Mary Fifield, Executive Director of Amazon Partnerships Foundation, has lived in Tena, Ecuador since 2007 and has worked in the country since 2004. Originally working for a community health organization, she created the grant-making model that Amazon Partnerships Foundation uses today. Previous to her work in Ecuador, she was a communications consultant for companies such as Microsoft and Boeing, as well as for nonprofit organizations such as Episcopal Charities, MoveOn.org, and The Pachamama Alliance. For four years she served on the advisory board for Interalianza, an environmental organization working in Guatemala. She has also taught composition and designed writing curriculum for ESL and disabled students at San Diego State University, where she received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. Her articles and reviews have appeared in print trade journals and online, and she writes on her experiences in Ecuador at Traveling Storywriter. She is fluent in Spanish.

Edmundo Cerda is director of the Kichwa-Spanish bilingual high school in Pano, a Kichwa community in the Amazonian county of Tena, Ecuador. Since 2004 he has also served as a coordinator for Q'ellkaj Foundation, organizing workshops for young people on citizenship and participatory democracy as well as cultural projects such as handicraft production. In 2007 he worked as a coordinator for electoral observation in conjunction with Q'ellkaj Foundation and the Organization of American States. He holds a technical certificate in information systems from Institute of the Oriente and is bilingual in Kichwa and Spanish. Through Amazon Partnerships Foundation, Edmundo hopes to help empower his fellow Kichwa people to revive their cultural values and ancestral knowledge of living in a clean, healthy environment so that they can lead the charge for environmental protection..

Susan Studer King brings over nine years of experience in the environmental nonprofit field, including three years during which she served as the Development Director of the Ohio Environmental Council. Prior to that, she worked on state agriculture and wetlands policy, gaining experience as a grassroots organizer, lobbyist and membership coordinator for the Council. Currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Susan works side by side with the Waorani Women's Association (AMWAE) to help build organizational capacity and to improve the sales and marketing of traditional handicrafts. Susan has organized handicraft training workshops and assisted with conservation projects including reforestation, construction of composting toilets, and installation of water catchment systems. An Ohio native who grew up on a small farm, Susan holds a bachelor's degree in environmental studies and sustainable development from Denison University and is fluent in Spanish. She chronicles her adventures in Ecuador on her blog, www.ciao79.blogspot.com

Andrea Garzón is Project Coordinator for EcoDecisión, a leading environmental consulting firm based in Quito, Ecuador, that focuses on ecosystem services such as the emerging carbon market. Prior to her current position, Andrea was a natural resources consultant for CODEAMA (Fundación para la Conservación y Desarrollo Amazónico) en Puyo, Ecuador. Her work included supervising grassroots environmental and health projects, such as workshops integrating occidental and traditional Kichwa medicine, and facilitating sustainable development projects to protect the Pastaza watershed and promote more effective practices among government agencies. She holds a Bachelor of Science in natural resource management from the University of San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador, and a Master of Science in sustainable forestry and land use management from the University of Freiburg in Germany. A native Spanish speaker, she is fluent in English and German.

Rahul Joshi has 15 years of experience in strategic development, project management, and business analysis. As president of Aware Learning Technologies, his company produced award-winning worker-safety applications while consulting with government regulatory bodies including the IAPA (Industrial Accident Prevention Association) and NIOSH (National Institute of Safety and Health). In 2006 he was a member of the architecture committee for the Cancer BioInformatics Group of the US National Institute of Health. At Boeing, he is responsible for improving office workflow through direct front-line consultation. He is an Affiliate with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and holds a Master's of Science degree in Molecular Biology.

Stella Klemperer is Finance and Operations Associate at Root Capital, a nonprofit social investment fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts that pioneers finance for grassroots businesses in the developing world. Prior to her current position, Stella was awarded a year-long fellowship in Amazonian Ecuador, where she worked with the Kallari Assocation, an indigenous artisan cooperative. Stella graduated from Brown University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in development studies and economics. While at Brown, she was president of her campus chapter of Oxfam America and an active member of United Students for Fair Trade. She is fluent in Spanish and speaks basic Kichwa.

Natalia Santillan, M.D., M.P.H, was born in Napo Province, Ecuador, and is the Coordinator for Intercultural Health with the Ecuadorian Health Ministry in Pastaza province, Ecuador. Previously she served for two years as Provincial Project Coordinator of the Tuberculosis Control Program in Pastaza. In collaboration with the Ecuadorian Health Ministry, Global Pediatric Alliance, and other organizations, Natalia has coordinated health brigades and grassroots health education projects in indigenous Kichwa communities since 2001. As staff physician for the Tapori Foundation, she helped coordinate environmental health and nutrition programs for indigenous patients. Natalia received her M.D. in medicine and general surgery from the Central University of Ecuador in Quito and a Master of Public Health degree from the Institute of Public Health at the Catholic University of Quito

Carmen Mamallacta was born in the Kichwa community of Pano in the Amazonian county of Tena, Ecuador. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Escuela Superior de Tecnica de Chimborazo. Since 1991 she has worked as secretary of the business tax department for the municipal government of Tena, and in 2006 she was treasurer of the municipal employees' union. She has also assisted with administration and tourist services for a lodge in Misahualli, a center for community and eco-tourism near Tena. Bilingual in Spanish and Kichwa, she is passionate about preserving the rainforest and her culture so that future generations of Kichwa children will be able to enjoy nature as their parents and grandparents have.

Patricia Bowman, D.D.S., holds a bachelor's degree in cell and microbiology and a DDS degree. She worked as a dentist in Canada for low-income inner city families and in private practice before emigrating to the United States. As a social activist and Pacific Northwest artist (www.psbowman.com), she has been active in the peace movement, helping to elect socially and environmentally responsible representatives to Congress. She remains passionate about the fair distribution of wealth and the preservation of the environment with a focus on grassroots activism.

Sue Sivyer is currently a student at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute pursuing a certificate in sustainable business. With 20 years of experience as a project manager in the wireless communications industry, she believes educating and raising the awareness of corporate leadership about the benefits of sustainable practices on bottom line profits is a powerful leverage point to help end environmental abuse and social injustice. Sue grew up in Wisconsin, has been an active volunteer since age 14, and holds a BA in Sociology/Anthropology/Politics from Lake Forest College.