Our people are our most valuable asset and we’re passionate about nurturing an organisational culture that supports great people to do great work. Our diverse and growing team of passionate changemakers are distributed around the world and work with a wide network of partner NGOs to deliver world changing strategies. If you’re interested in joining our team, please keep an eye on our jobs page for future opportunities.
Global Coordination team
The Sunrise Project is a network of independent legal entities that work together towards a shared mission. The Global Coordination team coordinates global strategy for the network and consists of representatives from each Sunrise entity.
Global Coordination team members
Nichola Gardner
Nichola Gardner
Nichola has 18 years of experience across large multi-national, start up and state government organisations focusing on budgeting and forecasting, controls and compliance and financial operations. With extensive experience in systems and process refinement across corporate services, and an interest in data, technology and automation, Nichola is committed to supporting the operations team in enabling The Sunrise Project to focus on what matters most.
A qualified CPA with a Masters in Professional Accounting from the University of Sydney, Nichola also holds a bachelor degree in Physics from the University of Manchester.
Sam La Rocca
Sam La Rocca
Sam is the Executive Director of The Sunrise Project Inc. He brings over twenty-five years experience building people powered movements for a socially just and ecologically sane world. Sam holds a multidisciplinary degree in environmental science, and while completing his first class honours thesis on grassroots mobilisation, he co-founded activist education outfit The Change Agency to deliver social movement education, campaign strategy and organising training programs to community groups around Australia and internationally. He’s worked as a senior political advisor in federal parliament and led highly successful electoral campaigns. He has facilitated movement-wide processes for the Climate Action Network Australia and Friends of the Earth International’s Asia Pacific Region; and he has a strong interest in building powerful networks to catalyse system change.
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live and work and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Reecha Upadhyay
Reecha Upadhyay
Reecha is the Director of The Sunrise Project. Corporate Clean Energy Program. She has built and led campaigns on air quality, climate, gender equality, peace and security, and labour rights. She was the Head of India Program and Global Campaigns at the Clean Air Fund and the Director of Campaigns at Purpose. Prior to Sunrise, she was the Director of International Campaigns at Climate Catalyst where she designed and delivered steel decarbonisation efforts in India, Japan and South Korea. She also has a strong background in building campaigns strategies, programme development and management across Asia as part of the Asia Foundation and globally with the United Nations. Reecha is based in New Delhi, India
John Hepburn
John Hepburn
John is an activist and social entrepreneur with over twenty-five years experience running environmental campaigns. In 2017 he was an inaugural recipient of the Climate Breakthrough Award which was the catalyst for Sunrise scale its work globally. Prior to founding The Sunrise Project in 2012, John spent a decade leading campaigns with Greenpeace and previously worked on a wide variety of environmental campaigns at a grassroots level. He is the founder of several non-profit recycling businesses which led to him being awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2002. John holds degrees in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Business Management and before becoming an activist, worked for several years as an engineer making components for the oil, gas and coal industries.
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