Women for Conservation is thrilled to welcome Isabella Cortes Lara, our dynamic new Executive Director! In her inaugural letter, Isabella shares her vision for empowering women as leaders in conservation, highlighting the transformative journey that lies ahead.
Dear Supporters, Partners, and Champions of Conservation,
Your generous support has been pivotal in driving our mission to empower women and preserve biodiversity. Today, I’m thrilled to share a significant update that marks an exciting new chapter in our journey together.
I’m excited to announce that I will be stepping into the role of Executive Director of Women for Conservation. Together with my mother, Sara Inés Lara, we established Women for Conservation in 2019, inspired by the adversity we faced. Through this organization, we’ve turned our trauma into positive actions that not only enhance women’s lives but also heal our planet.
Thanks to your support, we have already transformed the lives of over 8,000 women and children. Our goal is to grow our impact even more by focusing our expertise where it is needed most. While I lead W4C’s community-based conservation programs, Sara will concentrate on bolstering legal protections for the ProAves Nature Reserves where we center our conservation work. Together as mother and daughter, we will protect some of the most endangered habitats in the world, working in partnership to maximize our impact for women and wildlife.
My roots trace back to the Andean heart of Colombia, where I have had the honor of having an endemic hummingbird species named after me, the gorgetted puffleg (Eriocnemis isabellae), discovered by my father. As a conservationist and activist, I was raised in the heart of ProAves Reserves, the very areas around which we conduct W4C’s community-based conservation programs. After studying wildlife biology and training under some of the most dedicated conservationists in Colombia, I became the director of ProAves El Dorado Reserve, conserving dozens of endemic and endangered species in the megadiverse Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, before pursuing a Master of Science at the Durrell Institute of Conservation Ecology.
During my years in the Sierra Nevada, I facilitated and oversaw Women for Conservation’s community based programs – organizing women’s sustainable livelihood training, environmental education in schools, and coordinating our first accessible family planning campaigns. Most recently, I’ve been creatively directing our Rana Chiva Bus – a vibrant mobile classroom that travels to remote villages raising awareness about some of Colombia’s most charismatic yet unknown endemic species through experiential, play-based education.
With your continued support, we aim to make an even greater impact on the lives of women while contributing to the conservation of Colombia’s rich biodiversity. Thank you for being an essential part of our mission. Together, we will make a profound difference on our planet.
Yours in Conservation,
Isabella Cortes Lara
