In 2022, David Nicholson was named the first-ever Chief Climate Officer at Mercy Corps. In this role, he leads the development and implementation of strategic initiatives to integrate bold climate action into all facets of Mercy Corps operations and programming.

Over his 12 years at Mercy Corps, David has been instrumental in the organisation's transformation into a sustainability leader. He draws on his diverse background spanning carbon-finance project development in Uganda, climate and energy consulting at DAI, and green business programme development in Colombia to help Mercy Corps partner with communities to build long-term climate resilience.

In 2023, Mercy Corps reached 5.9 million people through its climate-related work, and through their campaign Climate: Possible, aim to reach 12.5 million people with climate-smart solutions and 20 million people by high-impact climate startups.

David has a BSc in Business Management from the University of Southampton in the UK, and an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, MA.