Field Workshop CoordinatorSantiago Lobeira

Santiago has a passion to promote sustainable living through his work and lifestyle. He first renovated an old house adopting green design features, then he started his own business to influence corporations to move towards sustainability.

Traveling around the world has given him the opportunity to experience a very rich environmental and cultural diversity that has shaped his personality and made him become a proactive citizen in his community. He has traveled throughout Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, North and South America. Traveling has made him understand how the world works and how much we can influence to make this world a better place.

Santiago grew to love the natural places where he competed in triathlons during his undergraduate years while he attended Law School in Mexico City. He was shocked one day while preparing for a training run to hear that the air quality was so bad that residents were urged to stay indoors. From that moment, he realized that if he wanted to improve the quality of life in his city, the change had to come from within himself. Thus began a journey that brought him to Durham N.C. where he received a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University.

Santiago now lives with his beautiful wife and three amazing kids. He uses public transportation as much as possible to go to work. He is a member of the board of directors of Mexico City’s Country Club where he has set two main goals a) incorporate environmental educational programs into the children’s activities and b) green the Club’s operations by adopting environmental technologies to minimize its ecological footprint. On Sundays he collaborates with a radio/TV station program covering sustainable enterprise topics. He also participates as a member of the advisory committee of Naturalia, a Mexican NGO that promotes conservation of endangered species.

With the help of Manolo Ruiz, he started the company “Sustenta Soluciones” to promote sustainability in large corporations through an innovative concept “the sustainable corporate gift”. Television networks, airlines, financial institutions, and pharmaceutical companies among others buy Sustenta’s products to communicate environmental strategies to their clients, employees and community in general.