Who we are

Jacob has more than 20 years of experience with the United Nations with focus on chemicals and waste management, environment and sustainable development. He has a strong track record in policy work, intergovernmental negotiations, practical implementation and problem solving, coupled with strategic thinking and proactive leadership skills. Jacob has lived and worked with the United Nations in Austria, Senegal, Kenya and Switzerland. 

As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, Jacob leads the Alliance’s mission and strategic direction to support the transition towards a plastics circular economy.

Arun Kumar brings nearly 35 years of distinguished senior financial leadership experience from a globally renowned industrial corporation, United Technologies Corporation, and GE. Throughout his career, he has led financial operations for multi-billion-dollar businesses, driving operational efficiency, building high-performing teams, and implementing robust controls and processes across the world.

As CFO and VP of Operations, Arun manages all the finance processes, including all external and internal reporting, budgeting and audits, and oversees the IT and Human Resource functions.

Arun holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Kerala, India, and is a Chartered Accountant.

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Allison has traversed the communications discipline from journalism to corporate and public affairs, to public policy. She joins the Alliance from Tetra Pak where she drove the company’s public policy strategy in the Asia-Pacific. Prior to that, she spent more than 15 years in consulting, working across Asia and the Middle East. She has steered programmes across the wider sustainable development agenda and contributed to policy development on a range of issues, including circularity, Extended Producer Responsibility, biodiversity and climate change. 

As VP of Corporate and Public Affairs, Allison builds and enhances the Alliance’s profile and reputation to achieve the Alliance’s core strategic and aspirational objectives.

Brian Savaridas serves the Alliance as its General Counsel and VP of Risk, Compliance, and Legal. In this role, Brian provides strategic legal advice, oversees risk management and loss control; as well as ensures adherence to internal controls and company policies to mitigate legal and compliance risk. 

A seasoned commercial lawyer, Brian brings extensive experience in the energy and infrastructure industries across Asia Pacific, Europe, India, and the Middle East; he has advised on major projects and transactions in oil and gas, petrochemicals, and LNG, including transmission, distribution, supply, upstream, midstream, and downstream projects. 

Prior to his current post, Brian was a senior attorney and member of the eastern hemisphere leadership team at an international oil and gas services provider. Previously at SAP, Brian counselled on M&A matters and represented the company in drafting and negotiating software licensing and consulting agreements with multinational companies. 

He began his legal career in private practice; as a law firm partner, he worked on transactions across Southeast Asia.

Ted joins the Alliance as Vice President of Global Programmes & Circularity. With a career spanning the Industrial, Petrochemical, Oil & Gas, and Renewable Energy Markets sectors, Ted brings over 30 years of experience in transforming businesses, negotiating and managing complex projects, and developing high performance engineering, sales, and operations teams.

Prior to the Alliance, Ted served as President & Region General Manager for GE Power (Granite Services affiliate) and Vice President at ITT Industrial Process. He also held various management positions across multiple divisions at Ingersoll Rand/Dresser-Rand (now part of Siemens), where he was at for 21 years.

Ted holds an MBA in International Finance from Rutgers University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and an Associate of Science degree in Engineering from Morris College.

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Justin was the Head of the Asia Pacific and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum where he was responsible for key initiatives around trade and economic integration, education and skills, tropical forests and plastic management, infrastructure financing, and supporting governments. Prior, he was at The Economist Group and ran an economic advisory and research service for the Asia region. Justin has lived and worked in the Asia Pacific region for 24 years. 

As Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at the Alliance, Justin builds and maintains the Alliance’s network of relationships with potential partners and supports the CEO with member, strategic ally and supporter recruitment.