Paola Fonseca is VIVA Idea ́s General Counsel, and Public Policy Director. VIVA Idea is a Latin- American organisation dedicated to strengthening sustainable development across the Global South through Action Research projects; it offers solutions to enhance collective impact strategies focused on social inclusion and sustainability.

She is a lawyer with more than 18 years of experience in international corporate law and governance; she has an MBA and a Post-MBA from INCAE Business School and is developing her PhD (focused on how to design a public policy that promotes Impact Investment) at the United Nations University for Peace and alumni of the University of Oxford ́s Social Impact Program. She also teaches MBA courses on incorporating the in-house lawyer perspective into the decision-making process, focused on ESG compliance.

After a long career in the for-profit sector, where she held the roles of Regional In-House Counsel for the Americas and Head of Governance for Iberia-America (Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Spanish Speaking Latam and North America) at TMF Group, a global corporate compliance services company, she moved to the non-profit sector to promote public policies that foster Impact Investment, where she leads, among others, important regional projects such as the GSGII Latin American NABs strategic alignment processes and the implementation of the Central American governments impact investment program for SMEs.

Paola also sits on the board of directors of the International Association for Human Values, an NGO with consultative status at the UN, the Vance Center ́s Woman in the Legal Profession (Costa Rica Chapter), is the President of the Central American In House Counsels Association and Secretary of the World Compliance Association (Costa Rica Chapter), among others.

After studying creative writing at the University of Oxford, she developed her passion for creative writing; she has published her first novel, Pen Pal Feathers and short stories in various languages.

Accomplished sustainability/ESG lawyer, with a background on environmental law, climate change, energy transition, Nature Based Solutions – NbS, ethnic law and green business, holding a master’s degree in environmental and energy law, and several certifications and postgraduate diplomas on ESG and sustainable business. Experience in law firms, NGOs, research groups and companies across Europe and Latin America.

Almost 2 decades of specific experience advising in sustainability, environmental and social compliance, environmental and social due diligence, environmental litigation, Nature Based Solutions – NbS, climate change and natural markets, industrial reconversion and innovation, just transition, environmental tax breaks, circular economy, water management, air quality, stakeholder engagement and social license, B-corps, ethnic communities and FPIC, environmental and social risk management, and purpose driven companies. Also, experienced sustainability project leader in charge of defining and implementing internal ESG/sustainability strategies, engaging with internal and external stakeholders, boards, and C-suites, and promoting sustainability as a core value of the business.

Experience in several jurisdictions working with multicultural partners in multilingual environments. Guillermo performs his work in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and currently serves in several international professional associations related with environmental, social and sustainability/ESG/Impact issues, with a focus on LATAM. Lecturer at several universities in Colombia and author of several publications on environmental law, renewable energy, sustainable finance, sustainability, ESG and law.