About us

 

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.  mama-tierra.org

VEREIN MAMA TIERRA

UID: CHE-317.139.062
Rütistrasse 12
5400 Baden, Schweiz

Phone +41 77 502 42 96
info@mama-tierra.org 

FUNDACIÓN MAMA TIERRA
NIT: 901204232-7
Maicao, La Guajira, Colombia
colombia@mama-tierra.org

Mama Tierra is a Swiss tax exempted association and Colombian foundation.

We are MAMA TIERRA, a Swiss association from Baden supporting indigenous Wayuu people since 2014 with solar energy, nutritional programs and fair trade for their handcrafts. This year has been hard due to COVID-19, which has increased food scarcity and has deepened their hunger crisis. But we have done our best to bring food where there is hunger, work where there is unemployment and hope where there is despair.

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 communication agencies allowed her to build the MAMA TIERRA brand. Her degree in fundraising management from ZHAW helps to develop Mama Tierra’s fundraising strategy. Katherine is currently studying at the University of Zürich social anthropology with a special focus in material culture.

Lourdes Grollimund

President

Lourdes Grollimund is a Swiss-Venezuelan. 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.

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.

Laura Álvarez Acosta

Sales & Marketing

Laura Álvarez Acosta graduated in 2018 with a Master's degree in Cultural Analysis, Art History and Gender Studies from the University of Zurich and a Bachelor's degree in Ibero-Culture and Art History from the University of Fribourg. Laura is interested in cultural heritage preservation and is an advocate for gender equality.

Being both Spanish and Ecuadorian, Laura enjoys a multicultural environment. She brings years of experience in the fashion industry in sales and marketing. Laura is passionate about traditional crafts and loves interacting with people on a daily basis.