Candidate info
Particular qualifications:
I meet the qualifications for Chair through a proven track record of inclusive leadership, public policy engagement, and multi-sector collaboration. As founder and Director General of Reforestamos México, I have built a national movement that shapes forest policies, strengthens community governance, and mobilizes private sector action grounded in environmental and social responsibility. My leadership experience within the IUCN includes serving as Chair of the Mexican National Committee, Chair of the Mesoamerican Regional Committee, and active participant in the Global Group to Strengthen National and Regional Committees. In this capacity, I lead the Civic Space Task Force, where I have coordinated efforts to defend civil society participation in nature conservation and proposed Motion 049, which will be voted on at the upcoming Congress. Beyond IUCN, I serve as a board member of the Arbor Day Foundation and have co-founded cross-sector alliances on ecosystem restoration, biodiversity and business, and carbon markets in Mexico. I have extensive experience managing multidisciplinary teams, facilitating stakeholder negotiations, and developing tools for territorial collaboration. My leadership style is grounded in ethical governance, shared responsibility, and intergenerational inclusion. I understand the complexities of working across local and international contexts, and I am deeply committed to strengthening CEESP’s operational relevance and policy influence. I will bring the skills, vision, and relationships necessary to guide CEESP in becoming a more impactful, connected, and responsive Commission within the IUCN.
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:
My experience aligns closely with IUCN’s areas of concern: biodiversity conservation, sustainable resource use, rights-based governance, and nature-based solutions for climate resilience and community well-being. For over two decades, I have worked at the intersection of environmental justice, forest governance, and sustainable livelihoods. At Reforestamos México, I have led efforts in conservation, restoration, and sustainable forest management, partnering with Indigenous communities, ejidos, youth, and local governments. I co-founded national alliances like the Mexican Alliance for Ecosystem Restoration, the Mexican Alliance for Biodiversity and Business, and Amexcarbono, promoting responsible private sector engagement with communities and local actors to scale nature-based solutions. My work spans civic advocacy and public policy, contributing to national forest strategies and influencing public agendas at multiple levels: • Locally, through the Tree Cities of the World recognition program; • Regionally, through operational coordination of the Central-Western Biocultural Corridor of Mexico, where nine subnational governments collaborate to connect protected areas across 15 million hectares through landscape-scale strategies. My fieldwork includes tropical forests, drylands, and mountainous ecosystems — in both protected and working landscapes. I actively champion gender equity, Indigenous rights, and intergenerational inclusion, embedding conservation in a broader agenda of human dignity and environmental justice. This diverse and grounded experience allows me to contribute meaningfully to CEESP and IUCN as we face urgent and complex social-ecological transitions in an ever-changing world.