At the heart of the Naku Foundation is a circle of guardians, visionaries, and bridge-builders—each committed to protecting the rainforest, uplifting Indigenous leadership, and weaving a new story of possibility.

We come from many paths—Indigenous communities, climate justice movements, storytelling, education, and healing traditions—but are united by one purpose: to walk in right relationship with the Earth and one another.

Our team includes Sapara elders and youth, facilitators, artists, and organizers who carry both ancestral memory and bold imagination.

Together, we work to preserve 900,000 acres of sacred Amazonian forest, support community-led education, and regenerate Indigenous economies rooted in cacao, plant medicine, and reciprocity.

This is not just a team. It’s a movement guided by trust, humility, and the knowing that real change is grown in community.

We invite you to meet the people behind the vision—and to walk alongside us.

  • A person wearing traditional Indigenous attire, including face paint, beaded necklaces, a feathered headdress, and a floral patterned shirt, standing outdoors with greenery in the background.

    Manari Ushigua

    President

    Manari is a Sapara leader, healer, and wisdom keeper from the Ecuadorian Amazon. As President of the Naku Foundation and co-founder of the Naku Center, he guides Indigenous-led models of forest preservation, cultural resilience, and spiritual renewal. A successor to a long lineage of healers, his leadership has protected over 900,000 acres of pristine rainforest and strengthened Sapara sovereignty amid growing external pressures. Recognized by UNESCO and CONAIE for his work in cultural preservation and environmental defense, Manari continues to share the ancestral teachings of dreams, ceremony, and forest intelligence. Through his voice and vision, he reminds the world that the Amazon is not a resource—it is a living, sacred being, essential to the balance of all life.

  • A woman with long wavy brown hair smiling and holding a black mug, standing outdoors with lush green foliage in the background, wearing a white top, layered necklaces, and a colorful beaded necklace.

    Florencia Fridman

    Vice President

    Florencia is a ceremonial facilitator, educator, and creative entrepreneur devoted to bridging modern and ancestral wisdom. As Vice President of the Naku Foundation, she leads initiatives that weave ceremony, regeneration, and economic sovereignty to strengthen Indigenous-led climate action. Rooted in the Mayan tradition of Guatemala and in collaboration with the Sapara Nation of Ecuador, Florencia shares Theobroma Cacao as a vehicle for remembrance, reciprocity, and connection to the Earth. Through her work with Deepak Chopra, Spotify, and Morgan Stanley, and as co-founder of Cacao Laboratory and founder of Florecer Community, she integrates cacao, education, and ceremony as pathways for ecological and cultural renewal.

Meet the Team

  • A man wearing a traditional headdress with blue, red, yellow, and green feathers and a patterned vest standing in a lush green forest.

    Shimanu Ushigua

    DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

  • Man with a backpack wearing a black jacket and hood, smiling outdoors with a blue sky and some clouds in the background.

    Jacob Farris

    DIRECTOR OF PROJECTS + FINANCES

  • A woman with curly brown hair, wearing a white shirt, sitting on a modern black lounge chair against a dark background, smiling at the camera.

    Roberta Vasnic

    DIRECTOR OF ARCHITECTURE

  • A woman smiling while holding a hand drum outdoors with mountains in the background.

    Daniela Miranda

    DIRECTOR OF STORYTELLING + CREATIVITY