The Circulate Initiative Expands Team with Two Key Appointments
The addition of experience industry experts marks a new chapter of accelerated efforts to tackle plastic pollution and advance circularity
The Circulate Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving the ocean plastic pollution challenge in emerging markets, announced the addition of two new team members – Annerieke Douma and Madhushree Narayan – joining as Director of Programs and Responsible Sourcing Program Manager respectively.
In her new role, Annerieke will oversee strategic programs and partnerships at The Circulate Initiative. This includes, among others, supporting sector-wide responsible sourcing practices in the plastics value chain and Urban Ocean, which focuses on building resilient, circular cities. She will work closely with corporations, governments, investors, and local innovators to ensure implemented programs can impactfully address systemic gaps to an inclusive circular economy.
With over 15 years of industry experience, Annerieke is a recognized expert on the circular economy transition, having served on the Board of Directors for global impact organization Circle Economy. While at Circle Economy, she focused on the development and management of global and regional programs, including two of the organization’s main initiatives – Cities & Regions and Circular Jobs Initiative. She was also responsible for driving partnerships with institutional, governmental, and corporate stakeholders, and led fundraising efforts for Circle Economy across different regions. In addition, Annerieke has a strong understanding of Southeast Asia’s plastics ecosystem, having gained on-ground experience when she led waste management projects in Indonesia. She currently holds a seat on the Expert Group of Indonesia’s Nusantara New Capital.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to play a part in advancing an inclusive, circular economy with the highly talented team at The Circulate Initiative,” said Annerieke Douma. “We find ourselves living in a critical decade of climate action, where we need to reshape production and consumption patterns to ensure businesses and growth support positive economic, social, and environmental benefits. I look forward to contributing to that change through our work and creating a real difference in the lives of marginalized communities while preventing plastics from entering our oceans.”
The team also welcomes Madhushree as Responsible Sourcing Program Manager, where she will lead The Circulate Initiative’s activities to advance responsible sourcing in the plastics recycling value chain. She joins with over 10 years of experience in climate action, having previously served as the Director of Climate and Sustainability at innovation curation and venture development platform Social Alpha. In her role, she led the circular economy investment portfolio and supported the incubation and scale up of early-stage start-ups in India.
“Adopting transparency and accountability within global supply chains are intrinsically linked to climate solutions of our time, and key to bringing socially inclusive circular economies to life,” said Madhushree Narayan. “At such an exciting and challenging juncture in the circular economy space, I am grateful and energized to be working with the committed team at The Circulate Initiative and global partners to execute our vision of building socially responsible plastics value chains.”
Michael Sadowski, The Circulate Initiative’s Executive Director, added: “The past year has been transformative for the world’s fight against ocean plastic pollution and we need leaders that champion circular economies and sustainability to move the needle forward. We are thrilled to have Annerieke and Madhushree join The Circulate Initiative to help accelerate our efforts to reduce plastic pollution. We are also proud to be growing our culturally diverse team representing multiple nationalities based across Asia-Pacific and the United States.”