Our Team
Roar Bjonnes
Research Director and Editorial Lead
Roar Bjonnes is the co-founder of Systems Change Alliance, a long-time environmental activist and a writer on ecology and alternative economics, which he terms eco-economics. He was the editor of the American Common Future magazine in the mid-90s, a magazine which featured some of the first articles taking a critical look at the so-called sustainable development model. He is the co-author of the book Growing a New Economy, which outlines the macro-economic framework for an eco-economy and which world-renowned environmentalist Bill McKibben calls “a hopeful account of the possibilities contained in our current crisis.”
Tiago Freitas
Digital Lead, Portugal Lead
Tiago is passionate about socio-economic systems that can improve the way we live and grow together.
He has been working as an IT and business consultant. Currently focused on the non-profit sector, he helps like-minded organizations thrive.
With a background in computer engineering, he is pursuing an MSc in Co-operative and Social Enterprises.
Roshnii Rose
Creative Arts and Communications Lead
With a background in languages and alternative education, Roshnii is a mother, writer, doula and mentor who left the city to live off-grid, closer to the land.
She finds expression through art, music and generating personal or community projects, and is constantly inspired by our innate creativity, evolution and connectedness to the web of life.
Carolina Carvalho
Eco-Networker and Administrations Officer
Carolina Carvalho is a network ecologist from Portugal who researches the interconnectedness of living beings and how we might apply this knowledge to help the human species live harmoniously within the web of life. She has a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Management and Conservation. She is also part of an association for transition, Live with Earth, working for the spread of knowledge about sustainable alternatives in Portugal. Her areas of interest include permaculture, programming, languages and eastern philosophies.
Alexander McDonell
Flow Facilitator
Francisco Dinis
Lead, Beira Interior Region Portugal.
Francisco is rationally passionate about the following concepts: Economic Democracy, Resilient Local Economies / Communities, Cooperatives and Regional Self-Reliance.
In 2007, he visited the network of Mondragon Cooperatives, in the Basque Country, Spain. There he saw for himself how the concepts mentioned above could be applied succesfully, which has served as an inspiration for carrying out this work in Central Portugal.
Francisco is involved in several projects and associations aligned with these ideas such as: Ananda Valley (Ecological Community), Bioeco (Organic Agriculture and Agro Ecological Association) and PRIP (Prout Research Institute of Portugal).
João Domingos
Social Media Team
João Domingos is a young Portuguese activist. He recently finished his university degree in computer engineering and, during his time there, he co-founded the academic movement for the protection of the environment (MAPA in Portuguese). The movement organized several talks, trash picking walks, a reforestation action, ecological cinema sessions, and two climate strikes with a relevant local impact.
João is now living in an intentional community near the beautiful natural park of Serra da Estrela, where he continues his work on social and systems change. He also loves to meditate and sing.
Liila Hass
Managing Director and Events Lead
Liila Hass is a co-founder of the Systems Change Alliance, a Climate Change presenter with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, a collaborator for systems change initiatives and an advocate for social and environmental justice. She has presented on topics ranging from water policy and conservation, the art and science of social change and the neuroscience of collaboration. She is a recipient of the 2012 Sensis Award, “Australians Creating a Better Future” and Melbourne University’s Jan Lee Martin Fellowship, Futures Thinking and Strategy Development.
