Environment

Alba Giol is from Catalonia. She studied Social Work at the University of Girona. She did her final project about how this profession can contribute to fighting the climate crisis, according to how it affects vulnerable groups. That research helped her focus her professional training on sustainable development. That is how she decide to study for a Master’s degree in Environment, Sustainability and SDGs, which is focused on the UN 2030 Agenda and brings a whole view of sustainability on its three edges. Right now, Alba is doing her Master’s internship with UN Etxea, participating in some projects about environmental education, the climate crisis, and human rights. She has a particular interest in the relationship between the climate crisis, social exclusion, and inequalities. She had not particularly studied the link between these sectors in the university degree and she feels that nowadays it has become part of the base of social change. She also shares the idea that we are now facing a very complex problem, which means we need multidisciplinary solutions. This will lead everyone to be involved and contribute as much as we can, working together as a society and empowering community work, to ensure a better future for the next generations and even for ourselves.

Dorothea Strüber is an Economist by training and graduated in International Economics and Development at the Complutense University of Madrid. She currently works for ClimateView, a climate tech company providing digital solutions for cities in their decarbonization journeys. Prior to joining ClimateView, she worked for six years at the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative to unite science for the Sustainable Development Goals. She has extensive knowledge in community building, stakeholder management and engagement, and is passionate about sustainable agriculture and gender equality. She speaks English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Alisson Figueroa has worked in community social development with NGOs and private companies for over 10 years. Nicaragua is going through different social, economic, and environmental challenges and as a game changer, she feels the responsibility to make a positive contribution. That is why she is interested in being part of the Virtual Leadership Institute because she knows with this program she will have all the necessary tools for her professional development and to be able to implement her inclusive recycling proposal. Through this program, she will be able to find a community network in which she can maintain her development focus and involve local corporations to be part of the change as well. The result of her proposal is that families have a second source of income and that it can be a model for other communities in the country.

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.

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.

Felix Rugama is an agronomist with more than ten years of experience working on topics related to agriculture, climate change, food security, gender, community organization, and empowerment. Lately, he is working at a nonprofit organization as a Project Manager, ensuring that girls and boys have access to basic services and that women and men have the same opportunities to achieve their social development goals. He has specialized studies in fields related to disaster risk management, climate change, child protection, gender, evaluation and monitoring, and girls and women empowerment. Felix is passionate about topics related to leadership, believing that we all can be leaders in any field and we all can contribute to making this world better and leaving a better future for the next generations.

Fernando Lara is a youth empowerment advocate with over four years of experience in the non-profit sector. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering at UNIAG University in Nicaragua in 2012. Since then, he has focused on environmental development, guiding and supporting more than 200 young volunteers to create and implement environmental campaign strategies to mitigate deforestation, promote ecological farming practices, and raise awareness of climate change in local rural communities while also collaborating actively with project partners and community leaders. Since 2016, Fernando has volunteered as a Facilitator in different projects and lately as an Operations Officer in Raleigh Costa Rica, supporting international volunteers during their deployment to projects in communities, national parks, and a leadership trek, providing pastoral support to team leaders, establishing safety and safeguarding measures and monitoring project results. Through these experiences, he has developed skills in capacity building, leadership development, and project planning and implementation. Fernando strives to reduce the impacts of climate change by promoting positive environmental practices while empowering youth capacity development.

Frank Sarria is a native of Managua, Nicaragua. He is a lawyer by profession, with a Master’s degree in Corporate Law and almost a decade of experience at the management level in the areas of marketing and sales in transnational companies such as Pepsi and Colgate-Palmolive among others. He has been responsible for the planning and execution of distribution channel development plans as well as commercial investment projects. Since March 2022, he assumed the challenge as Country General Manager with the Swiss organization Buy Food with Plastic, responsible for cementing the operational foundations of the organization for Nicaragua and providing support to the global management team in the elaboration of its development plans for India and Ghana towards 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-ivan-sarria-palacios/ https://www.facebook.com/frank.i.sarria

Gabriela Navarro is a Biotechnologist currently studying for a Master’s degree in Biodiversity. She has been working as a teacher at GoStudent Academy since 2020. She is passionate about the environment and social work, so she participated in two different volunteering programs in Poland and Italy in 2020 and 2021. She is interested in working with the local community to pursue a society that is more sustainable, respectful of the environment, and seeks equality to improve the quality of life for people.

Ian Serra has an undergraduate degree in Politics and an MSc in Sustainability and Management. He currently works for Andorra Research and Innovation, an entity in charge of generating and promoting knowledge, providing innovative solutions for sustainable development, and contributing to the economic diversification of Andorra. In this entity, he is involved in different projects involving the sustainability approaches of many stakeholders in the country. He is very interested in circular economy principles. These directly affect sustainability as a whole and can be used as drivers for social change. Similarly, he believes companies and society need to change their approach in many areas to be able to tackle climate change (energy, waste management, supply chains…).

Irene Vivas Lalinde is a climate activist and a storyteller. Irene has been involved in different capacities in the fight for climate justice in organizations such as the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) and Juventud Verde, as a delegate to COP 26 and COP 27, as a Feminist Climate Ambassador and as the co-founder of the initiative Proyecta Valencia – Hacia el 2030. Currently, she is a board member of Verdes EQUO, the Spanish green party, and works as a project officer at Eurocities. In the past few years, she has worked in European and international organizations such as EIT Climate KIC, the European Parliament, and Women’s Link Worldwide on climate innovation, citizen science, and human rights. She holds an MSc in Public Policy and Human Development (UNU Merit – Maastricht School of Governance) and a Bachelor’s in law. To disconnect, she enjoys the company of dear friends and family. She also loves meeting new people. Doing yoga and meditation has helped her keep her mental health balanced. In her free time, Irene enjoys reading, dancing, and writing. She regularly publishes in the online magazine Hyperbole. She believes in the power of stories to change people’s minds and create new imaginaries for a greener future.

Ivonne Casas has more than five years of experience in the financial area, project management, and research in public and private institutions. She has a degree in Business Administration from the Higher University of San Andrés and also studied Public Accounting at the Salesian University of Bolivia. Ivonne has a Master’s degree in Management and Public Policies from the School of Production and Competitiveness at Catholic University Bolivian San Pablo. She completed diplomas related to Sustainable Development, Projects, Gender Equality, Human Rights, Climate Change, and Big Data, among others in Bolivia, Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, and the Philippines. She currently works as a Strategic Management Professional at the Bolivian Institute for Standardization and Quality and is a Researcher at the Climate Change Research Center of the Grothendieck Foundation. She’s an activist at several organizations at the national and international level where sustainable development and human rights are promoted. She holds coordination and leadership positions and was appointed Local Ambassador by the Global Institute for Youth Development of the Philippines, managing to obtain a lot of recognition for her work. She was selected as a young leader by the United Nations Generative Dialogue for Positive Peace program in Bolivia. She’s currently working at the “Network for Monitoring and Defense of Environmental Rights and Rights of Indigenous and Afro-Bolivian Peoples,” which is supported by the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Bolivia and civil society organizations. She is also the Coordinator of a Working Group for the development of an international standard for students at the International Standards Institute of Next Generation.