MVP - Key Persons
Ailene is a dedicated professional with a passion for non-profit Management. She pursued her education in various prestigious institutions, starting with an Associate Degree in Hotel Management in Germany, followed by a major in International Business from Lindenwood University. She further enhanced her skills with an MBA from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an Associate Degree in NGO Management from Quality Leadership University.
Throughout her career, Ailene has gained valuable experience working with renowned companies such as Disney, Copa Airlines, and Royal Caribbean. She has contributed to the planning and development of communities in her role at the Authority of Tourism of Panama. Ailene's commitment to making a positive impact led her to serve as the Executive Director of Active 20-30 of Panama, one of the country's most successful NGOs.
When she's not immersed in her professional pursuits, Ailene finds joy in spending quality time with her family and actively engaging in helping others. She also enjoys walking outdoors, immersing herself in the beauty of the natural world.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Research Committee
- Member of the Board
Ben Goulet-Scott is the Higher Education and Laboratory Coordinator at Harvard Forest, Harvard University's 4,000 acre ecological research station in central Massachusetts, where he oversees educational programming and research lab facilities. He completed his PhD at Harvard University, where he studied evolution and ecology in a group of North American wildflowers.
In 2017, Ben founded the Mamoní Valley Preserve Natural History Project, an initiative that empowers early-career biologists to conduct impactful biodiversity research in support of the preserve's conservation mission.
Ben is also interested in environmental education outside of formal academic settings and is co-creator of the science communication project Let's Botanize (@letsbotanize) on TikTok and Instagram.
Job Titles:
- Executive Coordinator and Board Liason
Carolina is the Executive Coordinator and Board Liason at Mamoní Valley Preserve. She brings over six years of executive support experience and a broad range of backgrounds and skills, from law firms to call centers.
Carolina is also a certified translator and volunteers translating documents for non-profit organizations in the areas of crisis relief, health, and education.
She is also an animal lover and an avid advocate for animal rights.
Educational background: Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Advertising, UIP. Digital Marketing Certificate, UDI.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Managing Partner at Motto Beverage Company
- Marketing Committee
Carolyn is a Managing Partner at Motto Beverage Company, the first plant-based healthy soda to hit markets back in 2012. Before joining the company, she led strategic relationship initiatives for HubSpot's executives, and founded The Good Ones, a 4,000+ member organization of Boston's finest.
She has dedicated her adult life to supporting underprivileged groups like Horizon for Homeless Children, Boston Gives, Mass Challenge, the Center for Family Connections, Big Sisters, and the Ann Steffens rare disease research foundation for Scleroderma.
Being a nature-loving explorer and mountaineer, she joined David Meerman Scott as the guest producer of Geoversity's historic TransContinental Expedition in February 2019.
Educational background: BA in Economics, College of the Holy Cross.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Research Committee
Christian is a Panamanian biologist and botanist, interested in multiple aspects of the chemical ecology and evolution of ferns and lycophytes. He is a specialist in the systematics, evolution, and biogeography of the spike moss genus Selaginella in the Neotropics, a region in which he has described several new species in this genus. From 2017 to 2019 he worked as a research assistant at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where he began his studies in tropical ecology.
He is currently a second-year PhD student in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a graduate research assistant in the chemical ecology lab, under the advice of Dr. Brian E. Sedio.
Christian is broadly interested in Conservation biology, Archaeology, ethnology, and biological anthropology. He loves cats, hiking, cooking (especially Mexican and Italian cuisine), classical music, and learning languages.
Claus settled in Latin America in 1997, starting with a six-year stay in the Amazon, engaging indigenous people in environmental monitoring, sustainable economic development, including ecotourism; and establishing innovative protected areas management regimes.
Some of Latin America's most renowned lawyers then trained him in legal matters and human rights-based development strategies, and since then, Claus managed for seven years, intercultural governance and poverty eradication programs in Central America, served as director to a World Bank infrastructure project, and managed a land titling process in culturally complex territories in collaboration with national environment authorities. He spent two years as a consultant evaluating natural resource management programs and most recently he was the regional representative of the environment organization, Forests of the World.
Before Google Earth existed, Claus was conducting expeditions to the Earth's most remote and indigenous territories. He co-owned the Danish travel agency "Seven C's Adventure Group" which financed his studies and was eventually sold after five years.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Director Emeritus
- Engineer
Colin Wiel is an engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is co-founder and chairman Mynd, a tech enabled platform for investing in single-family rentals, recently named the fastest growing company in the Bay Area. He has co-founded four other companies, including Waypoint Homes, a pioneer of single-family rental, which raised over $3.5 billion, bought over 17,000 homes, and went public on the NYSE, and Wildlife Works Carbon, the global leader in forest conservation through REDD carbon credits.
Colin has multiple patents in artificial intelligence, has earned a spot on the Goldman Sachs Top 100 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs, and was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He serves on the boards of Pacaso and Blockchain Coinvestors Acquisition Corp.
Daniel has more than 13 years of experience in the environmental sector, being part of the environmental impact study evaluation team at the Ministry of Environment of Panama. He is an expert in the identification, analysis and assessment of environmental impacts of new projects and has actively participated as an environmental auditor, evaluating the environmental compliance of projects in all their development phases, both nationally and internationally.
In his free time, Daniel usually visits national parks, ecotourism areas, goes hiking and loves recording his experiences with his drones.
Daniel's vast experience working for eco-tourism hotels, executive education companies and social enterprises, have shaped his entrepreneurial spirit. He has co-founded a social enterprise and a marketing consultancy firm, while helping brands achieve their communication goals, and advising them to always stay honest and real.
His passions are the mountains and to be surrounded by nature. You might see him hiking in Panama's natural parks, when he's not running to better his own pace.
Educational background: MCA, Master in Communications, mention in Engagement Marketing, UDD. Diploma in Strategic Marketing, DUOC/UC. Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, INACAP.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Member of the Board
- Marketing Committee
David Meerman Scott helps organizations generate attention and grow business in a real time world. He spotted the online content revolution in its infancy and wrote twelve books about it, including "The New Rules of Marketing & PR", the definitive book on the topic with more than 425,000 copies sold in English and available in 29 languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese.
Now David says the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of superficial online communications with tech-weary and bot-wary people hungry for true human connection. Organizations have learned to win by developing what David calls a "Fanocracy"-the subject of his "Wall Street Journal" bestseller-tapping into the mindset that relationships with customers are more important than the products they sell to them.
Education background: BA, Economics, Kenyon College
I am a massive live music fan and have been to 804 live shows since I was 15 (yes, I keep a spreadsheet) including 75 Grateful Dead shows. I'm passionate about the Apollo lunar program and have spent considerable time with more than half of the humans who walked on the moon. In my spare time, I've written eleven books, am published in 29 languages, and have 4 international bestsellers.
Gabriel Salazar has lived his entire adult life on location and served as our local wilderness guide since Mamoní Valley Preserve's birth. He is a true horseman, born animal tracker and navigates the forest without the use of modern technology.
In his youth, Gabriel was once a prolific hunter trained by military forces in the Mamoní Valley, but he has since been able to create a sustainable livelihood for himself with Geoversity. He also runs a quaint but efficient and beautiful integrated farm system.
Board Chair. Executive Committee, Fundraising Committee
Guillermo is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for exploration and sustainability. He has launched 7 for-profit ventures and 4 nonprofit organizations, while also organizing and leading 6 ocean exploration expeditions involving crewed submersibles. He is an advisor, mentor, teacher, and speaker on a variety of topics related to the exploration and sustainable settlement of extreme environments on Earth, underwater, and in space.
He currently serves as co-founder and CEO of Blue Marble Exploration, as well as founder and Chairman of the Humans2Venus Foundation. He was previously founder of Space Angels Network and co-founder of OceanGate.
A former officer in the United States Marine Corps, Guillermo earned his A.B. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law. He is currently based out of Barcelona, Spain.
Humberto is one of the oldest members of our team and has been with us for 10 years. He joined our team when we were building the agroforestry center as a chainsaw operator collecting wood for construction. Today, Humberto supports us in maintenance work and as a guardian of the land. The Valley is a place where he has learned that it is possible to work with other people and achieve common goals.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Executive Director of Wild Earth Allies
- Fundraising Committee
Katie Frohardt serves as Executive Director of Wild Earth Allies and is a recognized non-profit leader and field practitioner with more than two and a half decades working in international conservation.
Katie draws strongly from years spent living in Rwanda working in mountain gorilla conservation, her time in senior program roles with the African Wildlife Foundation, and more than a decade as Executive Director of Fauna & Flora International, Inc. before taking the helm at Wild Earth Allies.
Commited to the critical role of women in conservation, Katie serves as an Environmental Leadership Liaison for Rachel's Network and on the Advisory Circle of Daughters for Earth with One Earth. She was also selected to the Charity Navigator Consultative Council of Nonprofit Leaders.
Kennth Meislin has a deep history in multi-family and commercial real estate. It began with multi-family brokerage in the 1980's. He enjoyed an extremely active and successful brokerage career for over 20 years and sold over 7500 apartment units before fully transitioning to running the family's assets, which he continues to do today.
The Meislin's multi-family holdings include in excess of a thousand apartment units as direct owners, and the family is also invested in many real estate partnerships. Although located in many states, the bulk of the assets owned are located in California with a concentration in the Bay Area. Currently, Meislin Investments holds over 250 units in the city of San Francisco. Most of these assets have been owned for a long period of time, and all are meticulously maintained and operated with a true pride of ownership approach.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founder
- Member of the Board
- Campaign Committee, Fundraising Committee
Linda Jenkinson is the first women/CEO/founder to list a company on the NASDAQ. She is an experienced public and private company board director and a successful entrepreneur.
Her public company board experience includes Director at Air New Zealand (NZE:AIR) and The Eclipx Group (ASX:ECX). Linda is currently a non-executive director of Harbour Asset Management and Chair of Guilt Trustee Services, which combined manage more than $10 billion in funds. She has extensive committee experience chairing and serving on audit, remuneration/nominations, safety and digital committees for her various boards.
Linda is active in the community, supporting several non-profits and social enterprises as a board director, fundraiser, and volunteer.
Educational background: MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a BBS in Data Processing and Accounting/Finance from Massey University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Marketing Communications Executive
Mara has been a marketing communications executive for many years, working with a range of companies from start-ups to Fortune 50. She has also founded two non-profit organizations, in economic development and the performing arts. Mara studied cultural anthropology at the University of Michigan, lived in Brazil and Italy, and speaks Portuguese, Italian and bits of French and Spanish. Home base is Mill Valley, CA, where she raised her twin daughters, Eva and Marina.
Job Titles:
- Field Manager
- Co - Founder and CEO of Experience Mamon
Co-founder and CEO of Experience Mamoní, Mark first arrived to the Valley in 2013 and volunteered to the cause of leadership training and conservation. Since then, he has been leading local and international student groups of all ages throughout the Mamoní Valley and parts of Panama, and has developed a deep knowledge of the local biodiversity and culture.
He is trained in emergency response and jungle survival, and while living in Canada, he specialized in landscape construction and heavy machinery operation. He is a true waterman, having been raised in Aruba, and also speaks four languages: English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiamento, which has helped him support Geoversity in program development and management.
Mark continues to explore the Americas and Asia, every chance he gets.
Educational background: Extended Accounting Degree from Fanshawe College and BA in Business Administration from Laurentian University Canada, where he graduated Cum Laude. Certified Wilderness Guide from PAWGI.
Modesto joined MVP in 2015 as one of the guides of Kaminando. Since joining us, he has been very dedicated and hardworking, making sure to support his colleagues and in 2022, he also started collaborating with us by joining our team to support the bamboo collection work.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Director Emeritus
Nathan has over 40 years of experience in the fields of international development and
education. He is one of the staff founders of Oxfam America, supporting emerging community development leadership in low-income countries, and has been a pioneer in socially positive investment. Nathan started the youth leadership organization Earth Train Foundation in 1991 and, in 2001, led the establishment of its international base in Panama, where he co-founded the Mamoní Valley Preserve with Colin Wiel & family, and founded Fundación Earth Train, now Fundación Geoversity. Together with Verne Harnish, he directed the launch of the Geoversity ecosystem with its annual The Nature of Business executive events, as well as Geoversity's "Designing with Nature" and "Life Changer" initiatives. He was a contributing author of Disaster and Development (Fred Cuny) published in 1989 by Oxford University Press and a contributing author of Change Not Charity-Essays on Oxfam America's First 40 Years, published in 2010.
Educational background: BA in International Relations from San Francisco State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Marketing Committee
Since 1995, Roberto has focused on PE and VC investments, working with tens of ventures in Europe, Israel, the US and Latin America. In 2011 he founded BAMCAP, presently supporting a thriving portfolio of 18 ventures on both sides of the Atlantic. Earlier, in 2002, Roberto started Adara, one of Spain's first VC firms, which he served as Managing Partner until 2010. Roberto is also a former consultant with McKinsey & Co., from where he was recruited as CEO of a major food retailer in Spain, which be brought to a successful exit to Auchan. A YPOer since 1992, Roberto was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 1995.
Educational Background: Dartmouth College (BA Computer Science with Summa Cum Laude honors) and Harvard University (MBA).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Executive Committee
Rolando's backgrounds and skills are thoroughly multidisciplinary. His experience includes working with law firms, non-profits, businesses, and local government, ranging from legal advice to qualitative research.
In 2016, he was awarded a Fullbright scholarship for graduate studies in Washington, DC, where he worked for the DOEE and consulted for local non-profits. He later joined UNLEASH, a community of young leaders tackling global issues, as the first and only Panamanian at the time. Since 2018, he is contributing to the Mamoní Valley Preserve's ongoing mission.
Rolando speaks three languages and is a certified interpreter. He is also a bassist and an avid boulderer.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Marketing Committee
- Member of the Board
- Strategic Communications Leader
Ryan is a strategic communications leader with more than 30 years of experience managing global initiatives for major brands in the active lifestyle, business, tech, manufacturing, and adventure sports arena.
Before launching his new agency in 2020, Hayter owned and operated Hayter Communications for 19 years - an adventure-lifestyle public relations firm that managed initiatives for a range of global clients, from Starbucks, Microsoft and Sony Cameras to K2 Skis, Helly Hansen, Lululemon, and many others.
Hayter is a big-idea producer who finds opportunities where others don't, opens doors that never seemed possible and seamlessly pulls together teams and programs that are daunting to others.
Education: B.S., Journalism & Mass Communications, Kansas State University
Entrepreneur with a passion for Empowerment integrated with Accountability. Nerd at the roots (Engineer/Accountant) Philosopher at heart passionate about distributed power models (i.e. Holacracy, Teal Organizations). Mother of two wonderful adults. Recently welcomed a puppy into my life Love sharing positive energy and creating with great people.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Founder
- Member of the Board
We married right out of college and soon had house, daughter Devon,and son Colin. Steve's career was a wandering mixture of energy related matters. Karen's focus was on raising kids, lots of volunteer work, and as an MFT. Steve still chairs CLASP, an international NGO he founded 20 years ago (www.clasp.ngo) and devotes much time to the Panama project. In our retirement, we focus attention on the performing arts, especially the San Francisco Ballet, and are active in a variety of other stuff.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Fundraising Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Executive Committee