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José Luis Gomez
Executive Secretary, Action Fund for Children and the Environment
Jose Luis was born in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1985 he graduated from the Economics Department at Los Andes University, in Bogotá, with a minor specialization in Energy Economics. As an undergraduate he was hired as research assistant by the University’s Center for Studies in Economic Development and worked in several research projects in alternative energy and energy demand in rural areas. After graduation he worked for the National Institute for Natural Resources and the Environment, in an interdisciplinary task force that conducted the first systematic environmental impact assessments of hydroelectric projects.
In 1987 he was awarded a Fulbright Foundation scholarship and enrolled in the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York. In 1990 he obtained an MA in Political Economy, with emphasis in Race, Class and Gender. After graduation he worked at the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center at Hunter College.
Most of his professional life has been dedicated to the public sector. Between 1991 and 1995 he worked at the Colombian National Planning Ministry, where he led the executive unit in charge of implementing the country’s Tropical Forestry Action Plan. One of the main results of the Colombian TFAP was the creation of the Ministry of the Environment with financial support form the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and development aid from multiple countries.
In 1995 he was appointed Director of the National Program for Technological Development in Agriculture, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with funding from the World Bank. The Program and its competitive grants fund were showcased by the Bank as a best practice for the development, adaptation and transfer of sustainable and adequate technologies for small rural agricultural producers. Jose Luis made part of a World Bank mission that designed a similar program in the Dominican Republic.
In 1998 he received a scholarship from the Chinese government and enrolled in Nanjing University where he studied Mandarin for two years and traveled extensively throughout the country. Two years later he was designated First Secretary in charge of Economic Affairs and International Cooperation at the Colombian Embassy in Belgium and the European Union. He lived in Brussels for two years and returned to head the Rural Sustainable Development Unit at the Colombian National Planning Ministry.
In mid-2004 he was chosen by Spencer Stuart, a global executive search firm to be the Executive Director of the Fund for Environment and Childhood (Fondo para la Acción Ambiental y la Niñez). The Fund is a private, non profit foundation that manages multiple accounts for conservation, sustainable development and early child care. It has strategic partnerships with other national and international NGOs, public entities and the corporate sector and finances projects by NGOs and community-based organizations.
Jose Luis is President-elect of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds – REDLAC, an association of over 20 private and public members.
He is married and enjoys travel, jogging, novels and cooking.
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