Team

Founding Partner and CEO

Susan McGeachie is a founding partner at Global Climate Finance Accelerator (GCFA), which convenes partnerships across business, finance, and government on strategies, policies, procedures, and tools to finance climate solutions. With over 20 years of experience in sustainable finance, Susan has held leadership positions in banking, management consulting, and engineering firms, as the Head of the BMO Climate Institute, Global Director of the Climate Change practice at Hatch, and the Central Market Leader for EY’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services practice. Prior to consulting, Susan was a Director with Innovest Strategic Value Advisors (since acquired by MSCI) where she supported the firm’s clients on the integration of environmental, social, and governance factors that could impact future financial performance. Susan started her career in climate change and biodiversity with WWF Canada.

Susan is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, where she teaches a graduate course in climate finance and an executive education course through an ESG Designation program at the Rotman School of Management. She is also a member of the Climate Governance Experts panel and a former board member of the Canadian Responsible Investment Association. Susan was named to the Canadian delegation of COP 26 and 27 and, in 2021, was awarded one of twenty-six Canadian Climate Champions by the Canada Climate Law Initiative and the British High Commission. In 2014 she was named to the Clean50 and Clean 16 lists of practitioners, which recognize contributions to advancing the clean economy. Also in 2014 Susan received the University of Toronto Arbor Award as a member of the University of Toronto’s Environmental Finance Advisory Committee, on which she served from 2006 until the committee was retired in 2018.

Susan received her MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University with a specialization in international finance and sustainability and holds a first degree in Public Policy from the University of Guelph. She holds a 2024 certificate in Private Markets Investments from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Managing Director, Finance and Operations

Wendy Potomski is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and the founder of Brookstone Strategy Group, which works with senior management, executives and boards of organizations going through change stemming from regulatory issues, a shift in corporate strategic direction, structural changes within their industry or with organizations looking to improve both their financial and operational performance. 

Wendy brings over 25 years of senior consulting experience assisting clients identify and address current and future business and operational risks associated with increasingly complex sustainability issues, an evolving energy industry, emerging cleantech market, and a carbon constrained economy. She has successfully led cross-functional and multi-disciplinary project teams, managing occasionally competing objectives of the various stakeholders involved in a project and through targeted stakeholder engagement to build consensus. She has demonstrated her ability to manage large, complex projects and to consistently meet timelines and exceed client expectations.

Prior to establishing, Brookstone Strategy Group, Wendy worked at Reclay StewardEdge where she was responsible for developing short and long-range strategic business plans for the North American Consulting Practice that included defining specific products and services, articulating clear value propositions and identifying target markets and clients. 

As a Vice President in the PwC Climate Change and Sustainability practice, Wendy closely followed changes in the climate change, energy, and environmental sectors, in Canada and around the world since 2000. She uses this knowledge and her awareness of relevant local and international best practices to address emerging government and client issues, and to identify and address current and future business and operational risks. 

As a climate change consultant, Wendy assists multi-national organizations to compile and calculate greenhouse gas emissions inventories, from which to benchmark their operations, and to develop informed energy and carbon management strategies, including the identification of clean technologies to support environmental outcomes. Wendy understands regulatory requirements and has worked with companies to identify impacts and opportunities for their organizations. 

Wendy specializes in finance and operational effectiveness, investment analysis and capital raising, business plan and business case development and assessment, energy and carbon management program development, program development and program reviews, project and change management, and public-private partnerships.

Independent Advisor, Blended Finance Solutions

Hao Tian has nearly a decade of experience in finance and sustainability across global banks and the World Bank Group. She has held key roles in global capital markets, sustainability, strategic consulting, technology and risk management with a proven track record in leading million-dollar level of debt structuring and climate tech PE/VC fund investments. As a seasoned leader in finance and sustainability, Hao connects the dots between capital markets, VC, and the public sector across developed and developing markets by exploring collaborative pathways design and innovative blended finance solutions. 

Hao holds a Master of Finance degree and a Graduate Diploma in Social Responsibility and Sustainability from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the Central University of Finance and Economics. Hao is also a Certified Financial Risk Manager and owns IFRS (ISSB) FSA Credential.

Warren is an experienced engineering manager with a solid background in project management.

With his advanced technical acumen and extensive analytical qualifications, Warren helps executives evaluate and implement effective processes and systems for greater efficiency in manufacturing environments. He designs and installs solar PV systems to help commercial businesses transition to green energy use. In his roles, he has led product R&D development from idea to prototype, using FEA modeling alongside PCB design and electromechanical programming, including pioneering a solar PV tracking system. He has served as Head of global engineering at a Fortune 100 company, working in Aviation, Marine, and Land sectors, with EPCM projects across +8,000 locations globally, with up to 70 live Engineering projects delivered. His clients included NATO, Amazon, DHL, JetBlue, Emirates, Easyjet and Ryanair.

Warren has an MBA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Natal in South Africa.

 Senior Director, Partnerships 

Gitanjali leads development for the Global Climate Finance Accelerator. Most recently, Gitanjali served as technical advisor to the German Government on long-duration energy storage initiatives, the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturing Association on electric vehicles, and a Fortune 50 on energy resilience.
Previously as VP, Automotive at Electrovaya, an advanced lithium battery developer and manufacturer, Gitanjali grew the Clean Transportation Division from concept to partnerships with Chrysler, Tata Motors and others, including fundraising as well as the preparation and submission of applications for grants. She was the Vice-Chair of Electric Mobility Canada, a co-founder of the Plug-in Hybrid Development Consortium, Chair of a Technical Committee advising the Government of Canada on electrification, and a committee member to the U.S. EPA.
Gatanjali holds an M.S. in Management from Stanford University, an M.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University and a Hons. B.Sc. and Certificate in Carbon Finance from the University of Toronto.