Team

Meet the experts who make up the Rainforest Foundation US team!

Management And Administration

Suzanne Pelletier

Suzanne Pelletier
Executive Director

Luz del Alba Sanchez

Luz Del Alba Sánchez
Operations Manager

Elizabeth Dechant

Elizabeth Dechant
Grant Accountant

Alexandra Aviles
Accounts Payable Specialist

Programs

Christine Halvorson

Christine Halvorson
Program Director

Kim Chaix
Director of Strategic Impact

Josh Lichtenstein
Program Manager

Cameron Ellis
Senior Geographer

Maryka Ives Paquette

Maryka Ives Paquette
Program Advisor

Victor Gil
Capacity Strengthening Program Manager

Didier Devers
Chief of Party – USAID Guatemala

Katie Wightman
Legal and Advocacy Advisor

Laura Piccoli
Program Coordinator

Peru Program

Wendy Pineda
Project Coordinator

Plinio Pizango Hualinga
Policy Analyst & Capacity Building Specialist

Kathya Castillo

Kathya Castillo
Social Specialist and
Project Facilitator

Henry Harrison
Assistant Project Coordinator

Jaime Cardenas
Assistant Project Coordinator – Loreto

Development

Julie Hudson
Director of Development

Viviana Briseño Márquez
Development Operations and Annual Giving Manager

Jessica Rogers
Institutional Giving Manager

Marina Zelle
Head of Donor Relationships

Ziv Stern
Donor Engagement Associate

Sofiya Krasotina
Development Associate

Rona Morrissette
Development Assistant

Communications

Beth Duncan
Senior Communications Manager

Zoë Dutka
Communications Strategist

Karen Osorio

Karen Osorio
Communications Associate

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Suzanne Pelletier

Suzanne Pelletier
Executive Director
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Suzanne Pelletier has served as the Executive Director of the Rainforest Foundation US since April 2009. Formerly, Suzanne was the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the National Audubon Society. Suzanne holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia Business School and a Master’s of Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry.

Luz del Alba Sanchez

Luz Del Alba Sánchez
Operations Manager
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Luz del Alba Sánchez manages Rainforest Foundation US’s administrative and operational systems, bringing over 10 years of experience in nonprofit operations and finance. Born and raised in Queens, NY to Dominican immigrant parents, Luz del Alba is passionate about improving the lives and opportunities for marginalized communities in and outside of the US. Luz del Alba holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Management with specializations in Leadership & Change as well as Gender & Sexuality Studies from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School. She is fluent in Spanish.

Elizabeth Dechant

Elizabeth Dechant
Grant Accountant
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As RFUS’s Grant Accountant, Elizabeth looks forward to applying her accounting and grants management expertise to further the goals of Rainforest Foundation US. She has 15 years’ experience in accounting in various industries, including 5 years of fiscal management for government contracts, from budget proposal through closeout and audit. Elizabeth is a certified public accountant (CPA), and has a Master’s in Accountancy from DePaul University. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Alexandra Aviles Dechant
Accounts Payable Specialist
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Alexandra Aviles works as RFUS’s Accounts Payable Specialist. Prior to joining RFUS, Alexandra worked in finance for five years as an Accounting & Administration Coordinator. She also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity for four years. Alexandra has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Muhlenberg College, is fluent in Spanish, and is currently learning Portuguese.

Christine Halvorson

Christine Halvorson
Program Director
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Christine Halvorson oversees Rainforest Foundation US’s partnerships in Brazil, Guyana and Panama and brings extensive expertise in institutional strengthening, land management planning and titling, policy and campaigning. Prior to joining RFUS in 1999, she was a director of Amanaka’a Amazon Network. She has worked on issues connecting the environment and social justice for nearly thirty years, both in the Amazon as well as locally in New York City where she serves on the board of ABC No Rio, a cultural center in the Lower East Side. She holds a Master’s in Anthropology from The New School for Social Research. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish and also speaks rusty French.

Kim Chaix
Director of Strategic Impact
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Kim oversees key aspects of the organization’s fundraising, and communications activities and spearheads strategic partnerships and new initiatives. Previously, Kim served as the Director of Virunga Fund, a US non-profit dedicated to the protection of Africa’s oldest and most biologically diverse national park. He also founded The Charcoal Project, a non-profit dedicated to bringing better biomass fuels and technologies to populations that depend on wood and traditional charcoal in sub-Saharan Africa. Kim’s first career was as a television news producer and wildlife documentary film-maker. As a French-Nicaraguan, Kim is a native Spanish and French speaker.

Josh Lichtenstein
Program Manager
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Josh Lichtenstein provides policy, negotiation and management guidance to Rainforest Foundation US’s Panama and Guyana programs. Josh has been a rights and environment activist for almost thirty years, working with community, indigenous, women, farmer and conservation grassroots organizations and NGOs to advance their initiatives in both the US and internationally. Prior to joining RFUS, he served as the Latin America and Forest Program Manager and then as Campaign Director at the DC-based Bank Information Center, where he was also one of the CSO Observers to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Josh holds a Master’s in International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is fluent in Spanish.

Cameron Ellis
Senior Geographer
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Cameron Ellis manages mapping and field operations for Rainforest Foundation US’s work in Central America and the Guiana Shield. He is also a skilled multimedia artist. Cameron has been working with indigenous communities for over fifteen years, supporting them to map, manage, articulate and advocate their own vision for a prosperous and sustainable future. Cameron has a Master’s in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico and is fluent in Spanish.

Maryka Ives Paquette

Maryka Ives Paquette
Program Advisor
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Maryka Ives Paquette provides strategic and operational advising in support of Rainforest Foundation US’s programs and facilitates government engagement and special initiatives. She brings to this role over 10 years’ experience, including five years at the UN, advancing climate, forest, and development policy with particular focus on indigenous peoples’ rights, advocacy, and engagement. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy with a focus on indigenous peoples’ rights from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs as well as a Master’s in Indigenous Mind. She speaks Spanish, rusty Italian and is learning French.

Victor Gil 
Program Manager 
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Victor Gil manages an integrated capacity strengthening program in support of Rainforest Foundation US’ indigenous partners organizations. Victor brings over ten years of work experience with indigenous peoples in the Amazon, collaborating to advance their rights, supporting the control and sustainable management of their lands, and strengthening their representative organizations. He holds an MSc in Social Anthropology and a BSc in Geography, both from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Victor is a native Portuguese speaker and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Didier Devers
Chief of Party – USAID Guatemala
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Didier has been coordinating the USAID-funded B’atz project since joining Rainforest Foundation US in April 2022. He holds a Master’s in Applied Anthropology and a Bachelor’s in Geography. Before joining the organization, Didier worked for 12 years in Central and South America on issues of transparency, legality, governance, and managing stakeholders’ processes in the environmental sector. Prior to that he worked on similar issues in Central Africa. He speaks French, Spanish, and English, and is based in Guatemala.

Katie Wightman
Legal and Advocacy Advisor
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Katie is an international lawyer and human rights advocate who supports indigenous communities in Guyana to advance their rights and defend their territories. She has over 12 years of experience providing legal and advocacy support to indigenous peoples, refugees and migrants, survivors of child sexual abuse and domestic violence, LGBTQI communities, and war crimes survivors. Katie has worked in diverse environments spanning government, private practice, courts, academia, NGOs, and grassroots organizations in Australia, New York, London, and Guyana. Prior to joining RFUS, she managed a global civil society network of international experts who prevent human rights violations around the world. Katie holds a Master’s of Law from New York University and speaks conversational Korean.

Laura Piccoli
Program Coordinator
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Laura coordinates Rainforest Foundation US’s grant reporting and institutional metrics. She joined the organization as an intern in May 2020, and worked with the communications team before transitioning to programs. She holds a Master’s in Global Affairs from New York University, with a concentration in Energy and Environment Policy and a specialization in Data Analysis. Before pursuing her Master’s, Laura earned her BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is an associate member of The Rude Grooms, a Queens-based theater company that brings free and low-cost productions of Shakespeare to underserved communities. She is eagerly working on her Spanish.

Wendy Pineda
Project Coordinator
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Wendy Pineda is a territorial management tools specialist using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), mapping, geographic and environmental engineering, satellite remote sensing and project management techniques to create participatory tools and training methodologies for communities working to protect and manage their ancestral lands. Since 2007, she has collaborated with many indigenous peoples’ organizations in the Peruvian Amazon on community monitoring, ethno mapping and technology transfer initiatives. She is a native Spanish language speaker.

Plinio Pizango Hualinga
Policy Analyst & Capacity Building Specialist
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Plinio Pizango Hualinga is an indigenous Kampu Piyawi specialized in training communities on strategies and policies to protect their forests against deforestation and securing climate change mitigation resources. Previously, he worked with AIDESEP, a national indigenous peoples’ organization providing technical advising and analysis on forest and climate change policy. Plinio holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science and a specialization in Public Policy focusing on climate change mitigation and adaptation from the National University of San Marcos. He is a native Spanish language speaker.

Kathya Castillo

Kathya Castillo
Social Specialist and Project Facilitator
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Kathya is a Social Specialist and Project Facilitator, working to implement projects with a focus on gender, social inclusion, and interculturality. She brings experience with artisan cooperatives, economic alternatives, women’s empowerment, and indigenous autonomy in the Peruvian Amazon. She holds a Bachelor’s in Anthropology from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. She speaks Spanish and basic English.

Henry Harrison
Assistant Coordinator
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Henry is supporting the scale up planning of Rainforest Alert within Peru. Previously, he worked for four years with the National Parks service of Peru identifying and developing sustainable financing opportunities for Peruvian Protected Areas and local community allies. Working with indigenous communities in the Amazon and supporting their autonomy and sustainable economic development is incredibly important to Henry, and he feels privileged and humbled to be working with Rainforest Foundation US to achieve that. Henry received his Bachelor’s in Economics from Willamette University, where he found his passion for international development. He is a native English speaker who is also fluent in Spanish.

Jaime Cardenas
Loreto Information Coordinator
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Jaime works directly with the Organization of the Indigneous People of the Eastern Amazon (ORPIO) and indigenous communities in Loreto to systematize and manage data on environmental crimes to support community-led reforestation projects. Jaime holds a degree in Tropical Forest Ecology from the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana (UNAP) in Peru. He is a native Spanish language speaker and is also fluent in Portuguese.

Julie Hudson
Director of Development
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Julie Hudson is the Director of Development at Rainforest Foundation US, living in the beautiful hills of western Massachusetts. She has nearly three decades of experience fundraising and advocating for environmental issues from climate change to regenerative agriculture to land conservation. Julie has previously worked as a Development Director for Plastic Pollution Coalition, Mighty Earth, 350.org, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and Center for Food Safety. She has also done policy work and grassroot organizing for Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society, and serves on the Board of Zero Foodprint. Julie has dual Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Environmental Policy and a Master’s of Environmental Public Policy all from The George Washington University.

Viviana Briseño Márquez
Development Operations and Annual Giving Manager
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Viviana Briseño Márquez manages the planning and operational optimization of Rainforest Foundation US’s fundraising efforts. A passionate visual communicator and committed animal rights activist, she co-founded the Fundación de Protección Animal (FUPA), a Mexican organization committed to animal welfare, where she volunteers as a digital consultant. She holds a Master’s in Conservation and Education from Miami University. Born and raised in Mexico, she is a native Spanish speaker and is learning German.

Jessica Rogers
Institutional Giving Manager
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Jessica manages institutional giving relationships for Rainforest Foundation US, connecting with foundation and corporate partners to elevate and expand the organization’s critical work in Central and South America. She brings nearly 10 years of nonprofit experience to the role, including work advancing equitable workforce development, food and health care access, and voting rights. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration from American University and lives in Rhode Island.

Marina Zelle
Head of Donor Relationships
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Marina Zelle ensures that Rainforest Foundation US’s donors are connected and engaged with the organization’s programming, and that programming is aligned with donors’ interests. Marina was first introduced to the organization in 2012 as a donor herself after a visit to the Amazon. She believes the climate crisis is the most urgent global problem we are collectively facing today and that RFUS’s work is a logical approach to protecting forests in a way that respects the people and wisdom that they hold. Marina has an entrepreneurial background and has founded several companies, including a matchmaking service in NYC. Her passions lie in exploring consciousness, music and art, and she lives in Brooklyn with her pets.

Ziv Stern
Donor Engagement Associate
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Ziv supports Rainforest Foundation US’s fundraising efforts by engaging mid-level donors and volunteer fundraisers. As an Ashkenazi Jew, Ziv is particularly dedicated to cultural preservation for the survivors of genocide, and as a colonizer he feels a particular obligation to Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Since graduating from Swarthmore College in 2020, he has been organizing to support environmental justice, Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty, and the progressive political movement in New York. He holds a Bachelor’s in Linguistics and has studied Hebrew, Latin, and Ancient Greek, among other languages. When not getting excited about language, Ziv enjoys the magic of musical theater and cryptic crosswords.

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Sofiya Krasotina
Development Associate
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Sofiya supports Rainforest Foundation US’s general fundraising operations, data collection and analysis, as well as assisting with various special projects. As a trained early childhood educator and an independent filmmaker, Sofiya is passionate about solving environmental problems through educational initiatives, experimental pedagogical approaches, and intercultural dialogue. Prior to joining Rainforest Foundation US, Sofiya held various administrative positions in film production. She studied Humanities in Moscow, Russia and has a Bachelor’s in Film Direction from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is currently working towards a Master’s degree in Coastal and Marine Management at the University of Akureyri, while teaching and developing environmental curriculums for elementary school students. She is fluent in English and Russian.

Rona Morrissette
Development Assistant
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Rona supports Rainforest Foundation US’s general fundraising operations efforts. She spent most of her career working in corporate America in various roles including sales, and office management positions. After becoming a mom, Rona decided to pursue her passion for community service and has been dedicated to combating environmental issues in her community by mobilizing fellow community members to do the work. She was drawn to RFUS’s approach to combating climate change by empowering indigenous people to protect their own lands and feels there is no one better to do so. Rona has a B.A. in Economics and Marketing from Spelman College in Atlanta GA. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and son.

Beth Duncan
Senior Communications Manager
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Beth Duncan oversees the communications portfolio for Rainforest Foundation US, bringing to the organization over 20 years’ experience in diverse communications roles. Previously, Beth spearheaded development and program initiatives for an indigenous-led nonprofit organization that supports indigenous communities and indigenous Elders from around the globe. Prior to that, she worked in the private sector as a higher education communications and marketing consultant. She also served in the public sector, having served as a diplomat in Shanghai, China, and on special assignments across Latin America. Beth holds a Master’s of International Management from Thunderbird Global School of Management and speaks Spanish and rusty Mandarin. She currently calls Baltimore home.

Zoë Dutka
Communications Strategist
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Zoë ensures that our indigenous partner organizations have the support they need to build and implement diverse communications strategies. Previously, as cofounder of the production company La Mochila Migrante, Zoë partnered with humanitarian orgs and UN agencies to create multimedia campaigns in support of indigenous and immigrant rights in the Amazon border region, where she lived for 13 years. Zoë holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Karen Osorio

Karen Osorio
Communications Associate
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Karen Osorio supports Rainforest Foundation US’s digital communication efforts. Formerly, Karen was the Ecuador Program Coordinator at Global Citizen Year, where she had the opportunity to live and work with Kichwa indigenous communities in northern Ecuador. This experience ignited in her a deep respect for indigenous cosmovisions, and the dedication to deconstructing preconceived ideas of development, wellbeing and human-nature relations. She holds a Bachelor’s in Public Relations from the University Espiritu Santo in Ecuador and a Master’s in Governance and Development from the University of Antwerp in Belgium. She is a native Spanish speaker, fluent in English and currently learning French.

Margoth Quispe

Margoth Quispe
Legal & Policy Analyst
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Margoth Quispe works as a liaison with governmental agencies and counsels indigenous communities on applying for land titles. Since 2014, Margoth has represented the indigenous Ashaninka community of Saweto in their active murder prosecutions of prominent indigenous leaders and to obtain the legal title to nearly 81,000 hectares of their ancestral land. Margoth is a trained human rights lawyer and formerly served as the Human Rights Ombudsman in the eastern Amazonian Department of Ucayali. She is a native Spanish language speaker.

Carlos Doviaza
Mapping Coordinator
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Carlos Doviaza is an indigenous Emberá from the Darien in Panama and coordinates Rainforest Foundation US’s mapping and monitoring work with indigenous peoples across the country and for projects elsewhere in Central America. Previously, Carlos supported the Congreso General de Tierras Colectivas Embera y Wounaan to advance a range of the organization’s initiatives. He holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the Universidad Interamericana de Panamá and is currently working on a Bachelor’s in Environmental Risk Management at the Universidad Latinoamericana de Comercio Exterior in Panama. Carlos is bilingual in Spanish and Emberá.

Tom Bewick
Director of Peru Program
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Tom Bewick directs research, forest protection, and legal work as well as fundraising, communication, operations and outreach for Rainforest Foundation US’s Peru program. Tom previously worked as an international tropical timber trade investigator, an environmental services project developer, and as an international human rights observer. Tom holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham and a Master’s in Education from Fordham University. He is fluent in Spanish and Indonesian.

Daniela Anazgo

Daniela Anazgo
Administrative and Logistics Coordinator
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Daniela supports the overall administration and financial and operational management of Rainforest Foundation US’s work in Peru, with a recent focus on supporting the program’s COVID-19 response. Prior to joining Rainforest Foundation, Daniela was a supervisor at the Casa Andina hotel network in Peru, providing staff and management oversight of large teams. She holds a Master’s in Business Management from the Universidad San Martin De Porres. She is a native Spanish language speaker and is proficient in English.

Andrea Tirado

Andrea Tirado
Communications Coordinator
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Andrea supports communications and logistics across a broad range of projects for the Peru program. Andrea previously worked in private and public organizations since 2014, including the Canadian Embassy in Peru, Canadian Commercial Corporation, and El Dorado Investments. She is dedicated to elevating the voices and messages of Peru’s indigenous peoples and organizations. She holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the Universidad del Pacífico and a Certificate in International Business Management from Greystone College. She is a native Spanish language speaker and is fluent in English and French.