Our Team
Wain Collen
Executive Director
Wain has worked for over a decade in the non-profit space in Ecuador with a focus on sustainable development in tropical forests. Wain’s first experience with the Amazon was in eco-tourism with the Achuar people in 2005, and since then he’s has been fascinated with finding solutions to the dilemma of how economic development can take place in the amazon without destruction. Wain founded PlanJunto in 2013, a social business with the mission to build sustainable community enterprise in tropical forests. PlanJunto worked closely with Runa from 2012 onwards and played a pivotal role in establishing their two emblematic ventures - Ally and Mishkita. Wain has an MSc in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University in Sweden, is a Kinship Fellow 2014, and an Opportunity Collaboration Fellow 2016.
Celia Salazar Willame
Chief operating Officer
Celia manages Aliados’ variety of field projects in Ecuador. Before Aliados, Celia was the Operations Manager at PlanJunto and worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNDP in Ecuador. Celia received her B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and her Master's in Anthropology at the Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve.
Raine Donohue
Program Manager
Raine started with Runa Foundation as an intern in the winter of 2014 and has since been directing Runa Foundation’s Fair Trade activities with guayusa producer cooperatives. In addition to working with indigenous communities in the creation of sustainable enterprises, she manages the accounting of regional activities, supervises local staff members, and helps to guide Runa’s intern and volunteer program. Though she grew up in Montana, and loves going home, she enjoys the excitement, the unexpected, and the “go with the flow” attitude that comes with living and working in the Amazon. She attended Seattle University and has a B.A. in International and Environmental Studies. Raine lives in Tena and loves a zesty salsa (both the sauce and the dance).
Carlos Tunay
Fair Trade Coordinator
Carlos is from the Kichwa community Tambayaku, which belongs to the organization Pueblo Kichwa Rukullacta. He grew up drinking guayusa together with his parents, who also sell guayusa leaves to make a small profit for their daily subsistence. Carlos manages the social premium fund, which is obtained from the sale of Fair Trade Certified guayusa. Runatarpuna pays the social premium to the 13 guayusa producing associations with whom Runa works. His responsibility is to ensure that the associations comply with the investment plans, the good use of the funds, and to encourage the associations to make strategic long term investments. After his work day with Runa Foundation, Carlos likes to play sports such as football and ecuavoley, and also to work on his farm. Carlos is also a guayusa producer.
Carmen Tanguila
Office Manager
Carmen is a Kichwa local from the Napo province of the Ecuadorian Amazon. She works for the Foundation supporting the team in all areas of our work with local communities and associations. Carmen speaks both Kichwa and Spanish as her native languages and she is learning English as well. During her free time, Carmen enjoys playing soccer, dancing, singing and running. She is very fond of her culture, traditions, and language, and is also a humble expert in Amazonian flora and fauna.
Juan Leonidas Narvaez Andy
Local Community Coordinator
Prior to joining Runa, Leonidas worked for the Ministry of Environment as a guide and forest ranger. During that time he summited Sumaco Volcano a number of times, often leading tour groups. Leonidas is fluent in both Spanish and Kichwa and is currently learning English. He is a true forest expert with extensive knowledge of the plants, animals and landscape that makes up the Napo-Galeras region. He is currently working to implement a number of activities including the creation of new agroforestry value chains, eco-tourism development, participatory wildlife monitoring and sustainable forest management in his home community of Mushullacta. He also likes to spend his time helping out around the office with just about everything, which is a category of things he is very skilled in.
Board of Directors
Tyler Gage
Tyler is an entrepreneur, author and speaker who uses wisdom from the Amazon and start-up success to bring innovation and inspiration to growing organizations. Tyler was named a Forbes “30 Under 30 Entrepreneur” and winner of both the Big Apple Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Specialty Food Association's Citizen Leader of the Year Award. CBS This Morning, ABC Nightline, National Geographic and Richard Branson's book Screw Business As Usual have all featured Tyler for his unique and powerful approach to building businesses and creating social good. Tyler currently serves as a Managing Director for Terrafertil, the largest natural foods company in Latin America, and has worked as the Chief Development Officer for the company. Terrafertil acquired Essential Living Foods in the US in 2017 and then Nestlé acquired all of Terrafertil in 2018.
Barbara Burchfeild
Co-Founder of Conscious Commerce with actress, director, and activist Olivia Wilde
Founding producer of action- rewarded music festival, Global Citizen Festival
Freelance creative direction and production for brands such as Lexus, CFDA, and H&M
Frank Hicks
Frank Hicks is an independent consultant who provides advisory services to a variety of organizations with a focus on sustainable rural development, environmental conservation, payments for ecosystem services and impact investing. Formerly, he worked in senior management positions with: Bio-Logical Capital; Forest Trends; Rainforest Alliance’s Sustainable Agriculture Program; and Organic Commodity Products, all based in Costa Rica. Prior to that he worked for TechnoServe in Ghana; the Biodiversity Conservation Network in Asia and the Pacific, based in the Philippines; and the Ford Foundation based in Nigeria and New York City. He is also a former board member of Root Capital and EcoEnterprises Fund, and currently serves on several non-profit boards, in addition to Runa Foundation and Aliados. He has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in Human Biology.
Rebecca Ruf
Vice President of Programs, Global Banking Alliance for Women
13+ years experience in economic empowerment of women and low-income communities
Deep expertise in data analytics and M&E.
MA in International Development from SAIS, BS with distinction from Cornell
Sharelle Klaus
Klaus brings nearly two decades of entrepreneurial, financial and technology industry experience to her role as CEO at DRY, and oversees all marketing, strategic planning and innovation for the brand. With guidance from some of the Pacific Northwest’s best chefs and a savvy corporate team, Klaus pioneered a new category of sparkling beverages, fearlessly leading DRY’s aggressive growth in a male dominated industry. Prior to founding DRY, Klaus worked as a consultant for Infrastructure Management Group and Price Waterhouse. She also served as president of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, where she drove strategic development of programs, events and fundraising for the organization’s 250+ Seattle-area members. Klaus has been featured by ParentMap, Huffpost, Forbes, BevNET, Seattle Magazine, Imbibe, and was honored by Seattle Business Magazine as one of its 2018 CEOs of the year.
