Bia'ni Madsa' Juárez López, BSc, MS (Ayuuk/Binizá) has worked in the recovery of her traditional languages, and learned English as a tool to promote Indigenous Peoples’ rights and unity. Her academic work has focused on the relationship between community organization, forest conservation and shade-grown coffee production. She is a long-time social activist, collaborating with her local communities and traditional authorities. She is a member of both the Communities for Autonomy Collective and Mixe Collective. She brings years of experience to the IMC Fund. Her most recent position was managing the Keepers of the Earth Fund with the organization Cultural Survival. Her approach to work, worldview and thinking focuses on collaborating in the strengthening of Indigenous Peoples to achieve their autonomy in the exercise of their Free Determination.

Miguel Evanjuanoy Chindoy is a member of the Inga people from Putumayo, Colombia. He was born in a beautiful hilltop village part of an Indigenous territory named Yunguillo, where the local cosmovision and collective work are the pillars of community life. Miguel is a community leader and environmental engineer and has been a devoted follower of yagé (ayahuasca) medicine since his childhood years. He acts as a spokesperson for UMIYAC. His work focuses on Indigenous spirituality in territorial defense and environmental conservation, as well as how it contributes to peacebuilding, the improvement of community health, and the reconstruction of the social fabric in war-torn rural Colombia. Miguel brings his experience in both academic and community worlds to his role as Co-Director of the IMC Fund.

Riccardo Vitale is an Italian anthropologist with 20+ years of experience working in Latin America. His PhD (Cambridge) was on the Zapatista movement. His expertise covers human rights, anthropology in armed conflict, Indigenous politics, and climate change adaptations. Riccardo has worked as an advisor of several international organizations including Oxfam America, the UNHCR, the Norwegian Refugee Council, ICG and GIZ. Riccardo has worked as an advisor for UMIYAC since 2016, including support on fundraising, advocacy, capacity strengthening, and non-extractive research. His current work looks at the use of Indigenous spiritual practices and yagé (ayahuasca) as peacebuilding, territorial defense, and war-trauma healing tools, and the effects of the cultural appropriation and commercialization of traditional knowledge and practices. Riccardo is a Senior Advisor with the IMC Fund.

Dr. Tanya Kammonen is a Canadian living in the Amazon in Peru. She is trained as a molecular biologist and Naturopathic Doctor, and worked in ayahuasca integration and retreat facilitation before diving into a more interculturally informed investigation into self, healing, and ayahuasca. Tanya has over 20 years of research and project management experience and over a decade of work supporting people in healing and inquiry processes. She is the Executive Director of Oni Xobo in Peru, and works with the IMC Fund and Riverstyx Foundation as a key support to Miriam, tracking and developing systems and programming based on deep listening.

Sandra Suasnabar Alberco is of Andean-Indigenous ancestry, originally from Peru. She holds an MA in Expressive Arts Therapy and Psychology, and has 15+ years of experience supporting diverse communities affected by complex inter-generational trauma, violence, and systemic oppression. Sandra’s practice has taken place in community-based, non-profit, social justice, education, and health-based settings in Canada. She has worked as a therapeutic counsellor, advocate, manager, educator, and consultant, with each role being deeply informed by her lived experience and intersecting identities. In recent years, Sandra and her family have lived and worked in rural-northern Indigenous communities. Sandra remains deeply connected to her ancestors’ knowledge, culture and worldviews as she contributes to her community and raises her toddler. Sandra is the Executive Assistant to the IMC Fund and supports the whole executive suite in their management of complexity. 

Ivan Sawyer Garcia is a cultural entrepreneur, media producer and Indigenous rights activist. He has been involved in various cultural exchange, sustainability and Indigenous knowledge preservation initiatives for over a decade, collaborating with different organizations such as the Global Ecovillage Network, NuMundo.org, Four World International Institute, and Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, as well as with events such as the Consejo de Visiones – Guardianes de la Tierra in Mexico. Ivan is the founder of Voces de Amerikua, a collaborative media laboratory that promotes the voices of Indigenous peoples of the Americas and their efforts to protect their Culture, Land and Rights, using impact campaigns, social media and documentaries. Ivan works with IMC Fund staff and partners in logistics, media and conferences.

Micaela Montsserrat Arroyo Escajeda was born in Torreon, Coahuila and raised in Sonora, Mexico. She is a certified yoga and meditation teacher as well as a holistic therapist, having studied in Rishikesh, India. With over 15 years of experience as a video journalist, Micaela joins the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund as social media manager. Passionate about nature and of recognizing herself as an intricate part of it, learning about the self through self-expression, Mica believes that every experience offers opportunities to learn and grow. Mica is a keen observer of human behavior and enjoys helping others connect with their inner wisdom. Mica is excited about the possibilities created by new media technologies and social networks, and how these tools can be used to create powerful connections and to disseminate useful, empowering information to aid the healing, growth and expansion of all.

Benjamin De Loenen is a Belgian born, living in Spain. He studied audiovisual media in the Netherlands where he graduated with his documentary Ibogaine - Rite of Passage (2004) which introduced him to the globalization of plant medicine. This led him to founding the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS) in 2009, which he serves as Executive Director.

In the 12 years leading the organization he became more and more aware of the vital importance of indigenous peoples, their communities, territories and knowledge in the moment of crisis we are living in as a humanity, which led him to deepen his relationship with indigenous leaders since 2017. Benjamin supports the development and management of the IMC Fund in the capacity of interim co-director. Benjamin is the father of a young daughter.

Miriam Volat M.S.Co-Director of Riverstyx Foundation, is an educator, organizer, facilitator and ecologist with a passion for soils and nutrient cycles. She works Nationally and Internationally to increase health in all systems. She is dedicated to the biocultural conservation of Peyote and other medicines supported by the IMC Fund, and works in any way she can to ensure the conservation of these medicines for Indigenous communities and their precious ways of life. As a mom, she is fortunate her daughter, Cora, also supports her work.