Professional Affiliation

Program Officer, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Ford Foundation

Expert Bio

Víctor López Illescas is a program officer on the Natural Resources and Climate Change team, based in the foundation’s Mexico and Central America office. He has been working with Guatemalan and Central American indigenous farmers and fishing communities for more than 20 years in various capacities, including as a forester, a forest firefighter, and a cooperative manager.

Before joining Ford in 2019, Victor led the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB) School for Youth Training and Leadership Development, where his fluency in regional dynamics allowed him to foster agreements with indigenous and community-based grassroots groups to develop joint training and leadership-promotion programs. Prior to that, as executive director of the Community Forestry Association of Guatemala Utz Che’, he led staff and regional teams in their efforts to strengthen local governance of sustainable forest and natural resource management.

Víctor sits on the Global Witness advisory board as well as the Forests Dialogue steering committee, and he is an adviser and honorary member of the Utz Che’ general assembly.