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Meet the Latest Judges for the 2025 RISE Awards
- Daisy Moll
- Aug 19
- 4 min read
Sustainable Times is delighted to announce a new cohort of judges for the 2025 RISE Awards held on 6th November at the Grand Connaught Rooms. This announcement comes ahead of the upcoming deadline for submissions from startups and scaleups on 31st August. Building on earlier announcements, the RISE Awards judging panel brings together some of the most experienced and inspiring leaders from across the worlds of entrepreneurship, climate innovation, and impact investing. Each judge brings a unique perspective on what it takes to build and scale sustainable solutions, offering a holistic evaluation of entries.
Ben Keene
For entrepreneur and community-builder Ben Keene, judging is about championing the ideas that can reshape both markets and mindsets.
“We have the solutions. Now it’s about bringing more people into the movement, building with purpose, and making the better business case for our planet the only business case.”
Keene will be looking for founders with strong, adaptable teams and robust business models, companies with the resilience to scale and the timing to seize their moment. “It’s about people as much as the product - the mindset, the skills, and the ability to adapt.”
Keene has spent 20 years at the intersection of technology, community, and impact. He is the co-founder of Rebel Book Club (a global non-fiction reading community), Raaise (a platform using AI to unlock climate and nature funding), and Superfly (an AI education platform). He previously co-founded Tribewanted, a crowd-funded eco-tourism venture featured by the BBC and National Geographic magazine.
With a career spanning five continents, Keene has advised and supported startups from Virgin Startup’s portfolio to grassroots climate innovators, and has recently led AI-for-Good hackathons and workshops.
Juliette Devillard, Founder & CEO of events and networking firm Climate Connection, brings a deep understanding of what startups need to thrive in the climate innovation space.
Through Climate Connection, Devillard has built a climate community that convenes regularly. Running over 40 events a year, Climate Connection has become the UK’s largest monthly climate-tech gathering. Her mission is to accelerate climate innovation by helping founders connect with investors, partners, and peers. Key collaborators include Innovate UK, EDF, The Conduit, and leading venture funds.
Prior to launching Climate Connection, Devillard spent five years in the US supporting early-stage deeptech and climate startups. She is also a public speaking coach, having trained more than 150 founders from Seed to Series A in communication and fundraising. Her combination of ecosystem insight, practical experience, and advocacy for founder resilience makes her a powerful addition to this year’s judging panel.
She believes the climate landscape is shifting and there is increasingly a need to move towards “There was a huge divide between the world of software and hardware in terms of investments… The reality is that has shifted, particularly when it comes to climate, because everyone has had to acknowledge that if you’re going to decarbonise the world, you have to invest in infrastructure.”
For Will Hayler, CEO and Co-founder of Blue Earth, a leading gathering for those building a regenerative future.
Blue Earth has grown from an ambitious sustainability summit into a year-round ecosystem that spans venture support, investment forums, and global partnerships. Its mission is to transform the way the world works by uniting entrepreneurs, investors, and changemakers.
Hayler is a passionate advocate for regenerative business models, cross-sector collaboration, and the belief that when the right people are in the room, change happens. His perspective as a connector and systems-thinker will be invaluable in recognising startups that can achieve scale and systemic impact.
“The climate movement has alienated people,” Hayler says. “It’s judged who is and isn’t allowed in. But if you want to scale real solutions, you need to bring everyone in. That includes banks, fossil fuel companies, investors — everyone. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck where we are.”
Julia Streets MBE
Julia Streets MBE, Founder & CEO of Streets Consulting, is a leading voice in financial services, technology, and entrepreneurship. Through her consultancy, she advises startups, scaleups, global organisations, industry bodies and technology incubators with a growing focus on ESG and sustainable innovation.
Before founding her consulting firm, Streets served as Global Head of Communications at NYSE Technologies and as European Head of Marketing and Sales Development at Instinet Europe. She is also a certified transformational leadership coach, a mentor, investor, and sought-after conference chair. Her sharp industry insight is matched by her skill as a public speaker, host, and even stand-up comedian.
Streets has been recognised repeatedly as a trailblazer and changemaker, named to Brummell Magazine’s lists of 30 Women on Boards, 30 Female Entrepreneurs, and 30 Women of Influence. She is also one of the Global Diversity List’s 20 Champions. In 2025, she was awarded an MBE for Services to Diversity and Inclusion in Entrepreneurship, particularly within financial services and technology.
Her track record as both an industry leader and advocate for inclusion brings a vital perspective to the RISE Awards judging panel.
Applications close on the 31st of August, get your RISE Awards entry in now.
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