Governance

Governance

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The ICI Global Steering Committee

The ICI Global Steering Committee (GSC) is the primary governance and decision-making body of the initiative, ensuring that Indigenous Peoples and local communities lead and shape its direction.

The GSC brings together representatives from across ICI geographies, reflecting diverse leadership, knowledge systems, and territorial perspectives. Through this structure, the initiative is guided by those directly connected to the landscapes, communities, and realities it seeks to support.

Members serve two-year terms and represent Indigenous leadership across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific.

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What the Global Steering Committee Does

  • Provides strategic direction and oversight to the ICI

  • Ensures Indigenous leadership is central to decision-making

  • Guides implementation across regions and initiatives

  • Strengthens accountability and governance processes

  • Supports alignment across ICI components and partners

  • Advises on priorities, partnerships, and global engagement

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The GSC is composed of one representative from each ICI initiative, ensuring balanced representation across regions, leadership roles, and experiences.

The Committee reflects the diversity of Indigenous leadership across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, bringing together practitioners, community leaders, and technical experts working at the intersection of conservation, governance, and livelihoods.

Representation Across Regions

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A Community of Practice

The Global Steering Committee is also part of a broader community of practice within the Makanisi Learning Academy. Through this space, GSC members contribute to knowledge exchange, peer learning, and capacity strengthening across the initiative.

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GSC Co-Chairs

The Co-Chairs are nominated and selected by Global Steering Committee members from within the Committee, on a rotating basis. They play a key role in facilitating dialogue, fostering collaboration, and supporting consensus-based decision-making across the Committee. They help ensure continuity, coordination, and inclusive participation in GSC processes.

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Meet the Current Global Steering Committee (2025-2027)

Indigenous leaders representing ICI initiatives across regions.

  • Vivian Silole (Co-Chair)

    Ilaikipiak Maasai | IMPACT, Kenya
    Head of Strategic Partnerships at IMPACT Kenya, advancing people-centered, culture-rooted conservation and sustainable development among Indigenous communities in Laikipia North.

  • Jorge Nahuel (Co-Chair)

    Mapuche | Futa Mawiza, Argentina
    Werken (spokesperson) of the Confederación Mapuche de Neuquén, with decades of leadership in Indigenous territorial rights, protected area co-management, and global conservation governance.

  • Fred Loure Parmelo

    Maasai | UCRT, Tanzania
    Pastoralist leader from Simanjiro advancing community land tenure, natural resource governance, and Indigenous-led conservation across Northern Tanzania.

  • Prescilia Monireh Kapupu

    Bambuti | ANAPAC, DR Congo
    Program Officer at ANAPAC-RDC, promoting traditional knowledge for biodiversity conservation and the recognition of Indigenous and Community Heritage Areas in the DRC.

  • Tupuna Rakanui

    Māori | UANKA, Cook Islands
    Secretary-General of UANKA, working with traditional leaders to advance environmental stewardship, rāhui-based resource management, and cultural preservation across the Cook Islands.

  • Roko Josefa Cinavilakeba

    iTaukei | Bose Vanua o Lau, Fiji
    Traditional leader from the Lau Islands and custodian of Indigenous knowledge, guiding marine conservation and the integration of Indigenous practices into sustainable development.

  • Tunga Bhadra Rai

    Rai | NEFIN, Nepal
    Researcher and anthropologist from the Rai Nation, directing NEFIN’s Climate Change Program and advancing Indigenous rights in global environmental governance.

  • Edy Dariquebe

    Harakbut - Wachipaeri | FENAMAD, Peru
    Community leader from Madre de Dios and FENAMAD board member, advancing Indigenous bioeconomies, territorial governance, and community reserve management in the Peruvian Amazon.

  • Valeska Caballero Huaiquifil

    Mapuche | Futa Mawiza, Chile
    Secretary of Asociación Mapuche Winkul Mapu and member of the Villarrica National Park Governance Council, advancing Indigenous-led education and conservation in Chile.

  • Francisco Xanté Lobos

    Maya K’iche’ | Asociación Tikonel, Guatemala
    Executive Director of Asociación Tikonel for over two decades, leading community forestry, Indigenous enterprise, and territorial development across Guatemala and Central America.

  • Aliou Mustafa (GEF-IPAG)

    Mbororo | INPRUDEV, Cameroon
    Coordinator of INPRUDEV and GEF;s first Indigenous Peoples Fellow in Cameroon, advancing rural electrification and clean energy solutions for Indigenous communities in Africa.

  • Sakda Saenmi

    Lisu | IPF, Thailand
    Secretary-General of the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand (CIPT) and senior staff at IMPECT, leading decades of advocacy for Indigenous land rights and instrumental in passing Thailand’s first law protecting Indigenous communities.

Voices from the Global Steering Committee

“ICI creates an opportunity for Indigenous peoples to directly access funding. This allows us to strengthen territorial processes, reinforce decision-making spaces, advance our own governance, and manage and lead conservation processes from an Indigenous perspective across different ecosystems.”
— Beatriz Chocori Huenullanca (Former ICI Co-Chair)
“Through ICI, we are demonstrating that we have the capacity to manage significant funding and budgets, and that this can help ensure continuity. In the past, cooperation has often been channeled through governments or NGOs, which has created dependency and, in some cases, a more assistance-based model. What we need are steps like the ones ICI is taking, because we can show that for cooperation to be effective, it must first trust in our capacity to manage resources.”
— Jorge Nahuel (ICI Co-Chair)

Past Global Steering Committee Members (2023-2025)

  • Beatriz Chocori Huenullanca (Former Co-Chair)

    Mapuche | Futa Mawiza, Chile
    Member of the Parlamento Mapuche de Koz Koz, advancing territorial governance, Indigenous-led conservation, and Mapuche knowledge in Walmapu (Chile).

  • Tunga Bhadra Rai (Former Co-Chair)

    Rai | NEFIN, Nepal
    Nepal Researcher and anthropologist from the Rai Nation, directing NEFIN’s Climate Change Program and advancing Indigenous rights in global environmental governance.

  • Alfredo Vargas Pio

    Shipibo | FENAMAD, Peru
    President of FENAMAD, representing 38 communities and 8 Indigenous peoples in Madre de Dios, Peru, advancing territorial governance and Amazonian Indigenous rights.

  • Jorge Nahuel

    Mapuche | Futa Mawiza, Argentina
    Werken (spokesperson) of the Confederación Mapuche de Neuquén, with decades of leadership in Indigenous territorial rights, protected area co-management, and global conservation governance.

  • Kittisak Rattanakrajangsri

    Iu Mien | IPF, Thailand
    Chairperson of AIPP and longtime advocate for Indigenous land and resource rights, climate policy, and full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples across Asia and globally.

  • Roko Josefa Cinavilakeba

    iTaukei | Bose Vanua o Lau, Fiji
    Traditional leader from the Lau Islands and custodian of Indigenous knowledge, guiding marine conservation and the integration of Indigenous practices into sustainable development.

  • Paine Mako

    Maasai | UCRT, Tanzania
    Executive Director of UCRT, securing legal land recognition for millions of hectares and championing women’s leadership and Indigenous participation in climate and conservation.

  • Malih Ole Kaunga

    Maasai | IMPACT, Kenya
    Founder of IMPACT, working at the intersection of Indigenous rights, peacebuilding, and climate resilience across pastoralist communities in Kenya and beyond.

  • Joseph Itongwa

    Bambuti-Babuluko Pygmy | ANAPAC, DR Congo
    Founder of PIDP-SHIRIKA LA BAMBUTI and coordinator of REPALEF, strengthening forest governance and Indigenous rights across North and South Kivu and Maniema in Central Africa.

  • Graciela Coy

    Q’eqchi’ Maya| Ak’Tenamit, Guatemala
    Former president of Ak’Tenamit, leading initiatives in Indigenous education, gender equity, and cultural revitalization among Q’eqchi’ communities in Guatemala.

  • Puna Rakanui

    Māori | UANKA, Cook Islands
    Secretary-General of UANKA, working with traditional leaders to advance environmental stewardship, rāhui-based resource management, and cultural preservation across the Cook Islands.

  • Aliou Mustafa (GEF-IPAG)

    Mbororo | INPRUDEV, Cameroon
    Coordinator of INPRUDEV and GEF’s first Indigenous Peoples Fellow in Cameroon, advancing rural electrification and clean energy solutions for Indigenous communities in Africa.