Alerick, a 32-year-old Guatemalan with a background in Aquaculture, recently completed a Master in Conservation Leadership at Cambridge University. Before relocating to the U.K., he engaged in marine conservation at the community level along the Guatemalan Pacific and Caribbean coasts. At 24, Alerick founded Semillas del Océano, a charity focusing on environmental education and community action to connect people with the ocean. During his tenure as CEO, he developed several environmental education programs to promote ocean conservation in the Guatemalan Pacific and the Caribbean coasts, including the Ocean Ambassadors and a network of teachers as replicators of change. Alerick is also passionate about fundraising and networking and is interested in exploring ways funding that get to small charities in a more fair and equitable way.

“Semillas del Océano gave the opportunity to work hand by hand with the local communities and understand their needs for environmental literacy for conservation. In my 7 years as an educator, I had the chance to learn about programme design, different ways to deliver and implement activities in rural areas, and the importance of monitoring and evaluation to measure the impact of EE” – Says Alerick.

His interest in learning more about fundraising took him to Fauna & Flora, where he’s now the Trusts & Foundations Manager. There, he has been able to understand how international organizations deploy their resources to fundraise more effectively and how important it is to invest in fundraising to generate more funds for the conservation sector.