Deshni Pillay is the Chief Director of the Biodiversity Information and Policy Advice Division at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). She is responsible for providing strategic input to enable the implementation of national projects and international multi-lateral environmental agreements, supporting the management of South Africa’s biodiversity assets and ecological infrastructure. She leads a team that provides policy advice and support to the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and manages programmes of work on mainstreaming biodiversity in other sectors, mobilizing biodiversity information for planning and securing strategic water source areas for water security. Deshni Pillay is the Chief Director of Policy Advice and Information Management at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and holds a MSc in Biology (Biodiversity) from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Swedish Biodiversity Centre. She provides policy advice and support to the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and leads programmes of work on mainstreaming biodiversity and biodiversity information and planning. She is responsible for providing strategic input to enable the implementation of national projects and international multi-lateral environmental agreements, supporting the management of South Africa’s biodiversity assets and ecological infrastructure. She is passionate about championing social justice, steering organisational coherence and building human capital in the biodiversity sector. Prior to joining SANBI she was employed by the South African Parliament as the Content Adviser to the Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources, providing policy, content and oversight support to the parliamentary committee. Currently, she also serves as a Project Steering Committee member of the BIOFIN project, is a member of the Resource Mobilization Technical Task Team for Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, and has led the implementation of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Project which aimed to create green jobs and facilitate a post- COVID-19 green economic recovery in South Africa.