Leadership
Ian Saunders
Ian founded the InveSTABLE Group after a diverse career in the business, government, security, sustainability, and environmental sectors, across Africa, the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia over thirty-five years. He retains a consummate insight and working knowledge of the complexities involved in achieving success in sustainable projects and managing challenging situations across different cultures and their diverse societal and political strata.
In Tanzania, during the mid-1990s Ian developed and implemented, what became at the time Africa’s largest private anti-poaching and community engagement project across multiple remote protected areas. Working under a national legal mandate this project augmented existing government environmental and humanitarian commitments and supported countering illegal exploitation of refugees in western Tanzania post the Rwandan genocide.
In Afghanistan, Ian operated as an advisor both in a hands-on and analytical capacity as a civilian member of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Security Analyst Committee (SAC), a coalition forces committee based in Kabul.
As a member of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), his initial role was in the promotion of democratic awareness and acceptance, through engaging with Afghan leaders and developing strategic working relationships. Later he was responsible for planning and designing the presidential election plan for Kabul City and Kabul’s rural provinces for the first democratic elections in 2004. Post-election Ian operated in a liaison capacity between various international agencies, Afghan officials and rural communities with whom he had spent time living and working.
On returning to Africa, Ian launched the Tsavo Conservation Group and the Malkahalaku Community Conservancy in Kenya and was also asked to join the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association, a semi-government organization as a member of their technical committee. Concurrently Ian joined the Tana River County Government as a rural stabilisation and sustainability advisor at the request of the Governor, Hon. Hussain Dado who also sat as the Chair of the National Council of Governors Security Committee, Republic of Kenya. It was during this time that Ian wrote the “Stabilization through Conservation” or StabilCon doctrine which he launched at the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) in London supported by a high-level Kenyan government delegation. The StabilCon doctrine was the first of its type to be developed in Africa and was implemented as the guiding strategy for the Malkahalaku project in Kenya for five years.
From a strategic perspective, Ian has studied and operated within the global business, political, environmental, and social nexus which now constitutes the modern-day sustainability sector. Ian has twice testified at US Congressional Hearings regarding African social, economic, and environmental issues. He has advised members of the US Congressional Foreign Operations Committee on global environmental funding requirements, has presented at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington DC on natural resource integration and economics and was a Kenya Panel member for the launch of the first United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEP) in Nairobi.
Ian was an invited speaker on environment and rural communities at the Wyss Institute, Harvard University, at Howard University, Washington DC and he has developed and presented workshops for the National Health Service (UK), addressing senior managers and administrators on “Decision Making and Working with Different Cultures across Multi-Levels”. Ian was selected to be an independent observer by the Government of Uzbekistan for the 2023 Presidential elections.
As Vice President of the African Environmental Film Foundation (AEFF) Ian has been closely involved with the production of over twenty educational films focusing on environmental and social sustainability which have been distributed across Africa to an audience of several hundred million people. The film “White Gold”, which Ian co-wrote and co-produced was a finalist at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
Ian is the founder of the InveSTABLE Group, Frontier ESG Advisory Ltd and the architect of the InveSTABLE System® designed to operationalise ESG investing and sustainability projects across the frontier and emerging markets, he has moderated investment presentations for Lombard Odier Investment Bank and Red Wheel Investing Ltd.
Ian is an internationally accredited negotiator and mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and specialises in sustainability and environmental mediation. Contact Ian >
Synnøve Marie Kvam
Synnøve has worked in the sustainability, environmental, exploration and business sectors for over ten years, she holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology. In addition she has studied further Master and Bachelor level programs in negotiation, leadership, combating financial crime, marketing sustainability, and cultural intelligence in security management at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo.
She has worked on the TERRA Project at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) in Norway. Working with predominantly open sources, she systematised and analysed large amounts of information with the purpose of profiling and defining patterns.
She has served as chair of The Explorers Club Norway Chapter since 2013 and has been elected for two terms (6 years, maximum possible) onto the Board of Directors of the global organisation based in New York. She served for 10 years as Co-Chair of the organisation´s Chapter Relations Committee, responsible for developing and facilitating regional entities and new chapters worldwide.
As Guest Services Manager of the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway she developed the museum’s education program.
Her archaeology experience includes a specialisation in South American indigenous archaeology, with fieldwork in Peru, Guadeloupe (Antilles), Belize, the UK, and Norway.
As an experienced coordinator and consultant for both profit and non-profit organisations she consults on various exploration and sustainability projects and programs, often focused on coordinating organisations, corporates, innovators, and entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise.
Synnøve’s consulting work includes:
Advising Nåva Space, a Norwegian private space company, focusing on coordination and commercialisation of scientific projects.
Project Coordinator for Campus Ocean by Entrepreneur Ship One (E/One), working to maximise resources and synergies between private business, education institutions, volunteer organisations, research establishments and public administration with the goal of achieving more impactful collaborations in the blue economy.
Nordic A Fragile Hope - Fundraising and coordination.
Solar Observatory Foundation, Norway - Business and concept development,
Synnøve established the Tsavo Conservation Group of Kenya, East Africa ( Nordic branch), she is now an active director of The InveSTABLE Group and their Frontier ESG Advisory team specialising in designing bespoke sustainability strategies for both corporate and sovereign clients.