About
CBA Ambassadors
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai is an Achuar leader from Ecuador with a 30-year history of serving the Indigenous movement. Currently Domingo is the President of the governing board and territories coordinator for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance. Domingo is affiliated with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), which represents 11 Indigenous nationalities from the Ecuadorian Amazon. Most recently Domingo helped found the Indigenous leadership program called Living Amazon School (Escuela Viva Amazonica, EVA) which was inaugurated in March 2023 with 35 students from the 11 Indigenous nations of Ecuador.
Domingo is also a co-founder of the organization Achuar Nation of Ecuador (NAE) and served as its director of communication from 2000-2003. He served as the Vice-President of CONFENIAE from 1993-1996. He is the founder of the Achuar community of Sharamentsa and helped to create their successful community tourism project. He is one of the co-founders of the Achuar binational organization COBNAEP, uniting the Indigenous nations of Ecuador and Peru. He also served as the Vice-President and President of CODENPE (Council of Nationalities and Peoples of Ecuador) from 1998-2002.
Fany Kuiru Castro
Fany Kuiru Castro, a prominent leader of the Uitoto people of the Jitomagaro clan, people of the sun of the Predio Putumayo Reserve, Amazonas, Colombia, is a tireless defender of indigenous and environmental rights. Her work has set a precedent in the history of the Amazon and her commitment to protecting the rights and culture of her people is a testament to her dedication and vision.
Daughter of the cacique Egañoat+ri (sunbeam) and Ñek+na Zafianhö (chambira flower), Fany comes from a line of chieftains, wise men and traditional authorities of the Jitomagaro clan. From a young age, she learned that leadership and authority are meant to serve the community and the people. Her thinking has always emphasized that governments and leadership must serve the community.
Fany is an advisor on legal and political issues in the processes of public policy coordination between the national government and indigenous peoples, covering women’s rights, economic, social and cultural rights from the perspective of gender and equity. As COICA‘s General Coordinator, Fany is globalizing the indigenous peoples’ call to protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025.
Mathieu Flamini
Mathieu Flamini is the CEO of GFBiochemicals, a company he co-founded over a decade ago with the ambition of developing sustainable alternatives to oil-based ingredients. Alongside his professional football career with clubs such as AC Milan and Arsenal FC, Mathieu actively contributed to the growth of the business.
He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders and served on the Paris 2024 Olympic Environmental Excellence Committee.
Vian Sharif
Vian Sharif is the Founder of NatureAlpha, a fintech platform that integrates natural world risk considerations into financial decision-making. NatureAlpha provides AI-powered, science-based environmental risk insights, influencing over $3 trillion in assets under management. She is also Head of Sustainability at FNZ Group, which oversees $1.7 trillion in assets, where she leads the development of sustainable investment frameworks. Her work has contributed to the integration of values-based risk indicators into investment strategies, including for the UK’s largest pension funds.
Beyond finance, Vian is involved in global nature initiatives. She was a member of the UK Government Business Advisory Group to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the TNFD Technical Experts Scoping Group, and supports HM Government’s Defra’s preparations for IPBES 2026. She also supported the co-creation of the Nature AI Fellowship with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, to advance research on nature-aligned investment.
Vian holds a PhD in Environmental Behaviour Change and has conducted research at the Oxford Martin School. Her contributions extend to industry bodies such as the Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), she is a member of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), and a trustee of the Tairona Heritage Trust, supporting the voice and preservation of the sacred lands of the Kogi people of Colombia.
Asha Sumputh
Asha Sumputh was born and raised in Mauritius. She grew up in a cosmopolitan and English and French speaking island, where she studied in a very efficient educational system, based on the British model. She is completely bilingual in English and French but also speaks Hindi, Mauritian creole and some Italian. Graduated from the prestigious universities of Cambridge and Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne in the fields of economics and finance, she began her career as a journalist at Canal Plus in France.
Today, Asha is an entrepreneur, journalist and television content producer. You can follow her programs “Sustainable Energy”, on CNBC worldwide, and “Business Africa & Initiative Africa”, on major international channels in several countries in Europe and Africa. She is also the producer of these two weekly programs “Business Africa” and “Initiative Africa”, broadcast – both in French and in English – in around fifty countries, highlighting the economic and political news of the African continent. She is also the Founder and News Editor of the bilingual pan-African news media africa-on-air.com.
Besides economics and finance, Asha usually covers topics very closely related to sustainability, environment, politics, innovation, education or entrepreneurship. Alongside her activities as a journalist, she also had the opportunity to teach at the National School of Administration (ENA), at EM Strasbourg, at the University Center for Journalism Education (CUEJ) and at the Sorbonne University. Before devoting herself fully to journalism, she also worked in the fashion industry.
Alex Chantecaille
Alex Chantecaille helmed sales at Chantecaille Beauté for over 18 years – as VP and later as Chief Commercial Officer – with an emphasis on conservation-focused education and storytelling aligned with the brand’s passionate mission. She recently joined the Chantecaille Conservation Foundation as Managing Director, overseeing wildlife protection projects in Sumatra and Vietnam, and lives in London, where she is closer to the Foundation’s core initiatives. She also passionately helms The Elephant Way, a 100% nonprofit fashion and accessories brand providing paychecks to indigenous peoples and local artisans in Kenya, Colombia and beyond while donating all proceeds to anti-poaching efforts in these sacred lands.
Hedda-Katrin Paisley
Hedda-Katrin Paisley is Executive Director, Advancement, Philanthropy & Alumni Relations at Macquarie University in Australia and CEO of the Macquarie University Hong Kong Foundation. Renowned for her strategic vision and deep commitment to philanthropy, she has shaped transformative initiatives that drive lasting social impact. Her work is inspired by the generosity of individuals who change lives through support for education, health, Indigenous welfare, and the environment. Currently, Hedda-Katrin is focused on the Australian Harmony Centre for Ecosystem Futures at Macquarie University, championing a nature-positive future.
To serve as an Indigenous Ambassador aligns deeply with Hedda-Katrin’s long‑standing commitment to reconciliation, Indigenous leadership, and creating spaces where First Nations voices are respected, heard, and central to decision‑making. Throughout her career in education and philanthropy, she has seen the transformative impact of genuine partnership with Indigenous communities. When Indigenous leadership is embedded rather than consulted, outcomes are stronger—not only socially and environmentally, but institutionally. Such partnerships help reshape systems to be more just, inclusive, and oriented toward long‑term wellbeing.
