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Candidate info

Particular qualifications to be a Chair of IUCN Commissions:
Kristen has been passionately engaged with IUCN for over 20 years. In 2010, Kristen joined CEESP and was nominated in 2011 to co-chair the Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples, Customary & Environmental Laws, and Human Rights (SPICEH). Throughout her tenure in CEESP, Kristen has liaised with the Commission, Secretariat and Members to advocate for critical issues such as rights based approaches, conflict resolution, participation, customary law, and indigenous membership to IUCN. Kristen contributions to CEESP have helped create foundational new tools to support the Union, such as the Whakatane Mechanism, IUCN’s Knowledge Basket, and People in Nature. At the Mesoamerican, Latin American and Sydney Parks Congress, she designed and co-led indigenous workshops with indigenous partners Sotzil, IPACC, NAILSMA, and UNU, and organized preparatory meetings for indigenous participants at WPC. Throughout her 21 year tenure at Conservation International (CI), she has worked with various parts of IUCN from the SSC to the WCPA. In 2016, Kristen was elected as Chair of CEESP and member of the IUCN Council. In 2001, Kristen helped set up the CI-IUCN joint Biodiversity Assessment Unit. Kristen is a founding member of the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights (CIHR) and a member of the Greenlist Committee. She has been heavily engaged in CI’s engagement in WPCs in Durban (‘03) and Sydney (‘14) and co-led CI’s delegation to the WCCs in Bangkok (‘04), Barcelona (‘08). Jeju (‘12), Hawaii (‘16).
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:

Kristen is the Senior Vice President for the Center for Communities and Conservation at Conservation International, an IUCN member. In this role, she provides critical leadership on a range of social and international policies and practice related to indigenous peoples and local communities, gender, human rights-based approaches, social safeguards, as well as engagement with the peace and development community. Throughout her 25-year career, Kristen has advocated effectively and globally to improve the engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities in conservation through a human rights-based approach and a focus on people-centered conservation. Since 2016, Kristen has powerfully committed herself to the Union in her elected role of Chair of the Commission on Environment, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) for (IUCN). Under her tenure, the Commission has supported the Unions Members, supported the all the Commissions, advanced our work with IPO members, engaged in research around well-being and conservation, peace and migration and governance and expanded commission membership. Through Kristen’s leadership, CEESP partnered with the Community Conservation Research Network to host the 2018 Conference on Communities, Conservation and Livelihoods which brought academia together with practitioners and indigenous peoples to advance the evidence based work of the CEESP. For more information on her work with CEESP visit here. Kristen holds a degree in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from George Washington University. She was a Cotlow Scholar in 1996, a Fulbright Scholar in 1997-1998 and is a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program. She serves on several boards, including the Equator Initiative, the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force and the Chol-Chol Foundation.

Acceptance of Nomination
PDF icon declaration_of_willingness_to_serve_-_kristen-edited.pdf
Manifesto
PDF icon walker_painemilla_manifesto_2020.docx_.pdf

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