Team

Commercial instinct and policy expertise.

Two founders, two cities, one operating model.

Principals

The team

Founded by Alexander Forrest. Built by Alexander Forrest and Mary Teehan as equal co-founders.

Alexander Forrest

Founder & Co-Founder

Rotterdam

"Linear business models no longer make commercial sense. Better systems can and must be built."

Alexander founded Circular Intelligence in 2025, building on his work commercialising circular supply-chain programmes across sectors such as offshore wind, electrolysers and fuel cells. He now leads the company as equal co-founder, focusing on commercial strategy, sector cohorts, readiness diagnostics and international growth.

Mary Teehan

Co-Founder & Chief Partnerships & Policy Officer

Dublin

"For most of human history, societies were naturally circular. Raw materials were scarce, and complex systems evolved to repair, reuse, repurpose and extract maximum value from available resources."

Mary joined Circular Intelligence as equal co-founder in 2026, bringing deep experience in policy, partnerships, circular economy and cultural-sector transition work. She leads partnerships and policy, including international stakeholder engagement and roadmap development.

Luke Ratterman

Director of Commercial Strategy and Investor Partnerships

[Location — to confirm]

"[One-line quote in his own voice — to confirm]"

[Background: prior roles and what he did before CI, 2 to 3 lines — to confirm]

Luke owns the commercial and investor side of CI's work. Circular ambition has to survive contact with a balance sheet and an investment committee, and that is where he operates: turning a readiness position into a business case and an investment story that capital can back. He leads commercial strategy on client engagements and the investor partnerships behind them.

Alexander de Bruin

[Title — suggest: CRL1 Lead]

[Location — to confirm]

"[One-line quote in his own voice — to confirm]"

[Background: where he worked and what he did before CI, 2 to 3 lines — to confirm]

Alexander leads the work at CRL1, the foundation the rest of the ladder rests on. Most circular programmes stall because they reach for compliance or pilots before there is a shared, board-level understanding of why the organisation is doing this at all. He establishes that base first: one reason for circularity that everyone from leadership to the floor can repeat, before the heavier work begins.

Network

Associated members

The wider network we work with on engagements — bringing in specialist expertise across carbon, policy, commercial strategy and sector knowledge.

Elyas Helmke

Carbon Markets Analyst

Amsterdam

Business Developer at OTC FLOW, working across carbon finance and environmental markets.

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Alexander Batrov

Sustainability Manager

Berlin

15+ years in energy transition and decarbonisation; ESRS, ISO 14064 and circular economy reporting.

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Maria Orbant

Independent Sustainability Advisor

Netherlands

LSE-trained advisor (Orlea Advisory) working across sustainable development, finance and the energy transition.

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Lian van Leeuwen

Founder, Shift Cycling Culture

Rotterdam

Leads communications and strategic partnerships for a global non-profit driving sustainability inside the cycling industry.

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Luis Ayxela

Co-Founder, Scarbat & Circular Economist

Barcelona

Two decades of commercial leadership, now building circular ventures out of Barcelona.

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Jana Stremlau

Sustainable Innovation Project Manager, Tekkoo

Cologne

Circular economist and impact community builder, working across impact entrepreneurship and ecosystems.

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