Robert Suarez is the founder and director of the Forest Venture Lab where he originates, develops and grows sustainable climate initiatives in the areas of land stewardship, forest health, carbon sequestration and the conversion of woody biomass to higher-value products and services.
Kim Milanes is an English language teacher currently residing in Spain, and will soon move to Germany. She has a long history working with youth of different ages, backgrounds and goals. She participated in the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme in the summer of 2016. This experience enriched her life with the tools to empower not only herself, but now many youth across the world. She believes in being a global citizen and is a strong advocate for mental health, education and community development.
My name is Nour Diab and I work within a humanitarian organization serving refugees in Lebanon. We ensure that children are safe and get their rights. I’ve been involved with IofC since 2016. I took part in the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme for two summers in a row and it was a life-changing experience for me. I had the chance to learn more about leadership, connect with people and most importantly serve others. I am excited about this year’s virtual experience with Caux, especially the Creative Leadership conference.
My name is Faouma Tabet Salem and I am currently doing an MSc in Public Health and Health Promotion in the UK. I believe in education and in empowering the women and girls in my country through building a safe and healthy space for them to grow and succeed. ‘The only thing worth doing is what we do for others’: my goal is to help make an impact in my community, change the system and give back.
Very early on, I became interested in the disappearance of species and their protection. Peasant societies and their autonomy fascinate me and I consider agriculture a key sector for the protection of living things. I studied journalism with the ambition of being able to influence these subjects, but the reality of journalism quickly pushed me to return to nature. I first worked as an environmental adviser to farmers and then developed my own beef breeding operation.
Papa Faye holds a Doctorate in Sociology from Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar and a PhD in Social Anthropology from the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Bern. He has been doing research on renewable natural resources governance since 2004. He is affiliated with many institutions including the Council for the Development of Social Sciences Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR) and the Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy Initiative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA).
Burak Tantay is a mechanical and electronics engineer in Istanbul and is heavily invested in sustainable development. He has been the spearhead of many service projects that address local and international community issues. He took part in the Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Business conference at Caux in 2014 and in the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme in 2016 and 2018. He believes that the programme helped him to grow and to realize his potential even more effectively.
Anuradha Abeykoon is a young professional in the development sector who dreams of and works for a world with social justice. He engages with conflict transformation and climate change adaptation initiatives locally and internationally, building on his academic background in Development Studies, Social Work and Diplomacy and World Affairs. Anuradha is also an alumnus of the Caux Scholars Programme and Caux Peace and Leadership Programme.
Humberto Delgado Rosa is the Director for Natural Capital, DG Environment, European Commission. Previously he was Director for Mainstreaming Adaptation and Low Carbon Technology in DG Climate Action. He is experienced in European and international environmental policy, particularly in biodiversity and climate change issues. He served as Secretary of State for the Environment in the Portuguese Government from March 2005 to June 2011. Between 1995 and 2002 he was an advisor for environmental matters to the Prime Minister of Portugal. He holds a PhD in Evolutionary Biology.
Josef Garvi grew up in Niger, where at a young age he became passionate about regreening the drylands through food-bearing, naturally drought-resistant plants. After serving for 17 years as a volunteer in a reforestation NGO, he founded Sahara Sahel Foods in 2014. This social enterprise supports the regreening efforts of a network of 1,500 rural smallholders, by processing and marketing the produce they gather from 18 indigenous, genetically wild, tree species.