Nevis Duran is a leader in the fields of energy, women’s, children’s and indigenous rights and is a Wayuu princess. After over 15 years in leadership positions with Electricaribe, Nevis has been dedicated to advancing rights through support of the peace process as a leader in such entities as the Iniciativa de Mujeres por la Paz. Nevis has remained at the forefront of sustainable use of natural resources advising the National Recycling Associations and has sought to promote commerce and community empowerment throughout the Wayuu community in the Gaujira.
Filippo Menga
Filippo Menga is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow at The University of Manchester, UK.
His expertise includes the water/energy nexus and processes related to hydropower development, as well as regional water and energy politics across different continents.
He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Cagliari and he has been visiting researcher at Tallinn University, the University of St Andrews and King's College London.
Fernando Lecaros
Fernando Lecaros is a seasoned Colombian senior energy sector consultant with experience advising States and international organizations. Fernando has over 25 years of consulting experience and has participated in over 50 projects for the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, power utilities, regulatory commissions, oil companies, government agencies, consulting companies and other international agencies (UNDP, OLADE, CAF) in 30+ countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
Gina Dennis
Gina Dennis is an attorney, business leader and Accredited LEED Professional. Founder of Relerience LLC, an environmental compliance company, Gina has advised many public and private sector clients regarding overlaps between environmental concerns and energy from New Mexico to South Sudan, to China and has been called upon to share her expertise at such institutions as the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and the World Green Energy Symposium, among others.
Neil Balkcom
Neil is currently is the Director of Operations and Green Coffee Buyer for Swing’s Coffee Roasters. He is a licensed Q Grader through the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and a certified Lead Instructor, Roaster and Coffee Buyer via the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).
Pulling from nearly two decades of experience, Neil regularly consults with farmers, co-ops, exporters and importers promoting sustainability as efficiency. He specializes in sustainable supply chain development, working with groups around the world to raise quality, incomes, access to market and promote social enterprise groups at origin directly affecting quality of life.
Luis Quiroga
Luis Quiroga is a finance and investment optimization specialist who leverages experience in energy and technology sectors to run complex pricing and financial models for international transactions with the aim of optimizing investment returns, cost savings and stakeholder benefits. Luis has a BS in Finance from Los Andes University, an MA in Finance from the University of Illinois and an MA in Finance and Technology from theUniversity of Texas at Austin - Red McCombs School of Business.
Dawn Huckelbridge
Dawn Huckelbridge’s focus on international gender policy has lead to her record of successfully developing and managing early stage programs and campaigns from Armenia to . Most recently Dawn served as Senior Policy Consultant to the Center for Women Policy Studies, conducting research and planning workshops for international women political leaders. She graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2010 with her MS in Gender and Social Policy, concentrating on international development. Prior to that she served at the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and Political Office, promoting women’s political representation and working with women’s campaigns, from bids for City Council to President of the United States. She has consulted on a number of international public interest projects, including human trafficking awareness and women’s political advancement in Armenia. She currently serves as Managing Director of the Young Elected Officials Network, a program of People For the American Way Foundation, where she provides policy support to a nationwide network of elected officials.
Beatriz Padilla
Beatriz Padilla is a Senior Research Fellow at the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), Centre for Research & Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL).
Dr. Padilla was born in Mendoza, Argentina. She gained a degree in Public Administration and Political Sciences (Licenciatura, 1990) at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina. Her continued graduate studies in the United States, where she received a Master in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas at Austin (1995), a Master (1998) and Ph.D. (2001) in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a concentration in Women and Gender in Global Perspectives. Her main areas of expertise include migration, gender, diversity, sociology and public policies. She has developed research and managed projects in the United States, Latin America and Europe. Her research experience and fieldwork includes Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, the United States and Portugal. She is a native Spanish speaker, and fluent in English and Portuguese.
Tomás Uribe Rueda
Tomas Uribe Rueda is a Mechanical Engineer from the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia (2001), who also holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2003) and an MBA INALDE, from the Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia (2011).
After completing his graduate studies in engineering, he joined the University of the Andes, as a professor and Coordinator of Mechanical Engineering Laboratory where additionally developed consultancy work within the Energy Group of the Faculty of Engineering.
Later he served as a Field Service Representative in the international heating and cooling company Trane in Colombia and Central America. He then earned the LEED AP certification from the USGBC and conducted numerous studies to evaluate projects based on the life cycle cost.
For the past seven years, he has served as a consultant on energy and environment with Sustainable Energy Solutions, a firm of which he is founder and owner. There he has directed and conducted audits of energy efficiency in buildings and industry (15+), participated in the LEED certification of projects in Colombia and Central America (30+) and in thermographic analysis of electrical and surround systems (30+), designs HVAC and natural ventilation (20+).
From March 2010 to March 2013, he served as Co-director of the technical committee of the Colombian Sustainable Building Council (www.cccs.org).
Tomas also works as an external consultant for the University of the Andes on the OPEN program (Market Opportunities for Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency) of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota and for the Inter-American Development Bank. He currently works as a consultant for the UNDP in the formulation of a project for energy efficiency in buildings to be co-funded by the GEF in Colombia.