TERA-Award 5th UK Roadshow

Ainslie MacLeod is a strategic communications leader with over two decades of experience shaping narratives that accelerate global climate action. After 19 years at the Carbon Trust, where she played a central role in positioning the organisation as a trusted authority on net zero pathways, clean technology innovation, and sustainable business transformation, Ainslie now brings her expertise to the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).

Throughout her career, Ainslie has specialised in translating complex technical, policy, and market insights into compelling stories that mobilise decision‑makers. Her work spans high‑impact campaigns on behalf of the UK government, multi‑stakeholder partnerships supported by a range of industry, UK government and philanthropic donors (areas include offshore wind, energy access, clean-tech innovation, energy transition, heat decarbonisation, innovative finance and industrial decarbonisation) and the design of international events that convene influential voices across government, industry, finance, and academia.

At CISL, Ainslie leads strategic communications for climate innovation initiatives, including the TERA‑Award programme, supporting global efforts to scale technologies that can accelerate the energy transition.

Driven by a commitment to a resilient, equitable, and net zero future, Ainslie continues to champion the role of communication as a catalyst for change, bridging insight and action to help leaders navigate the defining climate change challenges of our time.

James Cole, Executive Director, Chief Innovation Officer at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) has spent 15 years working at the intersection of business, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship. As part of CISL’s senior leadership team he works across business policy and finance initiatives building the capacity of leaders, and leading institutions, to drive systemic change for global sustainability. In 2022 he launched The Canopy - CISL’s incubator, accelerator and workspace in central Cambridge, to activate an international community of impact-led startups, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators.

Mr. Jerry Yong Hu currently serves as Managing Director at Full Vision Capital, and serves as Board Director of EcoCeres, a company incubated by FVC. Throughout his career, Mr. Hu has accumulated more than 15 years of experience in investment, capital markets, and investment banking, with a focus on private equity investment, fundraising, M&A, and IPO activities. Mr. Hu is also a Certified Public Accountant (“CPA”) licensed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Before joining Full Vision Capital, he worked at Henderson (China) Investment Co. Ltd, China Merchants Securities (HK), and Ernst & Young. Mr. Hu holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from East China Normal University, a Master of Philosophy degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Boston University.

Jie is a sustainability and circular economy expert with over 15 years of experience scaling innovation at the intersection of academia, investment, and the public sector. As a founding member of the CISL’s Accelerator & Innovation Hub (Canopy), she has played a pivotal role in supporting over 500 impact-driven startups, helping the hub earn its reputation as a leading European startup incubator for three consecutive years.

A bridge-builder by nature, Jie has built and expanded institutional partnerships with global organizations like UNICEF, the British Standards Institute, Full Vision Capital, and partners across Europe, Asia and Africa. Through partnership she identifies emerging market gaps and co-creates initiatives that enable sustainable startups to scale internationally. She also heads the Sino-UK Centre for Sustainability Innovation founded by CISL, acts as a bridge connecting the UK and China's innovation ecosystems.

A frequent speaker at COPs and the World Economic Forum, Jie translates her field insights into tangible resources, including the Climate Fit toolkit and the Sustainability Innovation Strategy course, which have benefited thousands of startups and SMEs worldwide.

Beyond her role at CISL, Jie serves as a research advisor at Newham College (Cambridge), Trustee at Dialogue Earth (London), and Advisor at Undivided VC (Hong Kong). Driven by her cross-cultural experiences as an ethnic minority, Jie is a passionate DE&I advocate, and part of CISL's Equality Action committee. Her leadership was recognized with the University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor’s Social Impact Award (2022), and Chinese Woman of the Year - Sustainability (2025).

Jie holds three Master's degrees from University of Cambridge (Sustainability Leadership) and UCL (Economics and Politics of Energy and Environment), and ECNU (Environmental Science).

Prof. David Fairen-Jimenez is a Professor of Molecular Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge, where he leads the Adsorption & Advanced Material Laboratory (A2ML). His research focuses on the application of porous materials, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), in energy applications and nanoscale drug delivery. His expertise combines synthesis and engineering of novel nanomaterials, molecular modelling, drug delivery processes for cancer treatment, and sustainable industrial applications.

In addition to his academic role, he is President and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Immaterial, a company focused on the development of MOFs for carbon capture and hydrogen storage, and at Vector Bioscience Cambridge, which utilizes MOFs for targeted cancer drug delivery. David’s work has attracted significant funding, including a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant, A European Innovation Council (EIC) transition Award and various industrial collaborations with major companies.

He focused on bridging the gap between fundamental research and commercial applications, advancing innovations in environmental sustainability and healthcare. To date, David has published 160+ papers and filed 25 patents (citations, 1800+; h-index, 68) and has given many invited seminars and lectures at conferences and universities around the world.

Shruti Iyengar is an Investment Director at Future Planet Capital where she supports the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund as well as the Blue Ocean Mandate.

Prior to joining Future Planet Capital, she was an Investor with an early-stage climate tech fund, Sustainable Ventures, where she managed a portfolio of 36 companies, lead their 12 month-long Accelerator programme, and built out their impact measurement practice.

Shruti began her career in Singapore where she worked with organizations across Southeast Asia including UN Women, Singapore International Foundation, and DBS Foundation to build out their impact investing and measurement strategies. She was involved with developing numerous incubator programmes for early-stage companies and mentored founders scale their businesses across verticals such as food/agri-tech, healthcare, and sustainability.

She also worked closely with Government agencies, Centres of Innovation, and SMEs in the region, delivering and evaluating the impact of SME support programmes, building her expertise across sectors such as manufacturing, precision engineering, energy, and environment/water technology.

Shruti holds a dual degree in Mathematics and Economics from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and is a Women's Merit Scholar from London Business School's Master's in Finance programme.

Cansu is an impact investment consultant. Trained in human rights law, she began her career at Amnesty International followed by the UN and Conseil de l’Europe, before co-founding and exiting a tech startup. Over the past fifteen years, she has built corporate innovation programmes, raised capital for venture funds, invested in underrepresented tech for good founders, and led global tech partnerships at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change helping 45 governments serve people better, faster, and fairer.

Based in London, she is an alumna and ambassador of the UK Government’s Exceptional Talent in Digital Technology scheme, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.

As Head of Media, Zoe supports the Communications Director at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) to make sure it is delivering the greatest impact. Whether it's across digital, landmark publications, social media or global campaigns, Zoe uses her journalistic background to find external media platforms for all the impressively varied people and reports at CISL.

Before joining CISL in 2023, Zoe worked at Channel 4 News as Head of Planning where she had to oversee all the domestic newsgathering coverage. Previous to that she worked at ITV News where she was Westminster News Editor during the pandemic, which involved sending a lot of camera crews to doorstep Matt Hancock.

Prior to that, Zoe was a producer at Sky News in Westminster where she spent many years grilling politicians. Her first job was at LBC Radio working on a night-time phone-in show. One of her favourite phone in topics was ‘Flans vs Quiches.’

Zoe has always interested in sustainability and after 15 years working as a journalist felt it was time to work with people who are actually trying to do something to make the world a better and greener place to be.

Doris currently serves as a Director at Full Vision Capital. She holds an MBA from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Accounting and Finance from the University of Hong Kong.

Ms. Pan has more than 8 years of experience in the investment and financial industry, covering sectors including energy, integrated circuits (ICs), fintech, industrial technology, retail, and consumer industries.

Prior to joining Full Vision Capital, she worked in the Equity Research Department at Credit Suisse, where she primarily covered the insurance, securities brokerage, and fintech sectors. During her tenure, her team was ranked first in the All-Asia Institutional Investor Survey for consecutive years.

Prof. Xavier Moya is Founder of Barocal and Professor of Materials Physics at the University of Cambridge. A leading expert in solid-state cooling and heating, he pioneered barocaloric materials made from low-cost organic compounds, offering a sustainable alternative to harmful refrigerants. Xavier earned his BSc and PhD in Physics from the University of Barcelona. At Barocal, he is pioneering environmentally friendly, high efficiency cooling and heating solutions to decarbonise the global cooling and heating sector. Xavier is a Fellow at Magdalene College, a member of the UK Young Academy, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a member of the International Science Council’s global roster of experts.

Heron Ho is a founding member of Full Vision Capital (FVC) in Hong Kong. He joined the firm in 2014 and currently serves as Managing Director, as well as Chief Organizer of the TERA-Award.

With over 20 years of experience in venture capital, private equity, and strategic investments, he focuses on the energy and deep technology sectors. He has extensive experience in startup incubation and acceleration, and in building cross-border partnerships with ecosystems, governments, and investor groups. He is committed to advancing technological innovation and ecosystem development to support sustainability and the energy transition.

Heron holds an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong. He is a CFA charterholder and serves on the Steering Committee of the Investors Network at HK Cyberport.