Maija Peltola is IFAD Country Director. She is responsible for the Fund’s strategic direction, partnerships and financing portfolio in Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Guyana. She also coordinates the Fund’s Covid-19 response in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is passionate about driving systems change in the way we use natural resources, produce our food, travel and live. As Country Director, she identifies social and technological innovations that can be adapted and scaled up to create long-term impact.
Peltola has over 15 years of work experience from 30 countries. Before joining the Fund, she founded and headed her own consulting company Camaleonte, a pioneering company in the Nordics by providing solutions for sustainable and inclusive business. Peltola has also worked as Project Director of a REDD+ project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, and as Director General of PROCASUR, a foundation dedicated to knowledge management and harvesting innovations in development.
Peltola has a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology from the Autonomous University of Yucatán, Mexico, a Specialist Qualification in Product Development and Service Design, and further studies in Leadership and International Business. She has served as Vice President of the Association for Environmental Management in Finland, and as board member of Fairtrade and Amnesty International Mexico.
