The Trainors | Exceed

Maria Cristina S. Guerrero

MARIA CRISTINA S. GUERRERO or Crissy has worked on community forestry and indigenous peoples concerns over the last two decades. She has been a trainer and resource speaker on topics such as community enterprise development, ancestral domain delineation and management, non-timber forest products (NTFP) policy advocacy, participatory resource monitoring (PRM), traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous community conserved areas and climate change mitigation and adaptation. She finished her Bachelor’s degree in Business Management at the Ateneo de Manila and her Master’s degree in International Development at Cornell University, USA. She got her practical field experience in the island of Palawan in the Philippines and Indonesian Borneo. She is currently the Executive Director of the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP) for South and Southeast Asia. She is one of the founders and current president of the CustomMade Crafts Center, a Philippine indigenous crafts marketing outfit.

Ruth P. Canlas

RUTH P. CANLAS has more than 20 years of social development work experience with various sectors - students, workers, farmers and indigenous peoples. Her expertise is in the areas of program management, organizational development, financial management and enterprise development including business planning. She earned her Management Engineering degree from the Ateneo de Manila and her MBA degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She is the Coordinator of the Philippine program of NTFP-EP since 2008. Under her leadership, NTFP EP in the Philippines has grown organizationally and expanded its work to more communities.

Merry Tobing

MERRY TOBING is a forester by training but has spent the last 3 years training hundreds of weavers, small producers, women entrepreneurs and village forestry holders on Community Livelihood Appraisal and Product Scanning (CLAPs), Business Planning, Marketing and Pricing, Value Chain Analysis, Production Planning and Financial Management and Analysis. She is currently the Coordinator of NTFP-EP Indonesia project “Strengthening Capacity of Women Entrepreneurs in the Food Sector, ASPPUK, West Kalimantan and Jakarta.

Benilda Ronquillo Camba

BENILDA RONQUILLO CAMBA or Beng has worked in community development for 20 years. She coordinates the Enterprise Development program of NTFP-EP in the Philippines since 2006. Her expertise is in the field of community enterprise organizing, enterprise development training and mentoring and program coordination and management. She is an expert on natural dye and natural textiles. She has been involved in enterprise development projects locally and internationally as trainer, facilitator and resource speaker. She graduated with a degree in Communications Research from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman and completed CEFE-based course on Entrepreneurship Development and certificate courses in Enterprise Development from Ateneo Graduate School of Business and on Project Proposal Assessment and Project Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation (PIME) from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.

Sophay Uch

SOPHAY UCH has been involved in enterprise development and marketing of NTFP products for the last 5 years. She received training on relevant topics such as Participatory Capacity and Vulnerability Analysis (PCVA) and Community Livelihood Appraisal and Product Scanning (CLAPs). She had re-echoed and conducted training on similar topics to community partners of NTFP-EP Cambodia. She completed her Bachelor Education Degree and Bachelor of Arts in History at Royal University of Phnom Penh major in World and Khmer history, International Relationship, Political Sciences, and Environmental Science. She is now the Enterprise Development Coordinator of NTFP-EP Cambodia.

Genevieve Labadan

GENEVIEVE LABADAN is NTFP-EP Philippines' Enterprise Development Officer in Bukidnon. She has developed and mentored 7 IP community forest enterprises in Mindanao. Trained in Sustainable Livelihood Assessment in Indonesia, she has designed and conducted various trainings on enterprise development in the Philippines and Indonesia. She worked previously with FVCTLDC and assisted the Higaonon IPO in securing the CADT and the drafting of Ancestral Domain Plan. She has undergone trainings in participatory management and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. She graduated with a BS Biology and Marine Biology degree from Xavier University and took up Master of Arts in Science Education.

Nola Andaya

NOLA ANDAYA has over 12 years of NTFP marketing and community enterprise development experience. She is the founder and a board member of CustomMade Crafts Center (CMCC), the crafts program of NTFP-EP Philippines. She is also an adviser of NatureWild, NTFP-EP Cambodia's marketing intermediary. Since 2011, she has provided technical assistance to NTFP-EP in conducting SLA, enterprise identification, market research and marketing strategy development. Being based in Europe allows her access to market research information and provides her familiarity with product and market trends. She has since done honey and rattan certification studies for several country programs and run training on sustainable NTFP livelihood development for Malaysia and Cambodia programs. She has graduate degrees in Cultural Management and Comparative Local Development (Hons.) from Spanish and Italian universities. She is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts with honors in European Languages at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.

Tanya Conlu

TANYA CONLU has over 15 years of development work, with over 12 years focused on conservation, from species to ecosystems level, using participatory and community-based approaches. She has a strong background in sub-grant management and building partnerships, environmental campaigns, technical writing, and project management, with experience in organizational management, field research, and information, education and communications (IEC). Her academic background is on Environment and Natural Resources Management from the University of the Philippines (UP) and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication at the Ateneo de Manila University. She is currently the Conservation and Resource Management Coordinator of NTFP-EP.

Panthom Priyandoko

PANTHOM PRIYANDOKO has been working on sustainable NTFP and forest management for almost a decade. He coordinated NTFP-EP Indonesia work since 2004 and is now a freelance trainer and facilitator. He develops and designs innovative approaches in training on community empowerment, program development, capacity building, planning and evaluation and communication. He is one of the expert trainers on livelihood appraisal and product scanning in Indonesia. He finished Forest Management at the University of Mulawarman in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Genela Cabural-Buhia

GENELA CABURAL-BUHIA is an independent consultant on disaster risk reduction/ climate change adaptation (DRR/CCA) integration in community livelihoods and local development programs. She had facilitated trainings and field work on DRR/CCA and participatory risk assessment for vulnerable communities, local government units and international development agencies with programs in Southeast Asia on sustainable livelihoods and DRR/CCA. Her stint in Oxfam Hong Kong earned recognition for innovation on DRR/CCA and Sustainable Livelihoods for its Philippine program partners. Her experience in social development for more than two decades includes capacity building, program and project development and management, grants administration and monitoring in the areas of livelihoods, gender and humanitarian/disaster risk management. She graduated Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Ateneo de Davao, completed her Masters in Development Management at University of the Philippines Mindanao and earned units in the Doctorate program on Development Studies at Ateneo de Davao.

Khou Eang Hourt

KHOU EANG HOURT is an NTFP specialist with academic background in Master of Science in Biology at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands and Bachelor of Forestry Science at the Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He is an expert and trainor on resource inventory and management particularly on bamboo and rattan and on rain forestation such as nursery establishment and enrichment planting.

Erwin L. Diloy

ERWIN L. DILOY has more than 8 years of experience in enterprise development in Philippine forest and indigenous communities. He has supported the establishment of community-based NTFP enterprises for the Mangyan in Occidental Mindoro and facilitated training and mentoring on enterprise development (organizational development, production, marketing, finance, monitoring and evaluation), simple bookkeeping and financial management. He has been trained on CEFE-based course on Entrepreneurship Development and has previous experience as college instructor on Farm Business Management and Basic Computer Programs. He has a doctorate in Public Administration and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Mathew John

MATHEW JOHN is one of the Founder members of Keystone, a group of eco-development initiatives in Kotagiri, India. He works on environment and rural development with primary interest areas on marketing of green products produced and developed from project areas, alternative certification for small and indigenous producers, and financial planning, management and administration. At present, he focuses on developing and finding niche market for organic and natural products from the forest and homestead farms. In September 2010, he became the founder Managing Director of Last Forest Enterprises Private Limited, the marketing operations of Keystone that was registered separately as a new company. He has facilitated several trainings on enterprise development with self-help groups, agricultural marketing, resource management. He graduated Bachelor of Commerce from Loyola College, Madras University and had post graduate studies on Rural Management at the Institute of Rural Management in Anand.

Ma. Imelda G. Urata

MA. IMELDA G. URATA or Maia has been working on community-based enterprises for more than 7 years. Her expertise is in community enterprise organizing, product development (especially in developing processed food products), enterprise development training, mentoring and marketing. For the past 4 years, she has been assigned in Mindanao, working with the Higaonon tribe in developing their enterprises. She graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering. She finished the modular course on Social Enterprise given by Philippine Social Enterprise Network (PhilSen) and trainings on enterprise development, financial management, value chain management and product development, gender sensitivity, ecology, disaster risk reduction, negotiation skills and resource management.

Katherine Mana-Galido

KATHERINE MANA-GALIDO has 15 years of work experience on community resource management programs including environmental restoration, community conserved areas, paralegal, environmental education, gender mainstreaming, environmental impact assessment, restoration, participatory resource monitoring, sustainable livelihood, policy research and advocacy. She finished BS Zoology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños and earned units in the Master’s degree program on MS Public Health (Environmental Health) at the University of the Philippines Manila. She took six months environmental restoration training in 2001 at Earthcorps, Seattle Washington.

Datu Abdelwin Sangkula

DATU ABDELWIN SANGKULA has been managing the REDD plus preparedness project in the Victoria-Anepahan Range in Palawan. Previous to his work in NTFP EP Philippines, as Project Officer of the Environment Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) he managed and implemented various projects related to community-based resource management, ancestral domain titling and environmental policy reform advocacy both at the local and national levels. Recently, he led an NTFP EP Philippines team to draft the Community-based Sustainable Tourism Business Plan for the Sibuyan Mangyan.

Norli Colili

NORLI COLILI is the Indigenous Peoples Specialist of the NTFP EP Philippines. Being a member of the Pala’wan tribe, one of the 110 indigenous peoples’ (IP) group in the Philippines, she has always been involved in organizing IPs. She has been instrumental in establishing various community-based NTFP enterprises that are owned and managed by the IPs in Palawan. She has been providing enterprise development trainings especially on organizational development. She makes sure that the indigenous knowledge, skills and practices are incorporated in the organizational processes and systems of the community group. She uses her academic background in Chemical Engineering in assisting the groups in adapting appropriate technologies and ensuring proper environmental waste management.

MANUEL P. UY

MANUEL P. UY has been involved in enterprise development and management, including training and mentoring of the Mangyan of Occidental Mindoro for the past 5 years. He finished a short course on Beekeeping from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, which he was able to apply in establishing the community forest honey enterprises in Occidental Mindoro. Aside from providing training and mentoring in marketing, he also takes charge of the layout and design of marketing collaterals, e.g., tarpaulins, brochures and product labels. He graduated with a degree in Political Science from the Ateneo de Naga University.

about us