In Spanish Mama Tierra stands for Mother Earth, especially the indigenous woman inspired us: she earns the family’s living, brings up the children, struggles for the preservation of the environment and passes on the indigenous heritage.
By selling ethnic art, we support the financial independence of the indigenous women.
UID: CHE-317.139.062Rütistrasse 12
5400 Baden, Schweiz
FUNDACIÓN MAMA TIERRA
NIT: 901204232-7
Maicao, La Guajira, Colombia
colombia@mama-tierra.org
We are Mama Tierra
Katherine Klemenz-Portmann
CEO
Katherine Klemenz is CEO of Mama Tierra in charge of fundraising and marketing. As Swiss, Colombian and Venezuelan with indigenous roots, she builds a bridge between both countries. Her studies in communication science and marketing, professional experience in top communication agencies allowed her to build the Mama Tierra brand, driving sales and donation of the Mama Tierra’s online shop. Her degree in fundraising management helps to increase Mama Tierra’s fundraising. Currently she is studying at the University of Zürich social anthropology with a special focus in material culture.
Katherine speaks 6 languages.
Lourdes Grollimund
President
Lourdes Grollimund is a Swiss-Venezuelan currently living in Toronto. She grew up reading stories from indigenous tribes and was particularly fascinated by the rich fantasy of the Wayuu people, which allowed her to develop a love and respect for the Wayuu culture. Lourdes completed her studies in Geophysics at the Simón Bolívar University and in the US, where she graduated from a Masters and PhD degrees in Geophysics at Stanford University. Through Mama Tierra, Lourdes has been able to put into practice her knowledge in colors and design, and most importantly, she has been able to work together with the Mama Tierra team in order to bring into reality her goal of empowering people through education, employment and humanitarian help. All this while being engaged in her community as well. Lourdes is a mother of three.
Laura Osma
Branding and Fundraising Colombia
Laura is a Colombian actress who has excelled in national and international audiovisual projects. Currently, Laura plays different roles in popular Netflix series such as El Chapo or Caso Colmenares. Laura takes over Mama Tierra’s accessory branding and acts as model for upcoming photo shootings.
Laura has always been interested in helping the communities in extreme poverty. Now as an active member of Mama Tierra, Laura is in charge of fundraising activities in Colombia. She drives the relationships with institutions, fashion and media industry in order to develop the Mama Tierra in Colombia.
Alex Steel
Board of directors
Alex Steele is a member of the Board of Directors at Mama Tierra. He has worked as consultant and coach for the last 25 years. As such, Alex has been leading organisational development and innovation within industry and government. Alex is a Visiting Professor in Transformational Learning and Sustainable Development at ULAB University in Bangladesh and he is an associate academic with the London Business School and Ashridge Business School in the UK. Alex's expertise includes environmental management, sustainable development, community development, corporate social responsibility, innovation and leadership development. Alex is the Founding Director of Improwise, an organisation supporting organisations and communities to bring about change and innovation, in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Alex has a parallel career as a professional jazz pianist. He is a father of three.
Rolf Klemenz
Treasurer
Rolf Klemenz is Swiss and has been working as an IT manager for the past 20 years, mainly in the financial services sector. He holds the position of the treasurer at Mama Tierra and maintains the IT infrastructure. Rolf brings important experience in strategic development and economics to the team, having supported projects worth millions of Swiss Francs for a leading Swiss bank.
He holds a Bachelor in Business Information Systems.
Douglas Fernandes DaSilva
Research and Development
Douglas Fernandes DaSilva was born in Brazil and has lived in the USA, UK, Nepal, Uganda as well as Switzerland. His passion for traveling has taken him to other 46 countries. Douglas obtained his Biochemistry bachelor’s degree at University of Wisconsin and an Environmental Sciences Masters at University of Zurich. He has worked most of his life within scientific research and development, health capacity building and health education in developing countries. His master thesis involved studying the link between the ongoing desertification of La Guajira in Colombia affects the livelihood and health of the Wayuu people.
Patrizia Stalder
Design
Patrizia Stalder is a Swiss multi-faceted artist, working as a painter, illustrator and graphic designer. Patrizia’s illustrations have been included in the “200 Best Illustrators Worldwide 18/19” publication by Lürzers Archiv. Lürzer's Archiv presents creatively outstanding campaigns from all over the world and enjoys a high reputation in many countries. Patrizia’s career has taken her all around the world. In Havanna, Cuba, the Basel artist studied drawing at the Instituto Superior de Arte and worked in Los Angeles as illustrator and in Basel as Art Director. Her work is influenced by her naturalistic drawing studies and her love for graphic abstraction.
Coral Hernandez Finol
Design
Coral Hernandez Finol creates the Mama Tierra designs with passion. Her work for the fashion company Custo Barcelona led her to participate in the finest fashion collections in Madrid. In 2012, Coral won the Roland Creative Award in Japan in the International Latin American Competition.
As an illustrator, Coral worked for brands like Betsey Johnson, Santoro London, Puig and Zara. Coral holds a degree in graphic design from Zulia University in Venezuela and a master's degree from the Elisava Superior School of Design in Barcelona. She has developed her passion for the indigenous people in her hometown of Maracaibo. A place with the densest indigenous people in the north of South America.
Heliana Grütter
Board of directors
Heliana Grütter-Zambrano is a Venezuelan living in Olten for the past 10 years. She is a human rights activist, internationalist and holds the position as Vice-President of Mama Tierra. Heliana is eager to help improving the life of women and children of La Guajira. She holds a diploma in international relations of the Central University of Venezuela. In Switzerland she studied English & Spanish Literature at Basel University. She is a mother of two.
Monica Diaz
Board of directors
Monica was born and raised in Colombia. She is currently working at the University of Bern, coordinating the advanced master studies programs offered by the World Trade Institute. Monica is a social innovator focused on the link between international trade and sustainable development. She is an expert in fair trade, fair operating practices, human rights and community development.
Monica supports Mama Tierra in the international intellectual property protection and legal issues in Colombia. Monica holds an MA in International Law and Economics from the WTI of the University of Bern and a MA in Development Studies from the ISS of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. She has further training in social entrepreneurship, project management, and leadership from the IMD business school.
Michelle von Dach
Fundraising and events
Michelle von Dach studied ethnology and political science at the University of Zurich. She grew up in a multicultural environment and is passionate about human rights in general, but in particular about women's and children's rights, migration policy and environmental protection. Michelle is committed to working for Mama Tierra for the self-determination of the Wayuu women and conservation of indigenous culture. Michelle supports the team of Mama Tierra with the organization of events and other administrative tasks.
Sandra Schellhammer
Intern
Sandra is a young accessory design student from Germany. Her passion is the development of accessories and the play with colors. During a trip through Bolivia and Peru she discovered her fascination for the South American culture, which is blossoming again at Mama Tierra. Sandra supports Mama Tierra with her eye for aesthetics and design, product photography, webshop as well as shipping management.
