ACA and ACCA Welcome New Executive Director

February 22, 2011

With the start of the new year, it brings us great pleasure to introduce Luis Felipe Duchicela, the new executive director for Amazon Conservation Association/Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónia (ACA/ACCA), who began as of February 1, 2011. Luis Felipe brings substantial experience from the private, governmental, and non-profit sectors throughout Latin America.

During the last six years, he served as regional director for the Rainforest Alliance, first in Central America and Mexico, and more recently in Ecuador and the Andean Amazon region, where he was in charge of promoting best management practices and sustainable livelihoods in agriculture (coffee, cocoa and bananas), forestry (timber and Brazil nuts), and tourism in the fragile ecosystems of these countries.

He became the first national secretary of indigenous affairs of Ecuador in 1994 and achieved the creation of the first multimillion-dollar fund exclusively for indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorean development. Luis Felipe is an expert in agricultural development, having worked nearly twenty years with Chiquita in various functions ranging from financial analyst to country manager in Central America and Ecuador.

Luis Felipe, an Ecuadorean of Quechua descent, holds a BA in architecture and regional planning from the Central University of Ecuador in Quito, and a master’s degree in public and private management from Yale University, with emphasis on finance, corporate strategies, and quantitative analysis.

We thank Monica Romo for her leadership as interim executive director, and look forward to the future efforts, leadership, and contributions of Luis Felipe. This addition marks an exciting change for ACA/ACCA, and we’ll keep you posted on our ongoing developments.