About us
Everyone deserves a home that is safe, healthy and affordable.
Assemble is a philanthropic alliance bringing together the global funders, strategy and field leadership needed to make the built environment the engine of irreversible climate action.
Buildings are the largest single source of global emissions and the place where climate change is felt first: in bills, in heat, in the air inside our homes. The solutions exist. The policy frameworks exist. The organisations with the expertise to act exist, and public demand for reform is rising. What the field has lacked is a coordinating architecture to turn isolated wins into structural change.
Assemble provides that framework, on a global scale. We work with those best placed to act and provide our support in coordinating their efforts toward shared goals. Our approach is intelligence-led, outcomes-driven and adaptive.
This is the moment to move at the pace the climate demands.
Assemble’s Values
Outcomes Driven
Creating results now and within the next decade.
Shared Responsibility
Achieving more together than we can alone.
Intelligence Led
Understanding the context to drive priorities and actions.
People First
Putting people at the heart of the transition.
The opportunity
The world is about to build more than at any point in human history.
Climate change is fundamentally a human challenge, and the front line is where we live.
Half of the buildings that will stand in 2050 do not yet exist. Most of them will go up in Asia and Africa over the next two decades: the homes people will raise families in, the schools their children will learn in, the hospitals that will care for them. Get it right and this is the largest opportunity for climate action and better lives in a generation: homes that are affordable to run, safe and healthy in heat and cold, built with materials and energy systems that don't lock in emissions for a century.
How those buildings get built is being decided now, in four places at once. In the rules governments set: the building codes and performance standards being written this decade. In what the public needs and expects of a home. In where finance flows, and on what terms. And in what the market can supply at scale, and at what price. Each of these is still open. None of them stays open for long.
We spend 90% of our lives inside buildings. Because they sit at the centre of human life, the decisions we make about them multiply through the economy and society. A credible plan for buildings is a robust plan for energy, for cement and steel, for housing and for the cost of living.
Buildings and construction sit at the centre of the global economy, representing:
37%
of global CO2 emissions
50%
of global material extraction (nearly half)
~12%
of global GDP
Source: UNEP and GlobalABC, Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2025–2026
Objective
Acting on the demand side is the most effective way to drive down emissions.We have three interlocking objectives to trigger irreversible decarbonisation at the speed and scale the climate demands and people need.
To get there, we need to:
People: Safe, healthy homes for all
Securing low-carbon buildings that are affordable, healthy and comfortable throughout heat and cold, and designed for a changing climate.
Power: All-electric, affordable to run
Transitioning homes off fossil fuels by integrating distributed solar, storage and heat pumps, so buildings generate, manage and stabilise power.
Place: Smart design, low-carbon materials
Decoupling floor-space growth from carbon lock-in through low-emission design, construction and optimised use of existing buildings.
How we work
We help philanthropic funders align their support across four drivers of transformation - government policies, public and political support, market scale, and financial leverage - in specific geographies or sectors.
In collaboration with local experts, we have mapped high-momentum geographies, positioned at critical tipping points. This global framework, grounded in regional and subregional strategies, identifies prioritised pathways for aligning capital and interventions toward where feasibility for change is highest, and where impact will be greatest.
The window to act is now. Seizing this moment requires philanthropies to move together and provide the coordinated, long-term support the ecosystem needs to deliver lasting systems change.
Careers
Assemble is building a core team to deliver its mission of global built environment transformation. Explore our current opportunities.
Don't see any open roles that are a good fit? Feel free to share your CV with us.
East Asia & Southeast Asia Strategy Implementation Support
ConsultantRemote - IndonesiaAssemble is seeking an independent consultant to implement its East Asia and Southeast Asia portfolio strategy — building a prioritised grant pipeline, supporting grant development, and keeping grants aligned with strategic objectives and impact outcomes. Based in Indonesia. 6 months, typically 3 days a week.
Africa Strategy Implementation Support
ConsultantRemote - KenyaAssemble is seeking an independent consultant to implement its Africa portfolio strategy — building a prioritised grant pipeline, supporting grant development, and keeping grants aligned with strategic objectives and impact outcomes. Based in Kenya. 6 months, typically 3 days a week.
Share your CV with Assemble
Outside the roles advertised, we are always happy to hear from candidates eager to contribute to Assemble's mission.
Meet Our Team
Paul Oosting
CEO
Kimberly Hendler
COO
Maya Færch
Chief Program Officer
Get in touch
Everyone deserves a home that is safe, healthy and affordable.
Buildings are the single largest source of global emissions, and they receive less than 2% of climate philanthropy. Closing that gap is the most consequential move available to funders today, and one that pays out in lower bills, cleaner air and homes that protect people through heat and cold.
Assemble offers a shared strategy, the evidence behind it, and a field of organisations ready to act on it - achieving what no single funder or organisation can achieve alone.
The plan is ready. The field is assembled. The window is open. This is the moment to act.
Contact us