agenda

Agenda TEDxAmazônia 2026

Baños & Puyo, Ecuador

August 27 - 30, 2026

Get ready for a journey of inspiration, connections and deep reflection. A day where voices that unite tradition, innovation and purpose meet on the TEDxAmazônia stage.

Alexis Grefa

Director of International Affairs, Kichwa People of Pastaza (PAKKIRU)

Alexis Joel Grefa is a young Kichwa Indigenous leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon. He joined the Amazonian Flotilla Yaku Mama initiative, traveling along Amazonian rivers to raise the visibility of territorial defense and Indigenous peoples’ rights. He currently serves as Director of International Affairs for the Kichwa People of Pastaza (PAKKIRU), where he promotes global alliances to strengthen Indigenous governance, climate justice, and the leadership of new Amazonian generations.

Ana Maria Duran

Daniel Rose, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Architecture; Member of the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA).

Ana María Durán Calisto is an Ecuadorian architect, urbanist, and researcher specializing in the relationship between ecology, architecture, and Amazonian infrastructure. She holds a PhD in Urban Planning (UCLA) and is a visiting professor at the Yale School of Architecture. She co-founded Estudio A0, exhibited at the Venice Biennale, and is a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon, and the winner of the 2022 Mark Cousins Theory Award.

Catalina Chumpi

Wise elder and spiritual leader of the Shuar People; member of the Mujeres Amazónicas collective

Catalina Chumpi is a wise elder of the Shuar People in Pastaza, Ecuador. She is part of the Mujeres Amazónicas collective and is recognized for preserving her people’s sacred songs, used to protect the community. She has represented Amazonian women in mobilizations and at international forums, including a visit to the UN alongside Amazon Watch, calling for territorial protection in the face of extractivism.

Cynthia Malone

Ecologist, primatologist, and artist. Ecologist, Primatologist, and Artist.

Cynthia Malone is an ecologist, artist, and Afro-Caribbean abolitionist. For more than 15 years, she has researched wildlife—especially primates—and conservation in partnership with Black and Indigenous communities around the world, from orangutans in Borneo’s peat swamp forests to human–wildlife conflict in Cameroon and biocultural stewardship in the Solomon Islands. As a scientist and organizer in the movement for Black lives since 2015, she has helped strengthen a global movement in defense of decolonial science. She was recognized by Grist Magazine as one of the 50 Fixers for her leadership in advancing equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Her most recent work integrates primate bioacoustics, ancestral archives, and Black and Indigenous cosmologies in the Caribbean and Guyana.

Davixon Lucitante Payaguaje

Coordinator of the Indigenous Guard of the Siekopai Nation

Davixon Lusitande Payaguaje is a young leader of the Siekopai Nation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Since 2022, he has promoted and coordinated the Indigenous Guard, leading patrols and territorial monitoring to protect his territory from illegal extraction, integrating environmental defense with the preservation of ancestral traditions such as yagé ceremonies.

Diana Chavez

Director of Communes, Peoples, and Nationalities for the Amazon Biocorridor Fund

Diana Chávez Vargas is Director of Communes, Peoples, and Nationalities at the Amazon Biocorridor Fund. She is a former Director of International Affairs for the Kichwa Nationality of Pastaza (PAKKIRU) in Ecuador. She works at the intersection of Indigenous territorial governance and international diplomacy. In 2025, she represented her people at COP30, denouncing the expansion of oil extraction into Indigenous territories.

Dominique Bikaba

Founder and Executive Director of Strong Roots Congo

Dominique Bikaba is the founder and Executive Director of Strong Roots Congo, a human rights and conservation organization in the DRC. For more than 25 years, he has designed programs that balance human needs with the protection of forests and wildlife in the Congo Basin, integrating traditional knowledge into the management of protected areas. He holds a master’s degree in forestry from Yale.

Edina Shanenawa

Pekãshaya — spiritual leader and guardian of the traditional medicine of the Shanenawa People

Pekãshaya, known as Edina Shanenawa, is the daughter of shaman Shuayni, an elder of the Shanenawa People. A medicine woman, she carries the strength of the forest and her people’s ancestral wisdom, working to strengthen and empower women within and beyond her community. A guardian of sacred medicine, she was the first Shanenawa woman to receive the feather headdress, passed from father to daughter.

Egleé Zent

Ethnoecologist; affiliated researcher at the Human Ecology Laboratory (IVIC) and the University of Vermont

Egleé Zent is a Venezuelan mother with an eclectic academic and life trajectory that moves between ethnoecology, botany, anthropology, conservation, and human and environmental rights. Her theoretical and applied research focuses on the Andes and the Amazon, co-creating knowledge with the peoples of the páramo regions and the Jotï people in Venezuela. Over three decades, she has dedicated herself to the care and love of the land and its peoples through collaborative, action-oriented, and applied biocultural projects. She is an affiliated researcher at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (Human Ecology) and the University of Vermont (RSENR).

Eric Terena

DJ, music producer, and Indigenous journalist; co-founder of Mídia Índia

Eric Terena is an artivist from the Terena people of Mato Grosso do Sul, a journalist, and a sound designer. Co-founder of Mídia Indígena and MulluTV, he blends ancestral Indigenous music with electronic sounds in performances held in over ten countries. He is the executive producer and sound designer of the film Yanuni, pre-nominated for the 2026 Oscars. His career connects sonic innovation, cultural preservation, and audiovisual activism, establishing him as an international reference in the promotion of Indigenous art and culture.

Esthela Noteno

Co-founder and administrator of Andi Wayusa; bioeconomy specialist at CONFENIAE

Esthela Noteno is a tourism business administrator and natural resource management technologist from Sucumbíos, Ecuador. During the pandemic, she and her family created the Andi Wayusa brand of Indigenous energy drinks. At CONFENIAE, she is a bioeconomy specialist, supporting processes alongside Indigenous nationalities and bringing visibility to the needs of Amazonian enterprises.

Juan Carlos Jintiach Arcos

Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC)

Juan Carlos Jintiach Arcos, from the Shuar people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is the Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), which brings together Indigenous organizations from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He has represented Indigenous peoples at the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UNFCCC. In 2023, he was shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Julia Valentim Tavares

Biologist; National Geographic Explorer and professor at the University of Leeds

Julia Valentim Tavares is a Brazilian ecologist, National Geographic Explorer, and professor at the University of Leeds in England. For more than 15 years, she has studied how climate change affects the Amazon, showing that there is not just one Amazon, but many Amazons—each with different capacities to withstand drought. One of her studies was published in the journal Nature, and her contribution to international science was recognized with an award from the King Carl XVI Gustaf Foundation in Sweden.

Juma Xipaia

Chief of the Kaarimã village (Xipaya Indigenous Territory, Middle Xingu); founder of the Juma Institute

Juma Xipaia is the chief of the Kaarimã village, in the Xipaya Indigenous Territory, in the Middle Xingu, Brazilian Amazon. An Indigenous leader recognized for defending her territory against illegal mining, she is the founder of the Juma Institute, dedicated to protecting her people’s environment and culture, and producer of the documentary Yanuni, which portrays the resistance of Indigenous women in the region.

Kike Pinto Cárdenas

Musician, musicologist, and founder of the TAKI Institute

Kike Pinto Cárdenas is a Peruvian musician, composer, musicologist, and professor, born in Lima in 1956. A specialist in Andean and Amazonian music, he is the founder and director of the TAKI Museum, Cultural Center, and Institute in Cusco and Lima. He received the “José María Arguedas” Medal at the highest level, and is a speaker and performer for National Geographic and cultural tourism agencies.

Kim Spencer

Educator and mentor to young Wapichan people, Rupununi (Guyana)

Kim Spencer is an educator and mentor to young people in Rupununi, Guyana. She has worked with youth since 2016, focusing on education, conservation, and cultural preservation through community initiatives with organizations such as the South Rupununi Conservation Society, Conservation International, and Cultural Survival. Her work supports Indigenous youth in strengthening their traditional knowledge while developing leadership skills and environmental awareness.

Lourdes Monrroy

Co-founder of the TAKI Institute and the Wiñaypaq Intercultural Education School (Cusco, Peru)

Lourdes Monrroy was born in Lima in 1968, the daughter of Andean migrants, and studied Psychology and Education at the National University of San Marcos. Co-creator of the TAKI Institute and the Museum of Andean and Amazonian Musical Instruments in Cusco, alongside Kike Pinto Cárdenas, and co-founder and teacher at the Wiñaypaq Intercultural School. Trained in Waldorf pedagogy, she creates educational toys with natural materials and promotes a holistic education that connects children with nature.

Lucia Ixchiú

Maya K'iche' architect, journalist, and cultural manager

Lucia Ixchiú is a Maya K'iche' woman from Guatemala—an artist, filmmaker, community journalist, architect, and cultural manager. A human rights and climate justice advocate, she is part of the If Not Us Then Who team and has worked for over a decade to elevate Indigenous narratives. In exile and a political refugee since 2022, she directed the award-winning short documentary Uq'axik B'e (Crossing Paths), winner of the Cannes Short Film Festival. She was recognized by Forbes Centroamérica as one of the 50 most creative people and one of the 50 most powerful women in Central America.

Luis Arteaga

Technical Director, ACEAA — Conservación Amazónica (Bolivia)

Luis L. Arteaga is Technical Director at ACEAA – Conservación Amazónica in Bolivia, which protects Andean-Amazonian ecosystems across more than 30 million hectares between La Paz, Pando, and Beni. He has led research on Amazonian fruits, climate change, and sustainable livelihoods, including the Amazonian Fruits and Climate Change Observatory.

Manari Ushigua

President of the Sápara Nation; traditional healer; former Vice President of CONAIE

Manari Ushigua is a traditional healer and political and spiritual leader of the Sápara Nation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He served as president of the Sápara Federation (1999–2012) and Vice President of CONAIE (2013–2016). He helped conserve more than 276,000 hectares of primary forest and co-founded Centro Naku, a community tourism model recognized by UNESCO.

Margaret Rugadya

Director of Programs (Chief Programme Officer), Tenure Facility

Margaret A. Rugadya is a Ugandan natural resource economist and academic, with more than two decades of work in land governance and gender equity in East Africa. She drafted Uganda’s National Land Policy (2013) and served as an advisor to the Ugandan Government. She is currently Director of Programs at Tenure Facility, after working at Resource Equity and the Ford Foundation.

Marielos Peñaclaros

Co-President of the Science Panel for the Amazon; professor at Wageningen University

Marielos Peña Claros is a Bolivian forest ecologist and Co-President of the Science Panel for the Amazon. A full professor at Wageningen University, she earned her PhD in plant ecology in Utrecht. She researches how tropical forests respond to human disturbances and how to achieve their sustainable management, mainly in Bolivia and Brazil.

Marta Echavarria

Co-founder of EcoDecision and Canopy Bridge

Marta Echavarría is a Colombian environmental entrepreneur and co-founder of EcoDecision, alongside her husband, Jacob Olander. In 2016, they created the Canopy Bridge brand, dedicated to Amazonian gastronomy. Her culinary innovation lab integrates ingredients sourced from Indigenous chakras in Ecuador—such as macambo and cachama—to bring the flavors of the Amazon to kitchens around the world.

Martha Rosero-Peña

Director of Social Inclusion in Conservation, Conservation International

Martha Rosero-Peña, Ph.D., is an Afro-Colombian woman with nearly three decades of work with Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities in the Amazon and the Pacific. She is Director of Social Inclusion in Conservation at Conservation International, and co-author of a Nature Portfolio study on the Afro-descendant contribution to biodiversity conservation. She is a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon.

Minu Parahoe

Regional Director for the Northeast Amazon, Amazon Conservation Team (ACT)

Minu Parahoe is a Surinamese specialist in natural resource management and agroforestry systems. Before joining the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), she worked at WWF Guianas and on UNDP/GEF projects in Suriname. Since 2014, she has led ACT’s program in the country, and today she is Regional Director for the Northeast Amazon, leading the protection of forests and territorial rights in Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana.

Mónica Chuji

Regional Officer, Amazon Program, Tenure Facility; former minister and former constituent assembly member of Ecuador

Mónica Chuji is a prominent Kichwa professional and intellectual from the Ecuadorian Amazon, recognized as one of the most influential voices in the defense of Indigenous rights and the rights of nature, with extensive experience in Ecuador’s political and institutional life. As a Minister and Constituent Assembly member, she advanced the recognition of the country as a plurinational and intercultural State, as well as the incorporation of Sumak Kawsay (Buen Vivir) as a guiding principle. She also promoted the inclusion in the Constitution of the human right to water and the rights of Indigenous women. She is currently Regional Officer for Tenure Facility’s Amazon Program.

Nantu Canelos

President of the Kara Solar Foundation

Nantu Canelos is an environmental engineer and community leader from Sharamentsa, Pastaza, Ecuador. He is currently President of the Kara Solar Foundation, where he drives solar river transport systems and clean technologies for the Amazon. His work connects natural resource conservation with local education and the development of sustainable alternatives.

Omar Tello

Founder of the “Las Orquídeas” Botanical Garden; ecosystem restoration specialist

Nelson Omar Tello Benalcázar was born in Ibarra, Ecuador, in 1956, and grew up in the Amazon. Although he graduated in Accounting, he directed his vocation toward ecosystem restoration: in 1980 he founded the “Las Orquídeas” Botanical Garden, dedicated to conserving natural heritage and environmental education. Today he is a specialist in restoring degraded areas in the Amazon.

Patricia Gualinga

Leader of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku; judge at the Rights of Nature Tribunal

Patricia Gualinga is a leader of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku, Ecuador, and a historic defender of human rights and the rights of nature in the face of oil extractivism. In 2012, she was a key witness before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Sarayaku case. She is a judge at the Rights of Nature Tribunal and is part of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Ronda Carnegie

Co-founder and Executive Director of Project Dandelion

Ronda Carnegie is co-founder and Executive Director of Project Dandelion, a global women-led movement that seeks to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis by connecting women across different sectors, generations, and regions of the world. Previously, she was a TED executive, where she founded the TED Institute and co-founded TEDWomen. She also held leadership roles at The New Yorker and The Female Quotient. Her work explores how ideas spread, how trust is built, and how communities can become catalysts for systemic change. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, United States.

Rukka Sombolinggi

Secretary-General of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), Indonesia

Rukka Sombolinggi, from the Toraja people of Sulawesi, is the first woman Secretary-General of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), the world’s largest national Indigenous organization, with more than 2,300 communities in Indonesia. Elected in 2017 and re-elected through 2027, she previously worked at JAPHAMA and as a program specialist at UNDP Asia-Pacific.

Sofia Isabel Vizcarra Castillo

Professor of Political Science, UFRGS; coordinator of LEPAC

Peruvian-Brazilian social science researcher and professor of political science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. For 15 years, she has investigated illegal economies in the Peruvian Amazon. She has worked in public administration across various Peruvian government agencies and in international cooperation in Peru. She currently coordinates the Laboratory for Research on Climate Action (LEPAC UFRGS), investigating the connection between the climate crisis and the political crisis in the Global South.