Renato Cunha

Chair of the Board – Bahia Environmental Group (Gambá)

Renato is a Mechanical Engineer specialized in Development Planning (University College of London – 1979), Comparative Environmental Law (Piracicaba Methodist University – 1981 and 1985), Environmental Resources Administration and Energy Economy (COPPE /UFRJ – 1984). In 1980 he settled in Salvador, Bahia, and in 1982, together with a group of professionals preoccupied with the pace of environmental degradation of the state, founded Gambá. Since then he has dedicated his time to the environmental cause and his activism is almost inseparable from the history of Gambá. He participated in the creation of the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Sustainable Development (FBOMS), the Brazilian Environmental Justice Network and the Atlantic Forest NGOs Network (RMA), having taken over the national coordination of the latter between 2000 and 2003. Besides remaining in these collectives, he also participates in the Energy working group of FBOMS, the Brazil Network of Multilateral Financial Institutions, “Mangue Mar” Mangrove Network and SOS Abrolhos Coalition, among others.

Selma dos Santos Dealdina

Vice-chair of the Board - National Coordination of Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities - CONAQ

Graduated in Social Work, Selma was born in Sapê do Norte, Angelim III community in São Mateus - ES. He started his activism working in the Black Movement CECUNES integrating the Afro dance group Kanoombo, coordinated by Silvana Santos, Irmã Luzia and Fr. Rufino. From the age of 16 he began to actively participate in the Student Movement of the Municipality in the creation of Student Guilds in schools: Starting the militancy of political discussion and Land Regularization of the municipality and quilombola territories and agrarian reform settlements in 2002, working in the Agrarian Sector of PT.

Currently at the Executive Secretariat of CONAQ (National Coordination of Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities), Alternate Counselor of Racial Equality in ES and Titular Counselor Culture in ES. Member of the Organizing team of the March of the Black Women 2015, at the Impulsor Nucleus of ES. National Collective of Quilombola Women of CONAQ.

Severiá Maria Idioriê Xavante

Indigenous Leader

Severiá was involved in several projects to strengthen and maintain the culture of the Xavante people, with in-depth studies of Indigenous education themes. She was part of the Indigenous Research Center project of the Union of Indigenous Nations from 1988 to 1994, which resulted in several projects in the Pimentel Barbosa Reserve for the recovery of rivers, fauna, flora, and traditional medicines. A graduated in Modern Languages (English and Portuguese) by the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás (1986), she is currently a teacher at the Etenhiritipá Indigenous State School – SEDUC. A specialist in Indigenous School Education by UNEMAT / Barra do Bugres, she has experience in education, with emphasis on Indigenous school education. She holds a master’s degree in Education from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá Campus.

Iremar Ferreira

Director of Instituto Madeira Vivo

Iremar Antonio Ferreira, a popular educommunicator, has been working since 1988 in the defense and promotion of rights. He is currently the director of Instituto Madeira Vivo and a member of the Pan-Amazon Social Forum - FOSPA and the Forum on Climate Change and Socio-Environmental Justice - FMCJS, fighting for socio-environmental justice. He coordinates the Committee for the Defense of Amazonian Life in the Madeira Basin - COMVIDA, in Brazil and Bolivia. He holds a degree in History and a master's degree in Regional Development and Environment.

Mércia Silva

Executive Director of ESG Fractal - Human Rights in Supply Chains

Mércia Silva holds a degree in Social Sciences and a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (USP). She is a Fellow of the U.S. Department of State and Fulbright. She has extensive experience conducting field research focused on labor issues. Her personal and professional fight is to eliminate slave labor in Brazil. For 8 years, she served as Executive Director & Government Relations at InPACTO, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes companies (both public and private) from various sectors to prevent and eradicate slave and child labor in supply chains. Currently, Mércia is the Executive Director of ESG Fractal, a company focused on human rights in supply chains.

Elionice Sacramento

Association of Artisanal Fishers and Quilombola Communities of Conceição de Salinas

Elionice Conceição Sacramento is a black woman, belonging to the Filomena race. She is a fisherwoman by profession, tradition, and political decision, as she likes to assert. She is a militant of the National Artisanal Fishers Women's Articulation and the Fishers' Movement, and she is part of the coordination of the Association of Artisanal Fishers and Quilombola Communities of Conceição de Salinas. She holds a master's degree in Traditional Knowledge and Sustainability among Traditional Peoples and Lands from UnB (University of Brasília) and is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology. Sacramento is the author of the book "From the Black Diaspora to the Territory of Land and Waters - Ancestry and Women's Protagonism in the Fishers and Quilombola Community of Conceição de Salinas/BA" and co-author of other works such as "Salinas, the sea, the mud, and life."

Laura Yawanawa

Executive Director of Yawanawá Socio-Cultural Association - ASCY

Laura Yawanawa is an indigenous leader with Zapotec and Mixtec roots from the Oaxaca region, Mexico. She holds a degree in International Relations, with a specialization in indigenous peoples' political affairs. She served as the Executive Director of the South and Meso-American Indian Rights Center in Oakland, California, where she tirelessly worked for the rights of indigenous peoples throughout Latin America. Laura co-founded organizations to support indigenous peoples, including the Nawa Institute and INIYA (Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Alliance). She also worked for the Acre State Institute of Climate Change, organizing workshops in indigenous communities to raise awareness about climate change and environmental services. For 17 years, she has been working for the Yawanawá people and is currently the Executive Director of the Yawanawá Socio-Cultural Association - ASCY.