Dr. Rebekah Shirley is an environmental scholar and leader, with over twenty years of experience in environmental research and interdisciplinary research management, evolving from primary research analyst, to managing large international non-profit research teams, and now executive institutional leadership.
Rebekah is the Executive Director for Africa at the World Resources Institute, where she leads a team of over two hundred researchers and practitioners in designing and delivering partnerships, platforms, and tools to grow the markets for Africa’s sustainability solutions, centering people, nature, and climate. Rebekah was previously the institution’s Director for Research, ensuring high-quality methods across Africa, and directly supporting the delivery of these finding to targeted audiences through high-level engagement and local-level partnership.
Before coming to WRI, Rebekah held a five-year tenure as the Chief of Research at Power for All, a coalition of more than 300 renewable energy practitioners working towards universal electricity access. Over this time Rebekah built the widely used data tool, the Platform for Energy Access Knowledge (PEAK), and launched major research-based campaigns including Powering Jobs, Powering Agriculture, and Utilities of the Future, demonstrating novel solutions for advancing universal clean energy access through data-driven industry-academic partnerships. Her team developed a reputation for its sharp, timely, digestible insights, thought leadership, and collaborative approach to research.
For her role in influencing the global dialogue on energy and sustainability, Rebekah has been named an ESI Africa Elite Energy Industry Leader and an Energy Institute Energy Leader, Africa Utility Week’s Outstanding Young Leader in Energy, a GWEC Revolutionary, and most recently, the World Energy Justice Young Scholar 2023.
Rebekah bridges applied, policy‑relevant research with formal scholarship through curated academic appointments. Alongside her non-profit work, she held a three-year Visiting Fellowship at Strathmore University in Nairobi, where she led the design of East Africa’s first MSc in Sustainable Energy Transitions, and a subsequent three-year appointment as Visiting Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, where she developed and taught Integrated Energy Systems, a popular graduate course known for its focus on local authors and case studies.
Rebekah holds a Ph.D. in Energy Resources, an M.Sc. in Energy Resources, and an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Her expertise is in power system simulation and optimization—building models for integrated electricity planning, particularly in data constrained environments. Her Ph.D. research explored the integration of socio-cultural, ecological, and resource management perspectives into power system planning tools. Developing an integrated optimization modeling approach, she identified high-investment renewable energy opportunities for Borneo, Southeast Asia. Working with local civil society, her results contributed to shifting local policy away from further large-scale dam development. Her publications continue to focus on clean energy technologies and their application to industry, mobility, agriculture, and climate resilience in emerging markets.
Previously, Rebekah obtained a first-class honors Bachelor of Arts and Science in Environment from McGill University, after which she worked with the Environmental Management Authority in her native Trinidad, launching her career in renewable energy and sustainable technologies. She is now a local Hall of Excellence inductee. Alongside the United States, where she was born, and the Caribbean, where she was raised, Rebekah has also lived, worked, and published in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. This international exposure brings a uniquely deep cultural perspective to her work. Rebekah is a strong proponent of south-south collaboration and local community engagement.
Rebekah is a regular and vibrant public speaker on environmental sciences and sustainability solutions. She is a TED Speaker, an SXSW Speaker, gave the prestigious Madeleine Albright Annual Guest Lecture, and is featured by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
A University of California Chancellor’s Fellow, and former visiting faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, Rebekah continues to enjoy designing curriculum, lecturing, and mentoring young graduate students. She is a mentor for the esteemed Harris Social Impact Fellowship. She has given a widely viewed TED Talk, the distinguished Madeline Albright Annual Lecture, the Oxford Reuters School of Journalism Keynote Lecture, and delivers Master Classes for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.
Rebekah also volunteers her time to impactful causes in the environmental sciences by sitting on boards, advisory committees, and judging panels. Rebekah is founding editor of the burgeoning IOP journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability. She is appointed to the board of trustees for UK charity Ashden, where she promotes international climate solutions in action. She has also held previous roles as board member for initiatives such as Climate Action Platform, Africa, was a former Energy for Growth Hub Advisor for Africa and the Caribbean, and former advisor to the Journal of Caribbean Environmental Science and Renewable Energy.
Rebekah lives with her husband Brian and their young family in Nairobi, Kenya. Brian, an investment expert, is Head of Investment Banking for Stanbic Bank Kenya, part of Africa’s largest banking group by assets. Together they enjoy music, outdoor adventure, and traveling, as they work towards a clean and sustainable future for families like theirs.