Carbon market strategy and leadership coaching

Strategy and leadership for the nature-based climate economy

Strategy and leadership are both essential for impact. I help climate founders, investors and leaders in nature-based solutions and nature tech make the most important decisions, drawing on 20 years of building carbon and nature markets and on the neuroscience of how people decide under pressure.

Strategy and market advisory

For founders, investors and organisations working in carbon, nature and biodiversity markets. I advise on where your product fits best, and whether it will hold up as standards and policies shift.

Leadership coaching

For founders making high-stakes calls under pressure, and for climate leaders whose capacity or sense of motivation has shifted. Coaching grounded in neuroscience and somatic practice, from someone who deeply knows your world.

What this looks like

One decision, two problems. A founder is weeks from closing a round when a methodology revision changes the baseline rules her product depends on. Most advisors would treat this as either a strategy or a leadership issue, when in reality it's both. The decision will only be as good as the nervous system state the two of them are in when they make it. We can start by working in either place, and draw on the other lens if and when it's needed.

How I work

The relational is the strategic.

Market and policy depth: Twenty years inside carbon and nature markets, including leading Verra's nature-based frameworks. Strategy grounded in how standards, ratings and policy function in practice.
Embodied practice: How a leader holds pressure in their body shapes every decision they make. I work with the nervous system at that level, which builds the capacity to lead differently, with clarity and purpose.
Relational intelligence: The capacity to hold difference, attune and stay present in conflict and negotiations is essential and learnable. The psychological safety built in teams is associated with how well they learn from mistakes and adapt.
Impact that sustains: Durable impact comes from organisations that treat human relationships as core infrastructure. That applies to a two-person startup as much as a global NGO.

For investors and accelerators

Backing climate founders? I work with angels, funds and accelerators, by offering advisory, coaching and cohort workshops to your portfolio companies, as well as carbon market positioning and integrity due diligence.

About Chloé

Chloé (better known to many of you as Naomi) Swickard works with founders and senior leaders across climate, sustainability and impact. She has spent more than 20 years in the sector, including C-suite leadership and board advisory, and formerly served as Chief Program Officer and Chief Market Development Officer at Verra. She became a certified somatic relationship coach, adding training in affective neuroscience, positive psychology, trauma-informed somatic approaches and support for Autistic and ADHD adults to her MA in International Development.