Carly brings over 25 years of leadership experience in fields including health, law and transport. For the last 16 years her focus has been dedicated to sustainable mobility; at the intersection of transport, climate action and social equity . Since 2013, she has led the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Sustainable Mobility Unit Teams on active mobility, transport digitalisation and modal integration; serving as a strategist, fundraiser and global advocate.
Based in Nairobi for the past 15 years, Carly has designed, fundraised for and implemented programmes in close collaboration with governments and partners across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Her work includes spearheading the Pan-African Action Plan for Active Mobility, overseeing a €20 million multi-country and multi-consortium partner transport digitalisation initiative in Latin America, and leading as the UNEP Sustainable Mobility Unit Gender and Poverty Alleviation focal point. She brings deep expertise in coalition-building, global advocacy, regional and country level support and connecting global frameworks to local action. Until recently, she served as an Independent Board Member for SLOCAT and currently serves as a Commission Member for the UCI Cycling for All & Sustainable Cycling Commission, is a member of the Cities4Children Global Alliance, and a founding member of the Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH).
Reflecting on her appointment, Carly Gilbert-Patrick said:
“The shift to people-centered, low and zero-emission transport is urgent and demands unprecedented collaboration. We’re at a pivotal moment: racing toward the 2030 SDG target date, kicking off the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport, and pushing for real transport climate action at COP. The stakes have never been higher, and neither has the opportunity. I am ready to take the helm of SLOCAT with the full support and guidance of the board and secretariat, stepping into this exciting role to fast-track urgent action for low carbon transport. ”
Rana Adib, Chair of the SLOCAT Board, said:
“As Chair of the outgoing board, I am delighted to warmly welcome Carly as our new Secretary General. I’m genuinely excited about what lies ahead for the SLOCAT partnership : Carly’s leadership, her intentional approach in leveraging the collective strength of our partnership and in building upon the strong foundations established by Maruxa, promises to amplify SLOCAT’s impact even further. I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to Maruxa for her exceptional dedication to all of us and to sustainable, low-carbon transport.”
The Board would also like to warmly thank Maruxa Cardama for seven transformative years as Secretary General. Her leadership significantly strengthened SLOCAT’s convening power and global reach, renewed collective thought leadership, and deepened collaboration across and beyond the transport sector at the intersection of climate, sustainability and social justice. SLOCAT will proudly build on this strong legacy as it enters its next chapter.
This appointment marks an important step in accelerating the transformation of transport systems towards inclusive, healthy, green and resilient solutions for people and the planet. With Carly’s leadership, SLOCAT is well positioned to strengthen collaborative, evidence-based knowledge, deepen collective thought leadership and advocacy at the crossroads of transport, sustainability, climate and social justice, and scale action and impact across all land transport modes—particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
The SLOCAT Board, Secretariat, partners and wider community warmly welcome Carly and look forward to working together in this next phase.
SLOCAT Board of Directors.
