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.