Belén Páez, Ecuadorian ecologist, is an expert in guiding transitions toward regenerative economic models and creating governance and financing mechanisms for bioregions and indigenous territories in Latin America. As President of Fundación Pachamama and Vice President of Pachamama Alliance, she leads projects focused on bioeconomy, renewable energy, conservation, climate justice, and the rights of nature. She also serves as General Secretary of the Sacred Headwaters Alliance, which aims to protect 86 million acres of Amazon rainforest in Ecuador and Peru. Belén is also an author and member of the Science Panel for the Amazon, and serves on the board of Protection International, and is a member of the REDD+ Working Group in Ecuador. With 30 years of experience and strong leadership at Fundación Pachamama, combined with close collaboration with Indigenous organizations in the Amazon, she has played a key role in successfully halting the expansion of extractive industries and reducing deforestation in the south-central Ecuadorian Amazon—one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. These efforts have directly benefited Indigenous communities by supporting sustainable economic alternatives. For her outstanding commitment, she was recognized in 2021 as one of the 100 Latinos most committed to Climate Action and as one of the two inaugural awardees of the Thomas E. Lovejoy Prize, presented by WWF at the COP16 (Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity) in 2024, in recognition of her exceptional leadership in Amazon conservation. She was recognized by Revista Hogar as one of 11 outstanding women for her impact on environmental activism, conservation, and sustainability in Ecuador and beyond. Earlier this year, Belén was selected as an MIT Solve Climate Advisor, joining a distinguished group of experts working to address climate challenges globally.