Guayana Paez

My Experience:

Guayana gathers unique experiences and skills related to social change, collaborative research, management, and partnership building. She has facilitated institutional collaborations and designed and implemented interventions supporting organizations and field programs seeking to contribute to sustainability, from the philanthropy and purpose-driven business spaces in Latin America and the US.

She has held positions with international non-governmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, and scientific institutions, including Avina Americas, Fundación Avina, Conservation International, the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Global Ecology Department at Stanford University, and the Center for Development Studies-CENDES at Venezuela’s Central University. As a promoter of systems change, she is a founding member of the Regional Group for Philanthropy in Latin America, GRF-LatAm, and cofounder of the B Community for a new economy paradigm to take root in her country of birth, Venezuela, and amongst the Venezuelan diaspora.

With over 20 years of professional experience and 15 years of studying & practicing yoga as a self-transformation method, Guayana is the founder and CEO of Athena Lab for Social Change. Blending in a systems approach, awareness-based practices, and sustainability, Athena Lab for Social Change seek to unlock transformations for thriving futures.

Guayana is convinced that “as a species, living more sustainably will only be possible if we develop more intimate, meaningful, authentically personal ways of connecting to ourselves, our fellow human beings, our surroundings, and the Earth. A sense of wholeness and purpose then unfolds that makes us feel gratitude for being alive, impelling us to give back”.

My Academic Background:

She holds an MSc. in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London UK and graduated in Sociology with honors from Andres Bello Catholic University, Venezuela.

Guayana has also developed consistent yoga and meditation practices over the years, which have been catalytical for her experiencing a sense of inner peace largely independent from worldly affairs and a deep commitment to service. A 200hr Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher, she has sat at renowned yoga & meditation centers, such as Kripalu in the Berkshires, Vipassana Centers in California, and the Brahma Kumaris' Peace Village in Hudson Valley, and the Sivananda Ashram, Bahamas.

Areas of Expertise

• Startup Assistance

• Sustainability

• Yoga

• Team Management

• Strategic Communication

• Design and Implementation of ESG Companies

Languages

• Spanish: Native

• English: Fluent