Our team
Livelihoods Management Team
A team of experts with more than 10 years of experience in impact finance
Bernard Giraud
President & Co-Founder
Former Vice President of Sustainability & Shared Value Creation in Danone, Bernard has played a pivotal role in integrating social responsibility as part of the company’s core strategy. As of 2008, Bernard helped lead Danone’s initial carbon offsetting experimentations and launched large-scale mangrove restoration projects in Africa and Asia, in vitro. Following the success of these projects, Bernard co-founded with Jean-Pierre Rennaud the Livelihoods Funds in 2011, which became an independent entity.
Veteran advocate of sustainable development, he is playing a strategic and visionary role in the structuring of Livelihoods dual approach for climate action and sustainable sourcing.
Guillaume Bouculat
Chief Operating Officer
Guillaume started his career in the financial sector and worked in Europe, Brazil, and Mexico, before feeling the pressing need to engage his skills and energy into environmental protection and social development. He went back to college and fell in love with the outstanding capacity of trees to sustain human and animal life. He met Livelihoods’ two co-founders and joined the team to launch the adventure with them.
He joined Livelihoods as Financial Director and helped create Livelihoods Venture and the first Livelihood Carbon Fund in 2011. A few years later, he helped launch the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming in 2015 and became the company’s Development Director to co-lead project design and implementation. In 2018, Guillaume became Livelihoods’ Chief Operating Officer to help implement key projects and ensure the overall management of the company’s teams.
Eric Servat
Sustainable Sourcing Vice President
Eric has more than 20 years of experience in the private sector and 7 years of experience in NGOs. He has played leading roles in building sustainable sourcing projects and strong partnerships committed for systemic transformation.
Passionate about designing solutions with impact and value for all, Eric has set up strategic private & public partnerships in the cocoa, spices, and tropical oil supply chains in West Africa & South East Asia. He joined Livelihoods team in 2014 and played a key role in the structuring of the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming (L3F) launched in 2015. Today, he leads our sustainable sourcing department, including L3F, an innovative investment model designed to build sustainable supply chains with pioneering brands while improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
Jean-Pierre Rennaud
Advisor & Co-Founder
Jean-Pierre is an experienced biochemical engineer and business developer who has spent 30 years in strategic management roles, in Danone. He has played a leading role in the company’s sustainable development strategy as an Environment Director. Jean-Pierre co-founded the Livelihoods Funds together with Bernard Giraud in 2011 and is today a strategic advisor to our social business.
Jean-Pierre is also the former President of the French agronomic Institute SupAgro in Montpellier as well as President of the Scientific Committee of Planet A agriculture platform. Passionate about leading sustainable agricultural models with close contact with the field, Jean-Pierre launched his own brewery in 2018 in Groix island, Brittany. “La Bière de Groix” is a high-quality beer produced with pioneering regenerative agricultural practices that valorize both a unique territory and the island’s economy.
Christine Porta
Chief Finance Officer
Christine has more than 20 years of experience in B2B finance & administration. She holds a dual MBA degree from the French Business School EM Lyon and the University of Texas in Austin and is specialized in innovation, environmental & social issues. Christine also holds a Master’s in Engineering & Environmental Management from Mines-Paris Tech. Passionate about sustainable development and contributing to make a change for the livelihoods of rural communities, Christine plays a key role in Livelihoods Venture as the head of our finance and administration team.
Highly dedicated to the good structuring and implementation of our funds, Christine is also strongly involved in the management of Livelihoods’ human resources and plays a key role to ensure a smooth internal organization.
Julián Galindo
Head of Carbon Projects
Originating from Colombia, Julián is an agronomist with 15 years of experience in designing and implementing innovative models to support smallholder family farmers, worldwide.
He has worked for 7 years with international NGOs in rural development, natural resources management and value chain, leading high added value projects in the field in Asia, Africa, Latin America.
Today, he leads Livelihoods Carbon projects which are implemented across all continents and manages an internationally growing team of project managers.
Sarah Megahed
Director of the 3rd Livelihoods Carbon Fund (LCF3)
Sarah is an Egyptian-British national with more than 7 years of experience in the commodity market, international supply chains and specialied in social impact financing.
She holds an MPA in International Development.
Sarah has played a key role in structuring the pipeline and financial model of Livelihoods Carbon Fund 2, launched in 2017. She leads the partner relationships and structuring of the 3rd Carbon Fund.
Jérémie de Charentenay
Head of Operations
Jérémie holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering, specializing in Environmental Economics, from leading French University AgroParis Tech.
He has worked for CDC Climat and Deloitte, as well as a management consultant in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
He pilots large-scale L3F projects for sustainable supply chains , including Livelihoods Coconut project in the Philippines.
Thomas Braschi
Head of Investment
Thomas has been committed in the sustainable agricultural value chains, multiple stakeholder projects and impact investing for the past decade. He leads Livelihoods vanilla sustainable supply chain project in Madagascar.
He is also structuring sustainable agriculture and forestry carbon investments in Africa & South East Asia, and designing innovative financing facilities for scale-up in emerging and advanced economies.
Thomas is the former France Director of “2 Degrees Investing Initiative” & Managing Partner of GreenFlex and BeCitizen (Rothschild Group), two environmental and impact investment consulting firms.
Maribel Narvaez Gallardo
Head of Project Development Livelihoods 3rd Carbon Fund
Maribel is an experienced chemical engineer holding an international MBA.
She has developed complex projects in Africa, Latin, America and Europe, including with UN agencies to promote sustainable economic growth focusing on strategic food chains.
Within Livelihoods team, Maribel has established key public-private co-funding partnerships and is playing a key role in structuring our funds. Today, she is in charge of the project development of the 3rd Livelihoods Carbon Fund projects (first closing at 150 million euros) which was launched in June 2021. This new fund has the ambition to improve the livelihoods of 2 million people and deliver up to 30 million carbon credits over its entire duration.
Ioannis Varelidis
Head of climate projects, Livelihoods 3rd Carbon Fund
Ioannis is an agroforestry expert with more than 15 years of experience in the forestry & rural development areas. He holds a Degree in Forestry as well as a Master’s Degree in Agroforestry from the University of Aberdeen. Ioannis holds a significant track record in the management of bilateral and multilateral projects in Southeast Asia, Europe and Western Africa. He has worked and lived in Laos, Montenegro, Burkina Faso and Greece for several years.
Ioannis has gained extensive field experience through key positions in technical assistance and as a project manager, supporting projects funded by various donors in the rural and forestry areas. Ioannis has a good knowledge of the development sector, its many actors, but also a good understanding of the challenges related to developing and managing forest & agroforestry resources in a context of poverty reduction. Within Livelihoods, Ioannis manages a growing team of experienced project managers to design tailor-made projects with impact on nature, climate and rural communities.
Livelihoods Project Management Team
A team of agronomists, engineers & finance experts with hands-on experience
René-Charles Coumès
Senior Project Coordinator
René-Charles is an experienced agricultural engineer holding a DEA & PHD in Agrochemistry.
He has lived 15 years abroad and has managed impactful carbon footprint and water sustainability projects. René-Charles has managed 3 plants in 3 different countries. He has spent 15 years in Danone, including as a QSE manager.
Joseph Haraka
Project Coordinator
Joseph joined Livelihoods Venture in 2022 as Project Coordinator and holds a degree in Agroforestry and Rural Development from the University of Eldoret, and a certificate in FSC Forest Management Auditing.
Prior to joining Livelihoods Venture, he had worked for 7 years with rural communities in the diverse climates of East Africa employing traditional and modern knowledge in alleviating poverty. His career objective is to apply agroforestry technologies and innovations to improve the livelihoods of rural communities. He has worked with social enterprises and startups in the field of Horticulture and witnessed real impact through his extension and advisory efforts. He has experience in the Monitoring and Evaluation of projects and has driven teams to derive passion and purpose in their jobs.
Joseph is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rosa-Maria Vidal
Social impact Lead and Senior Project Coordinator
Rosa-Maria is a Mexican conservationist with 30 years of experience. She leads large-scale rural energy and watershed preservation projects of Livelihoods, in Guatemala and Mexico.
Rosa is specialized in landscapes management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change. Back in Mexico, she has founded a prestigious NGO to improve the lives of the poorest communities.
Within Livelihoods team and together with our partners, she leads our Monitoring & Evaluation activities focusing on the social impact of our projects. She plays a key role on the definition and implementation of our social impact KPIs including farmer income, gender equality, women and young rural communities empowerment.
Nicolas Fabre
Senior Agroecologist & Project Coordinator
Nicolas is an experienced agroecologist with 18 years of experience, specialized in sustainable rural development and water management.
He has worked with public authorities, NGOs, international development funds, mostly in South America.
Within Livelihoods team, Nicolas leads our watershed project in Brazil and plays a transversal key role on regenerative agriculture and biodiversity preservation.
Emmanuel Quisol
Senior Project Coordinator
A native of Malita in Davao Occidental, Philippines, Emmanuel has nearly two decades of work experience in agricultural development. The Philippines is among the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural disasters and climate impacts. As the son of smallholder farmers, he has witnessed the impact that climate change has on agriculture.
Emmanuel has significant experience in project management, value chain analysis and development, and community engagement. He is currently leading Livelihoods Venture’s coconut project in Mindanao.
Maïkov Dumas
Senior Project Coordinator
Maïkov is an experienced agronomist in reforestation, biodiversity preservation, and social project management.
He founded FORESTEVER NGO to develop agroforestry & reforestation projects with indigenous communities in the Amazon. Maïkov has worked 10 years in UP2Green Reforestation NGO. Today, he leads key Livelihoods agroforestry projects across Africa and is also dedicated to expanding our portfolio of projects in the region.
Jonathan Domarle
Senior project coordinator
Jonathan is an agronomist specialized in tropical agriculture and rural development. Since 2003, he has been engaged for the improvement of rural population living conditions all around the world.
Over the past 17 years, Jonathan has been working for international NGO, farmers’ organisations and micro-finance institution in 9 countries of Latin America, Africa and South East Asia. Jonathan plays a key role in identifying and designing ambitious development programs for Livelihoods.
Amélia Houmaïri-Romy
Partnerships Officer
Amélia joined Livelihoods in 2020 to contribute to the success of our funds and projects growth, thanks to her strong analytical skills and experience in international relations, impact measurement and humanitarian management. She holds a master’s degree from Sciences Po’ School in Strasbourg, as well as a master’s Degree from IRIS SUP’ school where she specialized in international program management, international aid, and strategic planning.
She has previously worked in Germany, Belgium, and France, and spent 2 years in Vietnam, where she led the strategic activities of Côtes d’Armor-Viêt Nam NGO. Amélia oversees our key fundraising activities and partnerships to strengthen the impact of our projects.
Mélanie Schwald
Climate Impact Coordinator
Mélanie is an apprentice engineer in Agroecology at ISARA school based in Lyon/Avignon. Passionate about nature preservation, agroecology and travelling, she has spent several internships in scientific and biotechnology centers, including a 3-month internship in Vietnam in 2018, where she created a protocol to test the concentration of an oligosaccharide on orchid micropropagation.
Since then, she has decided to follow her passion and focus on global agroecology projects with strong social impact. She has joined Livelihoods as an apprentice and Climate Impact Coordinator to support our Livelihoods Carbon Funds projects audits, carbon estimates and impact assessment.
Sébastien De Royer
Senior Project Manager, Indonesia
Sébastien joined Livelihoods early 2020 as a Project Manager. He holds a Master’s degree from Wageningen University and is based out of Indonesia, where he has been working since 2013.
Sébastien has almost 10 years of experience working in deforestation free supply chains, forestry and climate change programmes in Southeast Asia. He has progressively switched from an academic position based at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) to an advisory role, engaging with private companies into driving their sustainable sourcing strategies journey. Within Livelihoods team, Sébastien leads our smallhoders’ palm project in Indonesia and is in charge of identifying and designing new impactful project opportunities for both L3F and LCF funds in the region.
Andarias Pagalla
Project Manager - Indonesia
Andarias is an agronomist with 19 years of experience in community development programming, farmer training, market survey and farmer organization development. He holds a master’s degree in Agribusiness from Tadulako University, Central Sulawesi-Indonesia.
Over the course of his career, Andarias has been working both for international NGOs and private companies in Indonesia for project management. He has a strong experience as a Regional Program Manager, Program Manager, and Project Manager. In Livelihoods Team, Andarias plays a key role in identifying and designing ambitious development programs addressed to rural communities mainly for projects supported by the Livelihoods Carbon Funds (LCF).
Andarias is currently based in Palu City, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Amla Natarajan
Senior Project Manager, South Asia
Amla is a conservationist from India with a decade of experience in managing conservation research & sustainable development projects in southern India. Multi-lingual, Amla worked across state-lines in previous projects by adopting a well-rounded landscape approach to sustainable development (sustainable agriculture, alternative livelihoods, WASH & education) and biodiversity conservation. Amla brings to the team a strong understanding of the cultural dynamics of the region, along with diverse experience in program management, stakeholder management, community mobilization, capacity building, women empowerment.
She holds a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the US, but she decided to follow her passion and shift to conservation, after a decade of volunteering and activism. She is currently working towards a Master’s in Social Work in India, to strengthen her program development and management skills towards achieving maximum social impact. Amla is managing the 4 Livelihoods’ ongoing projects in India and is looking to expand the our portfolio in the South Asia region.
Malcom Adomako Brimpong
Project Manager
Malcom has built his career around national and international development. He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.
A Ghanaian native, he has over 15 years of work experience in Access to Finance and Inputs. He prides himself on his ability to solve problems unconventionally while enabling team effort to produce long term, sustainable development.
He joined Livelihoods Venture in 2022.
Stéphane Diomande
Senior Project Manager (West Africa)
Stéphane is an agro-economist with certifications in development economics. He has 10 years of professional experience in the initiation and scaling of sustainable approaches to improve agricultural productivity, diversification, market access and financial inclusion in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
Over the course of his career, he has helped build models for professionalization and sustainable financial inclusion of smallholder cocoa and coffee farmers with farmer organizations, industrialists, financial institutions, and public stakeholders. He has initiated and led projects that structure local NTFP (non-timber forest products) value chains from collection, processing, and marketing with rural communities near protected areas.
At Livelihoods, Stéphane will identify and manage projects in West Africa. He is based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Finance, Administration & Communication Team
Elise Maurin
Executive Assistant
Elise has graduated from an Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development.
She has previously worked as CSR Coordinator at Suez Eau France where she focused on facilitating access to water for the most vulnerable communities.
She has worked several years in Ireland and Italy where she also volunteered in organic farming.
Youssef Abdelmalak
Senior Finance Officer
Originary from Egypt, Youssef has more than 13 years of experience as Chief Accountant and 5 years in the private sector. He has worked as a Treasury Accountant and Manager in the banking sector in the Middle East.
He holds Diplomas in Accounting Management obtained in France & Egypt. Highly involved, Youssef operates Livelihoods Funds treasuries, and also deals with human resources and administration.
Pia Olders
Senior Legal Officer
Pia is a legal expert specialized in international business law, intellectual property law, and holds a certification as a company director by the French Institute of Administrators and Sciences Po. She has worked for twenty years in a large industrial group in France and abroad in the industrial sector, developing the poles of industrial property, leading the strategic risks of financing transfers, before sitting on the Board of Directors. In 2018, Pia chose to shift her career towards social entrepreneurship as a strategy and governance consultant for profit and non-profit organizations in the social business sector.
Within the finance and administration department of Livelihoods, Pia oversees all legal matters associated with Livelihoods’ funds and projects. She ensures appropriate governance, develops legal and administrative best practices, as well as proper compliance with international and local standards. She is particularly involved in the contracting phases with all our partners (including investors, project implementers, service providers, etc.).
Marion Daras
Director of Communication & Network
Marion has spent 14 years in Greece, her home country.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Management & Translation and has 6 years of experience in marketing, communication, business development in both multinational and start-up companies.
Passionate about social impact, and interculturality, she is highly involved in helping Livelihoods grow as a reference actor in impact financing.