Team Bios
Damarez Ramirez Mori
CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Damarez is a highly respected activist and leader representing the Shipibo Konibo community in conferences, workshops, and campaigns for indigenous rights. She is the former President of FECONAU (Federacion de Comunidades Nativas del Ucayali y Afluentes) a national organization for the representation of indigenous peoples living in the Ucayali River Dasin in Peru. Damarez is currently working with a local NGO Manuela Ramos to educate women in situations of domestic violence. She also organizes a group of women artisans called Kene Nesna. Damarez is an artisan, a teacher of the village children, and a mother to seven of her own. She lives in the Comunidad Nativo de Nuevo Egipto.
Martha Ma
CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Martha spent over 3 years living and working alongside the Shipibo Konibo community which cemented her deep love and dedication to their community. She is a community educator, artist, teaching chef, writer, holistic health counselor, and permaculture practitioner. Martha received her BA with a major in Anthropology from NYU. She is the former Executive Director of Naniola Productions, creating informational multimedia events and content for public education on current food issues, and healthy living. Before moving from NYC to the western Catskills, she designed, built and managed Bushwick Grows Community Farm in Brooklyn, and was a teaching artist with LEAPNYC. Plants, planet and people are what inspire all her work.
Jon Daniel DeMontagnac
BOARD PRESIDENT
Jon is an experienced executive leader with a diverse background spanning 25 years in sales, marketing, operations, and executive management at district, regional and corporate levels for startups and established companies.
He combines business and technology for transformative business outcomes and tangible bottom-line results. Currently, Jon is COO at Facts n Figures, Inc. responsible for driving organization efficiency, rapid growth in revenue and increasing profitability through innovative technology solutions, and rigorous project management. Jon has been directly responsible for driving over one billion dollars in revenue over his career.
Anya Carrasco
SECRETARY OF THE BOARD
Living in a Shipibo community in 2017 changed the course of Anya’s life forever and solidified her commitment to environmental stewardship and cultural valorization. She has a master’s in sustainability from Harvard with graduate certificates in Sustainable Food Systems and Corporate Sustainability and Innovation. Anya’s work experiences have ranged from IT business analysis, teaching English abroad, to running international exchange programs—all with the common thread of project management, intercultural understanding, and empowering teams. She is Head of U.S. Logistics and Operations at Zorzal Cacao, a specialty and organic cocoa processor from the Dominican Republic whose sales partially fund the nation’s first private nature preserve.