Juan Carlos Mendoza is IFAD’s Director for Environment, Climate, Gender, and Social Inclusion. He has held leadership roles at the UNCCD, Green Climate Fund, World Bank, and KPMG, focusing on climate resilience, inclusive development, and resource mobilisation. He holds master’s degrees in public policy from Georgetown University and engineering from MIT, and has worked extensively across Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific.

Reina Buijs is the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Colombia. With a background in human nutrition and public health, she has held senior roles in international cooperation and diplomacy, including postings in Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, and Ecuador. Fluent in Dutch, English, and Spanish, she brings over three decades of experience in development, health policy, and international relations.

César Aldrighi, an agronomist and public servant at INCRA since 2006, is its current President. He holds a master’s in Agroecosystems and specialisations in cooperativism and georeferencing. With xpertise in family farming, agrarian reform, and rural development, he has led key programs like PRONATER and Terra Forte, and held leadership roles in settlement development. 

Dr. Zeina Jallad is Director of the Palestine Land Studies Center and Assistant Professor of International Law at AUB. With 20 years of UN experience across MENA, Switzerland, and Laos, she specializes in housing, land, and property rights. She holds a JSD and LLM from Columbia, is a legal advisor to the UN, and serves on Birzeit University’s Board. Her work has been published in leading international law journals.

Dr. Albert Kwokwo Barume, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He holds a PhD in law focused on Indigenous rights in Africa and has over 25 years of experience. His roles include expert to the African Commission, ILO Senior Specialist, chair of the UN Expert Mechanism, and adviser to governments and international organizations.

Vivian, an Ilaikipiak Maasai from Laikipia North, Kenya, is Program Manager at IMPACT Kenya. She leads the Inclusive Conservation Initiative, promoting rights-based, community-led conservation. With a BSc in Environmental Conservation and ongoing MSc in Rangeland Management, she previously coordinated gender and natural resource programs.

Program Officer on the Natural Resources and Climate Justice Program at the Ford Foundation in the Andean region, focusing on land titling of Indigenous and local communities.  Formerly Peru’s Vice Minister of Labor Promotion, he has worked extensively on sustainable development and social responsibility in many institutions, including the Clinton Foundation, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru.

Tobiko is an Indigenous Peoples’ rights advocate with expertise in securing communal tenure rights. He promotes Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) when engaging with communities. His mission is to ensure indigenous lands and territories are recognised and registered and envisions a future where women and youth are included in all spheres of society.

Lina Peñuela is the Amazon Regional Strategy Coordinator for the UK’s International Forest Unit. Based in Bogotá, she has led forest policy and climate finance programmes for six years. Previously, she worked with the Colombian government on land use and climate finance. She holds a degree in International Relations with a focus on Sustainable Development and Risk Management.