma is a social entrepreneur and international development professional, with expertise in business growth and strategy, development innovation, energy access and partnership building. She is currently Managing Director at Spring Impact, a global non-profit that helps organisations to scale their impact. Previously, she founded and led the Global Distributors Collective, an association of over 200 last mile distribution companies, and co-founder and Executive Director of Pollinate Group, a social enterprise that works across India and Nepal distributing clean energy products to urban slum communities. Emma has previously worked with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and is also a Trustee at Ashden and the Postcode Innovation Trust.
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Founder
Jeremy Leggett
Jeremy is a social entrepreneur and writer. He founded and is a director of Solarcentury, an international solar solutions company (1997 – present) which gives 5% of its annual profits to SolarAid. He is winner of the first Hillary Laureate for International Leadership in Climate Change (2009), a Gothenburg Prize (2015), and the first non-Dutch winner of a Royal Dutch Honorary Sustainability Award (2016). He has written four books on the climate-and-energy nexus, the most recent of which is The Winning of The Carbon War. He continues to chronicle that transition and its intersection with the information revolution in a blog (www.jeremyleggett.net), and occasional articles for national media. He advises corporations via another creation of his, The Carbon War Limited, and lectures on short courses in business and society at the Universities of Cambridge and St Gallen (Switzerland). His vision is of a renaissance in civilisation to which renewable energy and its intrinsic social benefits will greatly contribute, and his main fear is that a rising new despotism, favourable to fossil fuels, will suppress that.