Consulting

Didac Amat Puigsech is a Ph.D. candidate in International Climate Change Law at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). He lives in Barcelona, where he combines his research with teaching activities. Concretely, he teaches undergraduate courses on International Public Law and International Constitutional Law at the UPF, a Master’s course in International Climate Change Regime at the Centre of International Studies of Barcelona (CEI) and a Master’s course in International Relations Theory at the Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI). Before his current positions, Didac studied Law and Political Science, graduating with honors from UPF, and a Master’s in legal practice at the Barcelona School of Management, also graduating with honors. During his university years, Didac developed a special interest in sustainable development and international relations. Thus, he did an exchange program at the City University of Hong Kong, worked in Greece as a legal assistant on human rights strategic litigation, and completed a pro-bono program in Peru. In 2018, Didac started his professional career at CIDOB, ranked the 35th IR think tank worldwide. During this period, he improved his knowledge of climate change mitigation strategies by completing a one-year program on Solar Photovoltaic Energy from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Finally, previous to his enrollment in the Ph.D. program one year ago, Didac was the chief of the cabinet of Òmnium Cultural, a cultural NGO that promotes social cohesion through the defense of civil, political, and cultural rights.

Maria Jose Lopez Oporta is Chemical Engineer at the National University of Engineering in Nicaragua, specializing in environmental management with an emphasis on water and design of drinking water supply, among other studies and courses in environment and food, she has worked as a volunteer leader for non-profit organizations in WASH program for rural communities in her country, as well as designing a water system for rural communities also she has worked as an administrator in a wastewater treatment plant project. She has collaborated in urban and rural water and sanitation research programs to improve water quality, She won first place in the sanitation area of the E-Hackathon Cewas and Young water Solution. In addition to being a professional, she is also an entrepreneur throughout her years, she has been working on personal projects, She is creative and believes in empowering women.

Megan McKinley hails from Ohio, United States of America, and has been living internationally since 2013. For her Undergraduate studies, she attended Long Island University’s Global College where her education took her out of the classroom and into the field of ten countries across five continents. Additionally, she holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through the world-leading Project Management Institute. Megan believes that the best education is through experience and thus has made it her mission to work in organizations which break down barriers and provide alternative education opportunities to marginalized communities. Professionally, she has worked at Global Leadership Adventures, Guild Education, and is currently serving as a Banyan Impact Fellow in Chennai, India where she partners with Playquity, an early-phase NGO which focuses on providing gender equity programming in rural areas. Throughout her professional career, Megan has worked as a Program Manager, Education Coach, Advisor, and Project Lead. Through these experiences, she has realized she works best in diverse environments where she has the opportunity to collaborate with others and contribute her adaptability and organization. Megan is a firm believer that through daily choices, individuals hold the power to change the world.

Nabhas Raj comes from a small town in Kannur district of Kerala, India. He pursued his undergraduate education at Amrita University. He graduated in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 2017, and later pursued a post-graduate degree in Development Policy and Practice. Irrespective of pursuing engineering, Nabhas always aspired to be a part of the development sector in India. After his graduation, he joined Goonj Fellowship where he served the organization’s Kolkata chapter. At Goonj, he worked on various campaigns on livelihood, education, and menstrual hygiene. During his post-graduation, Nabhas also worked on internships and field projects, touching upon areas such as youth and employment, health, environmental conservation, etc. In his personal space, Nabhas enjoys reading non-fiction, watching cinema, playing football, etc. Currently, he is a Banyan Impact Fellow with the American India Foundation, and is working with Jagori Rural Charitable Trust in Himachal Pradesh on issues of sustainable farming, sustainable development, gender and climate resistance.

Estefania Ortuño has a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Catolica Boliviana in La Paz and graduated with a Master of Social Innovation and Solidarity Economy at the University of Salamanca, her origin and values ​​prompted her to work for a sustainable world. In her ten years of professional experience, she sought to be part of institutions with a purpose aligned with her values. She currently works at BancoSol as Sustainably Senior leading the development and creation of the non-financial offer and supporting the evolutionary process towards the sustainability strategy with inclusion. Although support for vulnerable sectors was always one of her main focuses, without a doubt one of the most challenging labor was the one she faced at Banco Unión, where she began as National Head of CSR and was promoted to Management General Coordinator, supporting the coordination of the payment of bonds at the national level during the pandemic. In her extensive years of experience, she developed adaptability and international standards for the development of strategies in the generation of shared value and sustainability, all these skills were first started when she began his professional career in the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in the area of ​Sustainable Business Solutions and other projects, which gave her the opportunity to get to know different industries and companies. She has also volunteered from a young age at institutions such as Rotary, and Global Shapers Hub La Paz, becoming a curator at this last one.

Jerome Amedo is a consultant with eight years of experience in business development, market research, and consulting in the private sector. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Ghana. For the past five years, Jerome has impacted entrepreneurs and businesses by creating market research reports, identifying business opportunities, and facilitating match-making programs between businesses and investors. Previously, as a senior operations analyst at Asoko Insight, he built and managed a portfolio of about 5000 companies and exposed them to investment and growth opportunities through his market research and business development activities. He also led high-level meetings with executive management of targeted local companies and multinationals, to form partnerships, and assess their need for investment and the possibilities for partnership. Previously, Jerome worked as an agro-business client advisor with Procredit Savings and Loans, where he provided financial services to a portfolio of agricultural enterprises, and disbursed a total of about $100000 in loans over 15 months. As a result of his experiences, he has developed strong business development, market research, and consulting skills. This has led to a strong interest in entrepreneurship and Agriculture, and a focus on achieving tangible social impact by improving access to finance and opportunities for affiliated enterprises.

Saleta Ameixeiras is a Forest Engineer from the University of Santiago de Compostela with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Basque Country and a Social Innovation and Responsibility Diploma from the University of A Coruña. She has studied in various countries throughout Europe and Latin America learning about foreign languages and cultures. Her international experience makes her feel comfortable in multicultural environments and allows her to develop her ability to adapt to different working styles and groups. After her studies, she worked in the Environmental Impact Assessment department of TRAGSATEC, a Spanish state-owned company. For more than three years of working directly with political offices, she learned intensively about the field of environmental impact assessment projects, local and regional legislation, and procedures with public institutions. Afterwards, she started in a new position at ALLCOT, where she currently works as a Climate Change Consultant focusing on renewable energy projects. Since working at ALLCOT, she has learned about the carbon markets and different international carbon credit certification standards. She is also deeply skilled in working under pressure, multitasking, and teamworking. Since 2020, she has been a climate leader after completing training by the Climate Reality Project, an organization created by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and whose goals are to create climate leaders all over the world to raise awareness about climate change. Saleta is passionate about sustainability, ecosystem restoration, climate change, and believes in communication and climate leadership as the way to change climate change.

Shaidy Baltodano is passionate about assisting entrepreneurs in the creation, management, and growth of their businesses. She pursued an MBA and a Master of Entrepreneurship and Innovation as part of her personal development and to better prepare herself to mentor others. She also worked as an Electronic Engineer. Her current occupation is Intellectual Property Engineer. She has prior experience analyzing inventions to determine whether they are novel or not.

Virnia Patzi is an experienced and highly skilled Chemical Engineer. She brings extensive experience in procurement, operations, and research in the upstream oil and gas industry. A native of Bolivia, Virnia is a global operations expert, having managed projects and driven complex business operations in Canada, Tanzania, Colombia, and Paraguay. She brings profound experiences in operations management across diverse industries. She also manages projects from product design to research, engineering, and maintenance.

Milenka Delgado is a Bolivian lawyer and political scientist with a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development. She has been involved in several research projects on human rights, democracy, peacebuilding and environmental issues that resulted in the publication of several articles and books, both alone and in collaboration with other authors. She teaches a postgraduate course on sustainable development at the University of El Alto in Bolivia. Milenka is an enthusiastic activist and founder of the volunteer group “Voluntarios Ch’ukutas”, which promotes environmental and peacebuilding projects, workshops, and involvement in public policy. She has designed and implemented several social projects to work on the culture of peace with hundreds of young activists. She is a fellow of the Generation Change Programme of the United States Institute of Peace and a member of the National Heralds of Peace Network. In recent years, Milenka has done significant parliamentary work in the Bolivian Legislative Assembly, where she helped draft bills and other legislative instruments involving civil organizations and the government. Through these experiences, she developed strong networking, leadership, and project coordination skills. Milenka has strong interest and experience in peacebuilding, democracy and human rights, as well as a strong passion for environmental issues.

Shahzad Akram is a human rights advocate having extraordinary research work done in accountability laws at the Punjab University, Lahore. He got his post-secondary education from GCU Lahore and graduated with LLB Hon’s from Punjab University Law College and further continued his LLM constitutional law from the postgraduate school of legal studies. He had served many governmental and non-governmental organizations. His last job experience was working as a content creator in techno-ventures where he was entitled to draft legal and other academic documents for clients primarily from the U.S. Likewise, he has served the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau of the government of Punjab in the same capacity where his primary task was to prepare documentation for destitute children. He kickstarted his legal career by being an intern in the bureau where he was engaged to draft and proofread documents. Further, he served as an educational volunteer in an NGO where his responsibility was to take compliance with all the educational developments of the Kashmir orphans relief trust (KORT), the largest orphanage in South Asia, and advise the London office on the applicability of local laws. He is a multi-tasked person who loves to work out of his domain too. Following the same principle, he served the official social media team of the last Pakistani premier as campaign manager and prepared an election manifesto for the 2018 general elections. Last but not the least, he is also a vigilant person of society and had extensive study and know-how of its structure.

Nazia Baloch has more than five years’ experience in the development sector in Pakistan and, has her Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. She is a trainer, women activist, and peacebuilder. She is also leading her social startup Fun-e-Mussawari. Recently, she implemented her project which has been funded by European Union. Nazia has been working for more than five years in gender equality, interfaith harmony, community services, and countering violence and extremism in the community. However, she is also affiliated with the Women Development Foundation Pakistan as a District Coordinator in Awaz-e-Niswan Project (Women`s voice). Apart from that, she has attended the G20 Regional Conference in Thailand. The conference aims to advance priority goals and engagement between women, youth, and religious peacebuilders, which gathered youth, women, and religious leaders from South Asia and the ASEAN region to work on policy recommendations for the G20 Summit. She hopes to share her ideas and views with other Fellows and get more interactive and effective components through workshops, seminars, and activities. This program will be a great platform for learning new things for her campaign, which promotes peace for interfaith harmony on social media platforms.