Richard Edwards is the Director of Planeterra. In this role, he oversees the direction and development of our Foundation with the purpose of ensuring sustainable community development through travel. The company's aim is to create lasting memories and meaningful relationships between travelers and local communities by providing all generations of travelers with ways to connect and give back to our valuable projects around the world.
Edwards has over 20 years of experience in the ecotourism industry, integrated resource management and international community development.
Richard Edwards received his undergraduate degree from Linfield College and his Masters degree from Washington State University.
Haroldo Torres, formerly a managing partner of Data Popular, is CEO for "Plano CDE", a research and consulting company dedicated to inclusive business initiatives and base of the pyramid (BOP) markets. (www.planocde.com.br)
Torres also serves a Senior Research Associate at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) and has worked as Coordinator for Knowledge Transfer at the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM) (2000-2007), as a David E. Bell Research Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies (1996-97), as a Senior Research Associate and Project Leader for various organizations in the NGO and Public Sector (1990-2001), and as Economic Analyst for the Sao Paulo Chamber of Commerce (1989-90).
Haroldo Torres holds a BA in economics from UFMG, a MA in Demography from CEDEPLAR, and a Doctoral degree in Social Sciences from UNICAMP in Brazil.
Eduardo Soares is the CEO of Biominas Foundation in Brazil and has over 15 years of work experience in the biotechnology sector. He is a board member of several biotechnology companies and has an active role in several initiatives to strengthen the Brazilian biotechnology sector, such as the Biotech Competitiveness Forum of the Ministry of Development (MDIC) and the Brazilian Association of Biotechnology Companies (ABRABI).
Eduardo Soares holds a BS in Biology from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil and did his graduate studies in finance (Dom Cabral Foundation, FDC) and in business administration at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), São Paulo, Brazil.
Bruce McNamer is the President and CEO of TechnoServe.
Before joining TechnoServe in 2004, McNamer's career spanned the public and private sectors. McNamer was COO of Verified Identity Pass, Inc., CFO of Appfluent Technology, and VP of Business Development at Varsity Group. He has also worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
McNamer was a White House Fellow and a Director at the National Economic Council from 1998-1999, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay.
Bruce McNamer has an AB from Harvard and a JD/MBA from Stanford University.
Stephen B. Kaplitt is the first Director of the Economic Empowerment in Strategic Regions (EESR) initiative at the U.S. Department of State. EESR promotes private-sector job-creation in regions where lack of economic opportunity helps fuel conflict and extremism.
Previously he was Special Assistant to the General Counsel at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He advised Agency leaders on a variety of subjects, including the First Amendment/ Establishment Clause, terrorist financing, USAID's relationship with the intelligence community and implementation of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Threshold program. In December 2004 he was a member of USAID's delegation to the OSCE short-term observer mission for the presidential election in Ukraine.
Before entering government, Kaplitt was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Lumenis Ltd., a Nasdaq-listed manufacturer of medical laser and light technology devices. At Lumenis he managed an annual budget of $10 million; supervised in-house and external counsel; and oversaw all of the Company's legal affairs, which included an SEC investigation, multiple shareholder class action lawsuits, complex intellectual property disputes, global product litigation and a broad range of transactional matters.
Prior to Lumenis, Kaplitt was a senior associate at Becker, Glynn, Melamed & Muffly LLP, a boutique international law firm in New York. While there he was seconded for two years to the International Finance Corporation, where he worked on numerous finance and equity transactions in Asia, Central Europe and the Baltics. He began practicing law at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, and was also an associate in mergers and acquisitions at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, both in New York. During his legal career, Kaplitt acted as associate or lead counsel on corporate transactions totaling $3 billion in aggregate value, in over twenty countries.
Stephen Kaplitt received his JD cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his AB in Government with high honors from Dartmouth College.
Tracy Higginbotham is the founder of Women TIES, a company dedicated to creating a regional marketplace for women entrepreneurs. Higginbotham has been an entrepreneur for twelve years as President of Five Star Events, a special event management company specializing in the execution, planning and coordination of events for corporations, organizations, and individuals. For nine years, Higginbotham was President of the Women's Business Owners Connections, a networking and support organization for women business owners in Syracuse. She helped grow it from 8 members to 130 members when she stepped down in 2005. Tracy Higginbotham is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Brent Bell is an assistant professor in the Outdoor Education Program at the University of New Hampshire. His research involves social support and community development, specifically focusing on how students transition from high school to college.
Prior to his position at UNH, Bell had worked with therapeutic adventure programs, been an assistant camp director, been a program director for an adventure travel company, and developed an outdoor leadership program at New England College in Henniker, NH. Bell also spent six years as the Director of the First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP) at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.
Brent Bell received his PhD in Education from the University of New Hampshire.
John Reinker is General Electric Global Research's hydrogen energy advanced technology leader. He leads GE's hydrogen production, storage/delivery, end-use, and other advanced energy technologies including CO2 technologies and Gen IV nuclear programs. In addition, he is the GE sponsor for the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University.
Prior to his current assignment, John spent 20 years in GE Energy including general management positions in Gas Turbine, Energy Services, and Steam Turbine-Generator Technologies. He held many power generation design-engineering positions and was the steam turbine product line leader within the Power Plants business.
John Reinker received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and received an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Wen-fei Uva is a Senior Extension Associate at Cornell University. Her research interest is in market development for horticultural products and sustainability of horticultural businesses. She is currently developing an extension and applied research program on marketing of horticultural products including fruit, vegetable and ornamental horticulture crops. This program is designed to enhance the competitive position of the New York fruit, vegetable, and ornamental horticultural industry through targeted, curriculum-driven educational programs. Wen-fei Uva received her B.S. from National Taiwan University and her M.P.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University.