WASHINGTON, D.C., USA – The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) welcomes Hannah Ward as its new Director of Environment. As Director of Environment, Hannah Ward will lead WCF’s environmental focus area, through the organization’s landmark collaborative programme, the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI).
Additionally, Hannah will lead the development of new projects and drive collaboration with internal stakeholders and external partners to improve forest protection, reduce and reverse cocoa-related deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions in cocoa-producing countries.
WCF Vice President of Programmes Peter Koegler comments, “The team and I are very excited, Hannah brings such a wealth of experience and enthusiasm which will be needed to expand and scale-up CFI and other collaborative programmes.”
With over 15 years’ experience in international development and sustainability, Hannah comes to WCF after designing numerous successful landscape programmes across the coffee, cocoa and forests sectors throughout Africa and Latin America.
Well-versed in cross-sector collaboration and direct engagement with partner organisations, and having spent a substantial amount of time with cocoa and coffee farmers across multiple origins, Hannah brings a unique skill set that will aid WCF as we continue to deliver our vision and mission in the world of cocoa sustainability.
Prior to joining the World Cocoa Foundation, Hannah was a Senior Manager of Institutional Relations at the Rainforest Alliance where she had the overall responsibility for the organization’s relationships, programme design and development, and resource mobilisation from and with European Governments and multilaterals such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
She has previously worked at Twin & Twin Trading, leading programmes and partnerships with coffee sector stakeholders across East Africa and Latin America, and the U.K. Department for Energy and Climate Change as the Head of Fuel Poverty Targeting as a Senior Policy Advisor. She has lived in West, East and Southern Africa, with experience in South Asia and Latin America.
“I am honoured to be joining the World Cocoa Foundation at such a critical time for the cocoa sector. I firmly believe that sustainability solutions need to be more rapidly realised, and this can only be achieved through sector-wide collaboration and holistic approaches. Furthermore, the realities of smallholder families, and the economic, social and environmental pressures they face must be taken into account. I am excited to leverage my experience working closely with both public and private partners, and on landscape-level and multi-country programmes to ensure that environmental preservation goes hand in hand with better economic returns for farmers” said Hannah Ward on her WCF appointment.
Hannah holds a Masters in International Development: Social Policy and Social Development and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Manchester University.
About the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF)
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is an international membership organisation representing the global cocoa and chocolate sectors. Its members include farmer cooperatives, cocoa processors, chocolate manufacturers, supply chain companies, and other companies worldwide. WCF’s vision is to be a catalyst for a thriving and equitable cocoa sector that is collaborating to improve farmer income, reverse deforestation, and combat child labour. WCF’s unique position at the centre of the cocoa and chocolate sector enables it to create strategic relationships and collaborative programmes with cocoa farming communities, governments, and civil society, which deliver transformative impact and systemic reform.
