Patricia Gualinga

Patricia Gualinga is the International Relations Director for the globally celebrated indigenous community of Sarayaku in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Her wisdom and expertise are based in years of activism and a strong, democratic community process that has directly resulted in ground-breaking victories in defense of their ancestral territories. She is an eloquent spokeswoman for grassroots, indigenous-led solutions to climate change, including keeping oil in the ground, the “Living Forest” (Selva Viviente) conservation concept, and “Plentiful Living” (Buen Vivir). She has been a tremendous and effective force for indigenous rights, advocating tirelessly before multinational oil company CEOs, judges at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Ecuadorian congress, and many other high-level decision-making spaces.