Lori Swanson Espinoza
President, Director of Global Learning
Lori Espinoza earned her M.Ed. in Second Languages and Cultures Education, with concentrations in Applied Linguistics and Spanish, from University of Minnesota. She taught languages at the college level for over 20 years. As Academic Director of Andean Study Programs, she supervises and directs the ongoing development and implementation of faculty-led study abroad programs in Ecuador for U.S. university clients. Since co-founding Andean Study Programs in Quito in 1991, she has designed and directed programs for thousands of students from over thirty institutions of higher learning. Her innovative models for program development and delivery have provided students rigorous academic experiences, bona fide research opportunities, and authentic cultural exchange while supporting grass-roots conservation initiatives in the sites of study and research. She has helped to establish an unmatched support network for non-governmental conservation organizations, remote Indigneous communities, and professional educators and researchers in the region. In 2006 she helped found Fundación EcoMinga, an Ecuadorian NGO dedicated to the conservation of threatened Andean forests. Through her stewardship on the Board of Directors, EcoMinga has established twelve land reserves of over twenty thousand acres dedicated to scientific investigation and conservation. International conservation and education organizations such as Rainforest Trust, World Land Trust, Youth Trust, Orchid Conservation Alliance, Naturetrek, and the University of Basil fund EcoMinga’s annual $1,000,000+ budget. As a member of the Board of Directors of EcoStudio, she oversees the creation of an academic department that will reproduce her holistic model of community engagement, conservation, and education on a global scale.
Natalia Espinoza
Secretary
Born in Ecuador to an American mother and an Ecuadorian father, Natalia Espinoza grew up surrounded by Ecuador’s biodiversity and influenced by multicultural and biracial worldviews. She is a member of Reserva: The Youth Land Trust Youth Council, where she serves as an officer on the Conventions Committee. In October 2020, Natalia participated in a joint Reserva YLT and EcoMinga Foundation scientific and storytelling expedition to the Chocó Cloud Forest in northern Ecuador. She was invited to join EcoMinga Foundation’s Board of Directors in December 2020. Storytelling through documentary filmmaking is Natalia’s ultimate dream, combining her passions for languages, social psychology, and environmental justice. She has degrees in Film and Psychology from Barnard College and Columbia University.