Policy Apprenticeship

Julio Cesar López Jamioy is an Indigenous leader from Putumayo, belonging to the Inga People. He is the former president of the Zonal Indigenous Organization of Putumayo - OZIP, and is currently President and General Coordinator of the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon - OPIAC.

He is a graduate of the National University of Colombia’s school of law, with extensive knowledge and experience working with grassroots Indigenous political and traditional authorities and in advocacy in national and international instances for the protection of the 64 Indigenous Nations of the Colombian Amazon.

Belkys Herrera Mejía is an Indigenous leader of the Murui people of the department of Caquetá. Belkys holds a master's degree in education. She is a pedagogue with experience in intercultural educational processes, community training, construction and coordination of public policies.

She has been a member of the National Working Commission for the Coordination in Education for Indigenous Peoples - CONTCEPI, a member of the Native Languages Advisory Council in Colombia, and Coordinator of Education of OPIAC. She is currently a delegate to the Amazon Regional Table (MRA).

Dixon Alexander Andoque Mendoza is an Indigenous leader of the Andoque people of the department of Caqueta. He began his leadership processes defending the rights of Indigenous Peoples at the age of 22, as the Departmental Secretary of Indigenous Peoples, where he was a representative of departmental Indigenous victims.

Currently, he advises the General Coordination of OPIAC, is Coordinator of Human Rights of CRIMA, and is finishing his studies in Business Administration at the University of the Amazon.

Nemo Andy Guiquita is an Indigenous woman of the Waorani Nation, and an activist and defender of her territory. She studied business administration, and is currently the Director of the Women, Family, Health and Nutrition Department of CONFENIAE, Vice President of the Waorani Nationality of Ecuador-NAWE, and Coordinator of Waorani Women AMWAE.

Indira Vargas is an Indigenous woman of Kichwa nationality from Pastaza – a subsidiary of CONFENIAE. She is also a part of the ECMIA Indigenous youth commission. With a degree of tourism engineering from the Amazon State University, is a communicator at the Indigenous radio station La Voz de la CONFENIAE, and is a digital lancer. Indira Vargas recognizes herself as a defender of human rights and nature. She is co-founder of the Awana Colectiva.

Oswando Nenquimo (Opi) was born in the Nemonpare community, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He is a Waorani leader and activist, the main spokesperson for Waorani Resistance, and a human rights and nature defender. He is the co-founder of “Alianza Ceibo” (Ceibo Alliance) and coordinates the foundation’s Control and Surveillance Monitoring for the Waorani territory protection efforts.

From 2015 to 2018, Opi led the Waorani’s most important initiative: creating a Waorani territory map in collaboration with Indigenous communities. This initiative contributed to Waorani territory defense, the halting of petroleum exploitation, and the achievement of the Waorani’s legal status as an Ecuadorian state.

Opi is currently studying law to further defend the Waorani people and territories in the face of government and private sector natural resource exploitation and human rights violations against Ecuador’s Indigenous communities.

Laura George is an Indigenous woman of the proud Ka’pon nation, also known as the Akawaios of the forested highlands in Guyana. Laura is currently the Governance and Rights Coordinator at the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), an advocacy group for the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana, and works with a team to ensure that the rights of Indigenous Peoples are represented in areas of projects, programs, legislation, and policy development.

Prior to joining the APA as a full-time staff member and advocate for Indigenous Peoples' rights, Laura was a formal educator for children. She serves as Focal Point for four Indigenous organizations on the National Implementation Working Group (NIWG) to lend oversight on the implementation of Guyana’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union on its Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) program. Laura George also sits on the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS 2030), representing the APA.

Rehanna Thomas, of the Akawaio nation in Guyana, is an Indigenous Youth Policy Intern at the Amerindian Peoples Association - APA. She recently completed her Bachelor's degree in Social Work. She is a vibrant young woman who seeks to address the inequalities faced by Indigenous Peoples in Guyana.

Dan James is a proud Indigenous youth of the Wapichan nation, born in 1998. With a strong educational background, he attended Queen's College and earned a diploma in Communication Studies from the University of Guyana.

He has worked at the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) for 6 years. Starting as a Data Manager, he become a Field Mapping Technician and Policy Assistant. Dan has also made a valuable contribution as a consultant for the Forest Peoples Programme, where he spent a year on a pilot project.

Tabea Casique Coronado is a leader who was born in the Ashaninka community in Chicosa, in the province of Atalaya department of Ucayali, Peru. From a very young age, Tabea Casique stood out in her community for her participation in diverse community assemblies. Her desire to serve led her to leave her community at the end of secondary school to study technical nursing at the Public Technological Institute of the Province of Atalaya. At the same time, she worked for the Secretary of the Regional Indigenous Organization of Atalaya (OIRA).

She was elected as Secretary of AIDESEP and Coordinator of the Area of Education, Science and Technology of COICA, where she works presently. Tabea was involved in the officialization of the Asheninka language, and the Ministry of Culture considered her an official interpreter of Asheninka.

Wilfredo Tsamash Cabrera was born in the Bajo Naranjillo Native Community, of Awajun Indigenous nationality. He studied at the National Agrarian University of the Jungle - UNAS - TINGO MARIA. He was president of the Federation of Students of the National Agrarian University of La Selva - FEUNAS. He has also worked with the Bajo Naranjillo Native Community, the Awajún Regional Indigenous Federation of Alto Mayo (FERIAAM), and as the Coordinator for the Development and Defense of the Indigenous Peoples of the San Martin Region (CODEPISAM), contributing to the strengthening of federal and regional organizations. He is currently the President of CODEPISAM, representing three Indigenous Peoples – Awajún, Shawi, and Kichwa – with more than 128 native communities.