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.
Marley Stuart
Executive Director, Treasurer
Marley Stuart has worked in academic and literary publishing for the past eight years and is dedicated to advancing environmentally sustainable practices in the industry. He earned an MFA in Writing from Bennington College and an MA in English and Literature from Southeastern Louisiana University. In 2013, he studied Spanish for translation and Latin American Literature in San Ramón, Costa Rica, through the University of New Orleans. He and his wife, the writer Kimberly Dawn Stuart, launched the small press River Glass Books in 2017 and began hand-binding chapbooks of verse and prose. Today, River Glass Books is an imprint of EcoStudio Foundation and advances our mission through the publication of literary and artistic material. Since 2018, as a program coordinator for Andean Study Programs, Marley has collaborated with professionals in international education and faculty leaders at US universities and colleges to create engaging educational experiences in Ecuador. It was through this work that he was lucky enough to visit the Ecuadorian Amazon, meet some of its incredible people, and witness what’s at stake in the region. These encounters led him to join Natalia Espinoza’s efforts to unite existing conservation efforts, help protect the world’s most crucial ecosystems, and support the people who call these places home. Together, they are co-founders of EcoStudio Foundation.
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 will be graduating with a degree in Film and Psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University in May 2022.
Mary Abbruzzese
Director
Mary Abbruzzese began her career in the nonprofit sector raising much-needed funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society Hope Club in upstate New York. The first of its kind at the time, Hope Club is a free community center where people of all ages and backgrounds faced with a cancer diagnosis can come together to find social and emotional support. Devoted to the Hope Club’s mission to support those in her local community, Mary successfully advanced several fundraising strategies, including event planning, annual fund and major gift cultivation, grant writing, and capital campaign stewardship. Mary continued her nonprofit career by shifting focus to animal welfare as director of community relations for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. During her tenure, Mary facilitated strategic partnerships and worked alongside business leaders and elected officials to form a nonprofit alliance—aligning local resources to present an empowered, unified voice on behalf of local grassroots animal welfare groups. Mary holds an MFA in writing from Bennington College and a BS in media and communications from the State University of New York. Through her studies at Bennington College, she met Marley Stuart and discovered the conservation work in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. Mary is thrilled to be a part of EcoStudio Foundation and firmly stands behind its pledge to help protect the world’s most crucial ecosystems and support the people who call these places home.