Manuel Pallares
Co-Founder & Senior Advisor
With 20 years of living, studying and working in the Andean region Manuel has become an undisputed authority on the social and environmental implications of oil and gas exploration and production – acutely tuned in to the potential benefits as well as the pitfalls of natural resource development. Manuel was a trailblazer in monitoring social and environmental impacts by being one of the first to introduce and train communities on GIS technology to understand changes in their surroundings and improve their lives. Manuel leads Equitable Origin’s stakeholder consultation and engagement with indigenous communities and organizations throughout Latin America.
Manuel is a biologist and GIS satellite-mapping expert who established and served as Director of the Environmental and Social Reparation Fund within Ecuador's Ministry of the Environment. From 2000 to 2005, he coordinated the Reunification and Cultural Revalorization Project of the Secoya people of Ecuador and Peru, an initiative funded jointly by the European Union and the IBIS Foundation of Denmark.
Manuel graduated with a B.S. in Biology from the Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador and a Masters in GIS mapping from the University of San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.
Expertise: GIS-based environmental impact assessment, stakeholder engagement