Introducing the 2015 Youth in Landscapes selection committee

Applications for the 2015 Youth in Landscapes Initiative are now open. Here are the representatives who will be selecting our 50 youth innovators.

Ariel Djomakon

A member of the YPARD Network, Ariel is the Co-founder of GLETAFA Foundation and Head-associate at RurAgServices, a starting company that delivers services to, and invests in rural Africa. He has experience in developing projects, fundraising, web communication and creating new partnerships solutions, including on the ground experience with the CTA ACP-EU, UN-HABITAT and the FAO. Specialized in food security for development, he holds at the University of Paris-Sud XI a Master DAD (Sustainable Agricultural Development) and a Maitrise in International Relations. Ariel is an advisory board member at The Hunger Project Benin and an Observer near the UNESCO Youth Forum.

Marta Panco

Marta is one of the co-founders of the recently formed non-profit the Global AgroEcology Alliance (www.gaealliance.org). Coming originally from Moldova, she has a double degree in Sustainable Agricultural Development from Denmark and France. She also has many years of professional experience on various types of farms in many countries, as well as research and data collection work performed in Malaysia and Madagascar. Marta has been actively been engaged in youth participation in climate change, and the latest project Marta worked on with Climate CoLab was selected in the semi-finalist with the proposal “Anticipating climate change in Pamir mountains, Tajikistan”.

Jesse Mahoney

Jesse is a forestry enthusiast hailing from Australia and is the International Forestry Students Association liaison to the Center for International Forestry Research. He has recently completed his forestry masters with the University of Melbourne where he focused on sustainable forest management, participatory resource management and land management policy. He is now working in the Australian public policy space, in particular focusing on forestry issues of both a regional and international significance. The importance of youth voices in land management to innovate and aid in development is something he really wishes to promote, as we work to find the solutions for tomorrow.

Karen Veridiano

Karen is currently a Senior Project Officer and the resident Forest Carbon Accounting Specialist at Fauna & Flora International-Philippines Programme, working mainly on the different REDD+ and ecosystem services projects of FFI-Philippines. Prior to that, she was part of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF-Philippines) working on climate change adaptation projects. Last year, while still an International Forestry Students Association (IFSA) alumnus, she had the privilege of being one of the youth leaders during the GLF Youth Session and this encouraged her to continuously engage in platforms such as GLF to ensure that future leaders have their space in the landscapes sector.

Panyarak Roque