Let’s bring the circular economy to every corner of the world
The club started with the mission to bring the circular economy framework to every city and town in the world. We can make smart changes happen, and we are working on it.
Anna Tari is the Founder and CEO of the Circular Economy Club (CEC), which began in 2012 as a knowledge hub and started running as a club in London in 2015. From the start, CEC spurred an open, global and collaborative dialogue to share best practices and connect stakeholders working on circular economy around the world. From its humble beginnings as a website, today CEC has grown into the platform for connecting the circular economy community.
Anna is from Elche (Spain) and she is based in Boston (United States), where she researches at Boston University about how to market the circular economy to increase adoption. She received a Fellowship from LaCaixa Foundation, handed by the King of Spain, to pursue her PhD about circular economy and marketing in the United States. She won the Ibero-American Youth Award in 2018, which was handed by the Prime Minister of Spain. She was a Finalist of the United Nations World Champions of the Earth 2019, the United Nations SDG Awards in 2018 and the 2018 edie Sustainability Leaders Awards. She is also in the 30under30 list 2019 of the North American Association for Environmental Education.
She previously worked on the skills needed for this new economy. Her last book, “Undergraduate Kit: From the University to the Labour Market of the 4th Industrial Revolution“, served as a manual for students to understand the changes that are taking place in the labour market and how to adapt their skills to it. Previously, Anna managed relations with national governments, embassies, companies and national associations at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in London. Anna worked in the Communications Department of the UN Agency for tourism, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), among other communication and innovation consultant experiences working with startups, foundations, local and national governments.
Anna’s passion for communicating innovations drove her to be a TEDx licensee and organizer in her hometown. She graduated with honors from her Management Degree at University of Alicante (Spain). After graduating, Anna put together a project to research about innovation in Silicon Valley (California). She managed to get funding and interest from universities and companies to do a research stay in California where she developed what turned out to be her Master thesis in Applied Economics and became the USA International Relations manager of the research group she was part of at the moment.
As the CEC Founder, Anna drives the strategic direction of the club and helps team members find their way to contribute to the club and make the most out of it.
Awards and Accolades
- Circular Economy Award by the International Innovation and Wisdom Awards
- Recognized as one of the most influential women in the space of technology in 2020 by World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) administered by the United Nations (UN).
- Feature in the 50 Most Innovative Youth Solutions Report towards United Nations SDGs 2019
- Global Youth Empowerment Fund - Finalist
- 30under30 2019 of the North American Association for Environmental Education
- Global Good Awards UK - Bronze 2019
- United Nations Young World Champion of the Earth for the Americas 2019 Finalist
- Highly Commended, Circular Awards 2019, by World Economic Forum (WEF) & Accenture
- Ibero-American Youth Award 2018 - given by the OIJ, handed by the Prime Minister of Spain
- Global Game Changers 2018 Finalist
- United Nations Global Action 2018 Finalist
- LaCaixa Foundation 2017 Fellow - given by LaCaixa, handed by the King of Spain
- edie Sustainability Leaders 2016 - Finalist
- Nominated Young Latinamerican Leader 2012 from University of Alicante
- Formula-Santander 2011 Fellow
Book
Experience
- London - Government & Industry Affairs Coordinator at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
- Madrid - Communications at the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
- Barcelona and Valencia - Innovation Manager at Master Tour Alliance
- Alicante - Researcher at INNATUR Group, University of Alicante
Education
- PhD Candidate in Consumer Behavior and the circular economy, Boston University (Boston, USA)
- MA in Applied Economics, University of Alicante (Alicante, Spain) - graduated with Honors, 3-months exchange in California
- BA in Business Management, University of Alicante (Alicante, Spain) - graduated with Honors, 1-year exchange in London
Featured speaking engagements
- Harvard Graduate School of Design: Applications to Design & the Built Environment
- Boston University Lecture in Marketing for Non-profits in the Circular Economy
- United Nations OnePlanet webinar: Circular Economy in Tourism
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation - Cities Network webinar
- Beyond Tomorrow Conference - Canada
- Circular Economy Debate at the European Parliament during the Entrepreneurship School of ThinkYoung with Lieve Wierinck (Member of the European Parliament), Anna Tari (Circular Economy Club) and Sophia Chrysopolou (Public Affairs Senior Advisor from The Coca-Cola Company)
Featured interviews
- Getting In The Loop podcast
- Renewable Matter interview
- Rankia - Is the circular economy an opportunity to investors?
- Reverse Logistics Association
Articles
- CEC 2018 Year-in-review
- 4 Key Learnings after CEC launches the largest circular economy database worldwide
- 5 Communications Secrets to Foster Sustainability
Linkedin profile: Anna Tari
PHOTO GALLERY
TESTIMONIALS
Anna inspired companies in our region to embed circularity
Anna was our speaker at a workshop with different businesspeople from our region. She was inspirational in her explanation of the circular economy model which was rendered in a very pragmatic way by pointing out examples from every single sector represented in the audience. The session was very dynamic, educational and applied to real-life challenges and solutions. Our members felt geared with applicable knowledge that they could bring to their companies to adapt their processes and business model towards a circular economy.
The impact of Anna Tari’s talk was exceptional
The impact of Anna Tari’s talk was exceptional! It perfectly illustrates how circular economy connects our life, environment, and the business world!
A key lecture that sparkled our students’ interest in the topic
Anna’s lecture was critical for the students in our Applied Economics Masters Degree to learn about the state of the circular economy worldwide and about practical case studies of companies incorporating circularity. This was a turning point in that the lecture sparkled the students’ interest in the topic which I am very thankful for.
We were beyond impressed
Anna Tari gave an engaging and inspiring talk about the circular economy and the CEC. Our attendees loved the presentation and the content fit perfectly with the rest of our conference. We were beyond impressed and look forward to inviting her again in the future!
Anna brought a meaningful conversation to the Harvard GSD
Having Anna was great! Most people lecturing at the GSD have backgrounds in the design disciplines and therefore speak a common language. While this makes sense, it also generates a “bubble” that isolates the school from other relevant conversations and fields of knowledge. In that sense, Anna made a great job in offering the school an understanding of what design can do from the point of view of the circular economy. The conversation Anna brought is meaningful and we are hoping to keep it alive.
Having CEC Founder in the UN OnePlanet webinar gave us an overview of how to embed circular economy in the tourism sector
Integrate circular thinking in the tourism value chain is key “to maximize the value of resources through the economy with the ambition to decouple economic growth and resource use” as highlighted by CEC Founder, Anna Tari. This is especially compelling for a sector that is expected to continue growing exponentially in the next years. The collaboration with CEC in the webinar “Circular economy: exploring an innovative approach for the tourism sector” allowed us to have an overview of this concept and the potential challenges and opportunities to embed circularity in the tourism sector.
It was inspiring to see the work CEC is going to materialize the circular economy worldwide
I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna on the Getting In the Loop podcast. She is inspiring, and I admire the work she is doing in the CE field to connect people to each other as well as within and across communities!
Anna was so engaging and inspirational
It was such great fun talking with Anna Tari for my podcast. She was so engaging, humble, self-aware and super-smart – listening to her story of how the Circular Economy Club came into being and developed into what it is now was truly inspirational.
