The Rockefeller Foundation Announces First Big Bets Climate Fellows

16 Leaders from LAC Selected to Advance Climate Solutions

NEW YORK, June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rockefeller Foundation announces first cohort of Big Bets Climate Fellows. Leaders from Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, and Puerto Rico were selected to advance climate solutions. As part of the Rockefeller Foundation's billion-dollar climate strategy, the program will provide programming, networking, and professional development opportunities to help scale their climate solutions.

"The Climate Fellows embodies the big bet mindset: Large-scale change is possible and the commitment to making that change happen," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation.

• Xiomara Acevedo, Colombia
  

Create a strategy to mobilize women in local climate policy.

• Marcela Angel, Colombia

Develop a community-based landslide using climate risk data.

• Lina Ascencio, Colombia

Ensure renewable energy transitions in LAC prioritize indigenous perspectives.

• Luisa Fernanda Bacca Benavides, Colombia

Promote indigenous leadership in climate governance through national and indigenous agreements.

• Erika Berenguer, Brazil

Implement guidelines to fireproof the Amazon and prevent tipping point burns.

• Mariolga Reyes Cruz, Puerto Rico

Expand an agroecology structure to support regenerative agriculture for underserved farmers.

• Avriel Diaz, Panama

Create a climate-driven budget forecasting system for vector-borne diseases.

• Reinhold Gallmetzer, Brazil

Prevent deforestation by transforming data into actionable insights for enforcement.

• Carlos Magno, Brazil

Scale social technologies to secure water and land right.

• Elena Martinez, Dominican Republic

Boost carbon sequestration and empower coastal communities through sargassum harvesting.

• Daniela Orofino, Brazil

Convert 57 million hectares of public land into protected indigenous territories.

• Valmir Ortega, Brazil

Promote regenerative agriculture among smallholders for sustainable food systems.

• Rodrigo Pacheco, Ecuador

Create the largest Biodiverse Edible Forest to protect nature and enhance local economies.

• Ricardo Politi, Brazil

Scale regenerative agriculture by securing carbon and biodiversity credit buyers.

• Fabiano Thompson, Brazil

Build a Great Amazon Reef biodiversity map to develop a marine bioeconomy framework.

• Felipe Villela, Brazil

Increase financing for conservation by changing the accounting paradigm for natural assets.

From June to November 2024 fellows will unite in Brazil; at The Bellagio Center in Italy; and at The Rockefeller Foundation headquarters during Climate Week supported by a custom curriculum designed by IDEO, known for its work on The Earthshot Prize.

"Fellows are making big bets to reverse the climate crisis," said Sarah Geisenheimer, Vice President Convenings & Networks at The Rockefeller Foundation. "We are honored to support them in advancing their local solutions."