BANGKOK OFFICE
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Pablo Solon is our Executive Director. He was the former Bolivian ambassador, under the Evo Morales government, to the United Nations. As ambassador to the UN, he became known as a tireless advocate for the rights of nature; he delivered the now famous speech explaining why Bolivia chose to “stand alone” by not signing the Cancun climate agreement in 2010. Before holding this post, he had been a social activist involved in indigenous movements, workers’ unions, student associations, human rights and cultural organizations in his native Bolivia. He is also extensively involved in the global justice movement. Email: solon@focusweb.org |
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Walden Bello is a senior analyst of Focus and a representative in the 14th and 15th congress of the Republic of the Philippines. A 2003 recipient of the prestigious Right Livelihood award (the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’), Walden is considered the most respected anti-globalization thinker in Asia by the Belgian newspaper "Le Soir". Walden together with UNDP senior adviser Kamal Malhotra, founded Focus in 1995 E-mail: waldenbello@yahoo.com |
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Andrew Teixeira de Sousa joined Focus on the Global South in 2012 as the Operations Manager. His experience includes working with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, the Timor-Leste Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis, and most recently as the director of the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program in Indonesian Borneo. Andrew is a board member of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (U.S.) and has an academic background in human rights and democratization. Email: a.desousa@focusweb.org
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Nathaporn Meesuay or Note graduated in Accounting from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand and MSc..in Management Information system from University of Surrey, U.K.. He has worked as an accountant for several private companies in different industries. Note recently joined Focus as our accounting and finance officer. Email: nathaporn@focusweb.org |
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Dorothy Grace Guerrero is an educator, writer, researcher, and organizer. She has both organized and participated in local and international courses, workshops and conferences on climate change, China, regional integration/ASEAN, social and environmental impacts of trade and investments, transition and democratization. She also contributed articles and papers on these themes in many academic and independent journals and publications. She joined Focus on the Global South in June 2005 as coordinator of our China Programme. After our reconstruction in 2012, she started coordinating our Climate and Environmental Justice Programme. She received a Master's degree in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies, University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She has been active for many years in a range of national, regional and international economic and climate justice networks. Originally from the Philippines, she has lived in South Africa, Tunisia, The Netherlands, South Korea, Germany and now in Thailand. Email: d.guerrero@focusweb.org |
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Jacques Chai Chomtongdi has an MA in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. He joined Focus on the Global South in July 2000. For nearly two years, he worked at the Catholic Council of Thailand for Development (Caritas Thailand). As an Education Programme Coordinator he was in charge of planning and developing policies and activities for Caritas Thailand and its Social Action Centres, which work with people at grassroots level in all regions of Thailand. In addition, he was also a "resource person" for Caritas Thailand and other Church organizations on subjects concerning macro-economic policies, political economy and social changes. He is the coordinator of our Thailand/Mekong programme. |
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Soontaree Nakaviroj has a BA English and History of Arts degree from the Faculty of Archaeology at Silpakorn University, Thailand. She is a former administrative assistant of SARCS Secretariat at the Environmental Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. She joined Focus since 1998 as an administrative assistant. E-mail: soontaree@focusweb.org
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Raffy Simbol or Qiqo is the current IT/Librarian of Focus. He joined Focus in 2008 but prior to that, he had been an intern of the Philippines Programme for two years. Qiqo takes care of the websites under the focusweb.org domain. He is also in charge of the Focus mediatheque and resource center. He graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree of Bachelors of Library and Information Science. He has two lovely cats named Berlin and London Schubert Email: qiqo@focusweb.org |
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Shalmali Guttal joined Focus in 1997 and currently specializes on our work defending and reclaiming the commons. She comes from an NGO background and has worked in India, the United States, and mainland Southeast Asia. Her academic background is in the social sciences with particular emphasis on participatory education and qualitative research. E-mail: s.guttal@focusweb.org |
MANILA OFFICE
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Clarissa V. Militante has a degree in AB Literature from the De La Salle University, Manila (1985). Professionally she started as a journalist, having worked as a reporter-writer for Philippine News and Features in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. She also became Special Reports Editor of www.gmanews.tv in 2006. Before Focus Philippines, she worked mostly with non-government organizations as an editorial consultant; her first novel was long listed in the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize. Clark is now our Philippines Programme Coordinator. |
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Joseph Purugganan joined Focus in February 2003 to help coordinate the nationwide campaign of the Stop the New Round Coalition to derail the WTO-Doha round negotiations. He works on trade issues in Focus and is the co-coordinator for Southeast Asia of the EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network. Joseph also spearheads Focus' climate work in the Philippines. Email: josephp@focusweb.org |
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Lyn Cacho-dela Cruz is our Administration and Finance in Manila. With 11 years of experience working with the peoples organizations, Lyn joined Focus in January 2010. She graduated from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, with a degree on Bachelor of Accountancy and Law. |
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Mary Ann Manahan is a program officer based in our Manila office. She joined Focus in March 2003 and works on the commons (land, water, and freedom of information issues), including issues as they relate to international financial institutions such as the ADB, and the WB, issues of privatization and regulation of public utilities, resource management, and imagining and building alternatives at the macro and micro levels. She has a background in sociology and women and development studies. |
NEW DELHI OFFICE
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Trisha Agarwala joined Focus as a Programme Officer in February 2008. She possesses a master's in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and also holds a diploma in French. Prior to joining Focus, she was with the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi where she was tracking government budgets in water and sanitation and health. She also had the lead responsibility on CBGA’s work on government audits. She has worked extensively at the grassroots level, in primary data generation and management and project development for monitoring and evaluation of rural development programmes in the water and sanitation sector. She is passionate about travelling and cinema. Email: trisha@focusweb.org
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Afsar Jafri has been with Focus since 2005 and is our India/South Asia coordinator based in New Delhi. With over 15 years of work on agriculture and food policy, he has been leading Focus' research on food sovereignty. Afsar is closely linked with farmers groups in India and outside. He has a Masters in Philosophy (International Law) from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Email: a.jafri@focusweb.org |
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Mansi Sharma joined Focus on the Global South as our New Delhi Finance & Administration Officer in 2012. Mansi Sharma possesses ten years of rigorous experience in managing accounts and administration in various organizations of national and international repute. She is activist by heart and has led many programs & campaigns on the issues of rural livelihoods, women social & political empowerment, communalism, domestic political affairs. Mansi especially enjoys reading biographical and non-fiction works. She is a commerce graduate from Delhi University and is presently pursuing a Masters in Rural Management from IGNOU. Email: mansi@focusweb.org |
