August 11th, 2021
Dear Friends:
With great enthusiasm, I am happy to share that, after a long process of identifying suitable candidates led by the Comunidad y Biodiversidad, A.C. (COBI) Board of Directors, which I honorably chair, as well as the establishment of an Evaluation Panel of experts in the field, Dr. María José Espinosa Romero has been appointed as the new General Director of COBI. María José will take up the role next August 16.
This process began two years ago, when Dr. Jorge Torre shared his vision of organizations and people renewing themselves. We are deeply grateful to Jorge for the vision, professionalism, and transparency with which he accompanied us in this process. In his 14 years of service as General Director of COBI, Jorge focused on strengthening the organization in all its components, including renewing the organization’s leadership. Following on from this process, we inform you that as of August 16, Jorge will take over as Director of Institutional Development at COBI.
María José began working at COBI in 2010 and throughout this decade has positioned the organization’s work in different national and international arenas, strengthening the path to achieve our mission of promoting marine conservation and sustainable fishing through effective participation. María José has a bachelor´s degree in Natural Resource Management from the Universidad Marista (Mexico), a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and a doctorate on Governance and Policy Analysis from the United Nations University and Maastricht University (The Netherlands). Additionally, she has extensive experience in fisheries management and research, including ecosystem modeling, governance of socio-environmental systems, economic policy, conflict resolution, among others.
We are confident that Maria José will lead COBI successfully, taking the organization to new levels of influence and impact.
Please join us in warmly welcoming María José and wishing her the best of success during her tenure.
Kind regards,
Vanessa Pérez-Cirera, Ph.D.
President of COBI