OUR TEAM
Experts in Their Fields Who Will Add Value to Our Projects
The team at Amazon for Life is a diverse team of individuals with extensive experience from a vast variety of sectors and regions around the world and based on that experience they have come to realize that the kind of work we’re doing through Amazon for Life is key for the future of humanity on planet Earth. All team members have decided to dedicate themselves to our mission and focus on concrete action to fight deforestation, contribute to solving the climate crises and biodiversity crisis and to having a positive socio-economic impact within the local communities.
Directors
Javier Calvo | President
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Javier Calvo with a BSBA and Economics degree in the University of Newcastle is a business partner in Boliverde, a sustainable forestry company in Bolivia since 2009 with over 1 million trees planted. He is also owner of the oldest distillery in the world, Bodegas y Viñedos San Pedro. Former Director and board member of various successful companies in Bolivia such as Hotel Los Tajibos, McCann Erickson and DDB Worldwide. Being involved in sustainable forestry for the past 13 years to help Bolivia change its mindset has fueled his dedication to the AFL project. His business sense is a huge asset in developing the AFL project.
Colin Dunlop
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​Colin Dunlop has an M.A. Engineering from Cambridge University and an M.Sc. from Imperial College, London University, and over 30 years of professional experience from managing large projects in the Oil and Gas industry. After having spent most of his professional life within international organizations in the oil and gas industry his interest and love for nature in Bolivia has taken over in his priorities in life, having been involved in mining, cattle farming and now in photography in Bolivia he has witnessed first-hand the degradation of forests, the slash and burn techniques used to clear land and how this turns into forest huge fires affecting Santa Cruz and Beni regions in Bolivia. He believes we must take action now before it is too late and as a very experienced project manager and professional photographer he adds much value to the Amazon For Life project.
Stephan Winkler
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Stephan Winkler with an MA Politics, Philosophy, Economics from Oxford University has 20 years developing sustainable forestry plantations in Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay. He is the leader in sustainable forestry in Paraguay and in Bolivia he has planted over 1 Million trees. Owner of 17,000 Has of land in Bolivia since 2009 he has been developing an Integrated Land Management approach to generate short, mid and long terms incomes to sustain forestry plantations. His experience in sustainable forestry is indispensable to the team and to develop the AFL project.
Oscar Dunlop | Vice President
Oscar Dunlop with a BS in Industrial and Commercial Engineering in UTEPSA university started his career in the Oil and Gas Industry as a Coring Engineer in Europe, Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Since this experience he shifted his focus to his main passion nature and wildlife. Opening up the first adventure tourism company in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in 2002 and working as a business developer for a Global Golf, golf course developer and for Biocentro Guembe, an ecological and wildlife park. He also owns an international commerce company, Dunlop Trading International, exporting native products worldwide. His passion and dedication to helping Bolivian nature and wildlife grow is the main drive in this AFL project, his defined engineering and business structure is an asset to the project.
Steve Hopper
​After spending 7 years on the family Corporate Farm, Steve held various senior executive positions in the energy industry, including positions in the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, South Korea, and China. Steve also served for 5 years as President of Transredes S.A., in Bolivia. Steve holds B.S. and MBA degrees from the University of Idaho.
Jarvis Smith
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A leader and pioneer for ethical living, sustainable business, and restorative retail for over 15 years. He founded My Green Pod who offer ethical alternatives to mainstream products and the P.E.A. (People Environment Achievement) Awards. Jarvis has partnered with some of the world's leading ethical companies, including Yeo Valley, Octopus Energy, Citrix, Weleda, Soil Association, Scottish Widows, Deloitte and many more.
His skill set includes raising capital and supporting Nature.
Consultants
Romano Diel
​The co-founder and Executive Director of EFISA (founded in 2012). Romano has more than 20 years of experience in the Paraguayan forestry industry. He founded EFISA's predecessor, Emprendimientos Forestales S.A., Paraguay's main forestry services company, in 2003 and since then has planted more than 20,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantations throughout Paraguay, surpassing 50,000,000 trees planted. The decision to enter the transformation of industrial wood in 2012 led to the creation of Empresa Forestal y Industrial S.A. (EFISA).
Karen Korponai
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Karen Korponai has over 20 years’ experience as strategy expert within international business development. As sustainability consultant for global brands and celebrities her mission is “guiding conscious companies in their quest to turn visions into reality to Promote People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity”. Karen is a climate activist and speaker at international conferences such as World Economic Forum (WEF), UN General Assembly (UNGA) and ACTAI and she’s been mentoring the Founder of the Bolivian Chapter of Greta Thunberg’s network Fridays For Future.
Alfredy Alvarez Saavedra
Forestry Engineer, specialized in multifunctional management of forest plantations, strategic and economic production of forest plantations under nurseries. Diploma in urban forestry. More than 20 years of experience in forest plantations and nurseries.
Isabelle Winkler
Social impact advisor actively involved in global climate initiatives such as COP28 and other climate change conferences. Her focus revolves around engaging with potential investors who share a commitment to socially responsible practices, aiming to foster sustainable and impactful investments in support of environmental and societal well-being.
Luis Alberto Arandia
Luis Alberto Arandia has a BA in Agricultural Business Management from the University of Aberdeen, UK has been involved in several sustainable forest management and community development projects in Bolivia. Since then he has more than 25 years’ experience in Management and Business Development in multinational companies, in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. He is the owner/CEO of Finch Global UK, a company that supports companies in market growth internationally. As a Bolivian who has been successful internationally he wants to give back to his country. He has a clear belief and understanding in the AFL project and his international business experience and contacts offers us value to commercialize all the AFL products worldwide.
Executives
Patricia Malky
She holds a degree in Marketing and Accounting and has over 20 years of experience in business development, sales leadership, and strategic management in companies such as Polytex, Colorama, and Sweetexpharma SRL. Her true passion is sustainability and community development, supporting reforestation initiatives and promoting circular economy models that empower local communities. With vision and commitment, she connects business efficiency with social and environmental impact, driving economic growth in harmony with nature.
Kimberlyn Saigua Baldivieso
Forest Engineer, with experience in identifying seed sources of native trees and evaluating damage in green areas, stands out for her dedication to research and sustainable management in the forestry field. She has contributed to projects as technical support for the plantation of Baru Nuts and the preparation of the diagnosis of the forest in the Chiquitania region. In addition, she demonstrates skills in managing forest emergencies through her training as a forest firefighter.
Ruddy Rivero
Experienced in agile project methodologies and certifications in pasture rotation for livestock grazing, soil management with a focus on Integrated Production Systems, Organic Fruit Production Soil Preparation and Management, and Low Carbon Agriculture Technologies, brings an open-minded approach to the team. He is certain that integrating trees into agronomy and livestock, along with other technologies, is the path towards a green future.
Carlos Gomez
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Master's degree in Project Management and Development, and a diverse career as a Project Director, 8 years working in financial modeling accompanied by cost and earned value management, Project Manager and Financial and Administrative Manager. Currently focused on sustainable development and tree management, he is a valuable addition to the AFL team.