Country Director, Latin America and the Caribbean

Maija Peltola

Maija Peltola is IFAD Country Director for Mexico and Guyana. She leads the Fund’s work and teams in these countries, provides strategic and technical leadership, promotes partnerships for inclusive rural development and sustainable food systems, and facilitates social and technological innovations that can be adapted and scaled up for long-term impact.

Peltola has 20 years of work experience from 30 countries. Her expertise covers rural development; food systems; blue economy; climate change, carbon markets and environmental services; Environmental, Social and Governance issues (ESG); sustainable travel; and responsible financing.

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. Prior to that, Peltola led a forestry policy project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, and worked as Director General of PROCASUR, a foundation dedicated to knowledge management and harvesting innovations in development.

Peltola holds 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.