CONFIRMED KEYNOTES
Juan Echanove
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)—The Rigth to Food
Juan Echanove is an international expert with 27 years of experience in food security, agriculture, rural development, and climate change adaptation, having worked across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. His career spans leadership roles with major institutions including the European Union, CARE, Oxfam, FAO, UNDP, and bilateral development agencies, where he has led large-scale agricultural and food security programs, supported national policy reforms, and built partnerships impacting tens of millions of smallholder farmers worldwide. He has overseen multi-country portfolios worth hundreds of millions of dollars, contributed to global initiatives such as the UN Food Systems Summit, authored books and policy articles, and received Georgia’s Order of the Golden Fleece for his contributions to agricultural development. Since May 2024, he has served as FAO’s Right to Food Coordinator, promoting human rights within agrifood systems at the global level.
Luz María Garcini
Rice University’s Center for Community and Public Health and the Center for the United States and Mexico (Baker Institute)
Luz M. Garcini, PhD, MPH is a licensed psychologist whose research and advocacy focus on advancing health equity for historically marginalized communities. Using a socioecological and social determinants of health framework, her interdisciplinary work examines biobehavioral and sociocultural mechanisms of risk and resilience, employing community-engaged science, biomarkers, and mixed methods. Dr. Garcini is widely recognized for her leadership in equity, diversity, and inclusion, with extensive publications, funded research, and national media coverage. She currently serves in leadership roles with the American Psychological Association and is deeply committed to mentoring scholars from underrepresented backgrounds. Originally from Mexico City, she is a dedicated advocate for inclusivity in the health and social sciences.
María Emma Orejudo Prieto de los Mozos
Deputy Director for Ecological Transition, Water and the Fight against Hunger, and of the Office of the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation within the Directorate for Sectoral, European and Multilateral Cooperation of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
María Emma Orejudo´s professional career spans more than two decades in public administration and specialized consultancy for river basin authorities. Her deputy directorate is responsible, among other functions, for implementing the priorities set out in the Spanish Cooperation Master Plan, including the preservation and promotion of sustainable food systems at all stages to ensure food security, the advancement of the right to food, and the development of partnerships to guarantee the right to healthy, adequate, and accessible food.