Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros

Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros Co-Founder, Karunā Climate Collective Pte. Ltd.

Athena brings over two decades of experience at the intersection of climate finance, environmental justice, and international development — spanning grassroots activism, global policy advocacy, and strategic philanthropy. Her journey from community-based environmental defender in the Philippines to managing director of global climate strategies positions her as a bridge between local climate realities and international finance mechanisms.

Her career began with Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace in the Philippines, where she focused on community resistance against development projects threatening indigenous communities. Recognising that many were funded by institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, she committed herself to reforming how global finance impacts vulnerable communities and ecosystems.

She went on to lead Greenpeace International’s climate and energy program across the Asia Pacific — covering China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan — while serving as a long-time policy advisor to the Philippine government’s negotiating team at the UNFCCC.

Her expertise in sustainable finance deepened as Global Director of the World Resources Institute’s Centre for Sustainable Finance, where she led efforts to shift investment toward low-carbon, climate-resilient development and improve the environmental and social performance of public financial institutions. She also founded and chairs the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) in Manila, the proponent of the electric jeepneys project and a leading advocate for low-carbon urban transport in Asia.

As director of programs and strategy at the Growald Family Fund — a venture philanthropy founded by Eileen Rockefeller and Paul Growald — Athena gained deep experience with family philanthropy dynamics and values-driven wealth deployment. She most recently served as managing director of global climate strategies at Climate Lead, guiding new climate philanthropists toward outsized impact by navigating the complex landscape of climate solutions.

Athena holds a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and bachelor’s and post-graduate degrees from the University of the Philippines and the Asian Institute of Management. She serves on the boards of International Rivers, Action Aid, and True Costs Initiative, and has published widely on climate change, finance, clean energy, governance, and human rights.

What distinguishes Athena is her rare combination of grassroots authenticity and global sophistication. Having defended indigenous communities from harmful development, she understands viscerally how climate policy affects the most vulnerable. Her subsequent roles in international policy, sustainable finance, and venture philanthropy translate that understanding into systemic change through strategic capital deployment.

Athena also integrates contemplative practice into her work, facilitating mindfulness retreats in Bali and coordinating with climate activities at Plum Village in France. This experience enables her to work with philanthropists on both the strategic and personal dimensions of meaningful giving — helping them align their deepest values with their climate investments.

Her multicultural perspective across Asia, Europe, and North America, and a network spanning community organisers in Southeast Asia to foundation executives in New York, positions her uniquely to identify effective climate solutions and connect them with appropriate funding.