Mariana PANUNCIO-FELDMAN

· Conceived, developed and currently lead Alliances for Climate Action (ACA), a global network of alliances of subnational and non-state actors committed to driving decarbonization at the domestic level, with presence in countries that together account for 23% of global emissions across six continents.

· Built partnerships with international organizations, WWF’s global Climate and Energy Practice (CEP) and WWF’s national offices to create, implement and fund ACA.

· Successfully guided and mobilized over 6,000 ACA member institutions in support of higher ambition, with successful advocacy impact in Argentina, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and the U.S.

· Directed ACA’s in-person and media presence during key international moments, including UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties (COPs) and special events such as the California-led Global Climate Action Summit and the U.N. Climate Action Summit, with public recognition from the UNFCCC High-Level Climate Champions and the U.N. Secretary General’s Climate Action Team.

· Lead WWF’s engagement in the UNFCCC Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA). Provided thought leadership on the design, implementation and improvement of the MPGCA. Wrote WWF’s related documents and submissions to the UNFCCC. Coordinated WWF’s advocacy related to the MPGCA and the role of non-Party stakeholders in the UNFCCC, in coordination with other institutions in the space.

· Manage 8 staff and oversee team’s work on international climate policy, international aviation and carbon markets, subnational and non-state actor engagement broadly and international climate corporate engagement specifically.

· Represent WWF as senior spokesperson on climate issues with TV, radio and written media outlets in English and Spanish.

· Served as the regional lead for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and regional UNFCCC climate policy lead.

· Successfully broadened and deepened WWF’s relationships with LAC delegations across negotiation blocs, allowing WWF to acquire a nuanced understanding of LAC’s diverse positions and to convey the organization’s policy asks to a broad set of Parties within the UNFCCC during the negotiations for the Paris Agreement.

· Wrote WWF’s guidance paper on the adaptation component of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) and organized a seminal workshop with Parties across the LAC region that informed the first round of NDCs to the UNFCCC in 2015.

· Advised the COP20 Presidency on the Forest Track of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) and advocated for the role of subnational and non-state actors within the UNFCCC.

· Provided technical assistance on mitigation and adaptation issues to WWF country offices and promoted an internal climate community of practice in the region.

· Represented WWF as spokesperson on LAC climate issues with TV, radio and written media outlets in English, Spanish and French.

· Oversaw multi-country program with close to 100 staff and US$ 9-million annual budget, with direct supervision of country office directors in Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, and responsibility for the coordination with Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina (FVSA), WWF’s official presence in Argentina. Directed strategic and financial planning. Supervised implementation of administrative and human resource systems, and delivery of programmatic priorities.

· Successfully steered multi-country program during economic downturn. Managed personnel and financial reorganization of two offices, targeted measures in two others and communicated decisions to key donors. Sharpened strategic direction and programmatic priorities, as well as internal systems and procedures. By the end of my tenure, all four offices were once again financially solvent, had advanced or completed new strategic plans and had increased their project pipeline, ushering a new phase of growth across offices.

· Coordinated advocacy and field actions related to Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) with WWF offices in the Amazon region, Europe and the U.S as part of WWF's regional strategy for the Amazon.

· Provided technical assistance for the design of pilot PES and REDD+ projects in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, and successfully secured funding for the initiatives.

· Co-chaired technical working group that developed WWF’s global strategy for the Amazon Biome, based on adaptive management principles.

· Coordinated development and implementation of work plan and budget for the strategy development process, managed multi-country technical team, and oversaw consultancies that generated technical inputs for the strategic plan.

· As core member of the technical team, contributed to the content of the strategy itself, coordinated and led the writing of the Amazon Biome strategic plan, and successfully secured the support of senior management across WWF’s global network for the new Amazon Biome strategy.

· Raised over US$27 million for Amazon conservation efforts across multiple sites in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Cultivated donor relationships and was responsible for proposal and report development.

· Managed multi-million-dollar “Amazon Headwaters Initiative,” a tri-national program that conserved more than 24 million acres of protected areas and indigenous territories in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. Worked in close partnership with offices in the region, and provided technical assistance on protected areas, indigenous territories, infrastructure and natural resource management.

· Actively promoted adoption of adaptive management principles as part of project management and pioneered their simultaneous application across 10+ sites in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru in partnership with Foundations of Success (FOS). Led systematic process of site-level and portfolio-level strategic planning, implementation of plans, monitoring, and annual cross-team learning, reporting and new programming based on results and lessons over multiple years.

· Wrote the final AHI monitoring and evaluation report that encapsulated the results and lessons learned by the initiative over the years.

· Managed grants portfolio for biodiversity conservation in the Mesoamerican Reef shared by Mexico and Central America. Selected partners, negotiated proposals and budgets, prepared funding recommendations for the Board and monitored projects in the field.

· Liaised with donors to leverage funds and co-finance projects. Promoted collaboration at the grantee and donor level.

· Evaluated grant proposals, prepared funding recommendations for the Board and monitored project performance in Mexico, Central America, Brazil and Argentina.

· Managed individualized renegotiation of all grants in the biodiversity portfolio following the financial downturn of the Foundation to minimize impact on grantees.

· Supported design of new strategy for biodiversity portfolio to maximize the Foundation’s impact with available dollars through research, interviews of grantees and key players in the field, and the writing of new strategy ultimately approved by the Board.

• Designed methodology and conducted research to assess impact of integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve based on adaptive management principles.
• Co-wrote final report used by participating NGOs to redesign their project portfolios, and by the Peruvian government to enhance the protected area’s status and revamp its management plan.

• Assessed multi-institutional initiative designed to increase use of native varieties of crops and local livestock in Peruvian highlands.
• Conducted research with network of Aymara and Quechua peasant organizations in five departments, and prepared report for GTZ (German International Cooperation Agency).

• Conducted pro-bono research and policy analysis for four clients: American Zoological Association / National Zoo, National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund.