Management Team

May East is a sustainability educator, spatial planner and social innovator. Her work spans the fields of cultural geography, urban ecology, and women’s studies. Designated one of the 100 Global SustainAbility Leaders three years in a row, she leads a whole generation of regenerative designers and educators in 54 countries working with community-based organisations in projects strengthening climate resilience, food security and livelihood action. A UNITAR Fellow she has an MSc in Spatial Planning with specialisation in the rehabilitation of abandoned villages.  Her passion is to co-develop Project-Based Learning trajectories supporting indigenous and migrant communities and their traditions to survive in rapidly changing environments while enhancing their opportunities to become the designers of their desired future.

Giovanni is past-president of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) Board of Directors and a cofounder of the Ecoaldea Huehuecoyotl in Tepoztlan, Mexico, an ecovillage based on principles of sustainability through the arts and ecology.

Giovanni is also an educator, sustainability consultant, musician, and change agent. He served as a faculty member of the Sustainable Businesses and Communities MA program at Goddard College where he advised MA students on their self directed plan of studies in sustainable human systems. He provides alignment of Community Sustainability Assessment formats and indicators with current educational curriculum.

Daniel holds degrees in Biology (Univ. of Edinburgh), Holistic Science (Schumacher College) and a PhD. in Design (Univ. of Dundee). He participated in the first ‘Training of Trainers’ at Findhorn in 2006 and joined Gaia Education in 2007. Daniel authored and co-authored the current versions of all four dimensions of the curriculum and co-developed the SDGs Flashcards and Training of Multipliers in 2016. After 4 years as ‘Head of Innovation and Design’, in 2019 Daniel stepped back to a role of connecting and promoting Gaia Education. His book ‘Designing Regenerative Cultures‘ has quickly gained international acclaim and his Blog on Medium is followed by over 19k people.

Alex has been collaborating with Gaia Education since 2005. He holds a degree in Image and Communication in IADE (Arts, Design and Marketing Institute) in Lisbon Portugal, and has completed a holistic training course at UNIPAZ (International Peace University), were he also volunteered in communications. From a young age he has also been involved in several youth, social and student organisations. Alex has extensive experience in branding, communications, graphic and digital design, and he is responsible for creating and constantly developing the Gaia Education brand.

Pradyut is a community development trainer, consultant for sustainable living and an experienced permaculture practitioner. He has trained with UNICEF on water and sanitation issues, specialised in community health and has extensive experience in working with grassroots movements and NGOs in India and internationally. He is a respected course facilitator and teacher in Permaculture, Non-Violent Communication/Conflict Resolution and organic farming.

Fasil is a chartered accountant (ACMA, CGMA) and founding partner of Community Focused Accountancy. Fasil decided to leave a successful career in London working for a renowned asset management firm, European Credit Management, in search of a way to provide support for local communities. Inspired by Gaia Education’s work to support communities across the world to live more sustainably, Fasil has taken on the role of Treasurer.

Sally worked for many years as a project manager, with significant experience in developing new partnerships and projects over the last 15 years. She began working for the Findhorn Community as Youth Project Manager, and went on to join the International Committee of the Red Cross as a project manager in the Philippines and in Conakry, Guinea, and for Findhorn-based charity, Ecologia Youth Trust, as Project Development Manager and Fundraiser. Now, as GE’s Project Development and Resourcing Manager, her passion is supporting grassroots pioneers to get their projects off the ground and to render their work sustainable through securing funding and building their capacity in project cycle management.

Pedro is our website and database administrator. He is an Astronomer and has been working as an IT specialist and web-developer for the past three years. He also holds a vast experience in volunteer and NGO management and participated in a few humanitarian missions, the last two as part of a rescue team in the Aegean Sea due to the emergency refugees crisis in Greece. Pedro’s task in Gaia Education is to create and implement technological tools to support our outreach and learning activities worldwide.

Saskia is our People Care Coordinator at Gaia Education. She originally comes from Finland and has an international background after living in several countries around the world. She has a degree in Marketing with Digital Media from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. Previously she has worked in digital marketing for a local charity as well as a support worker for children and young adults in need. At Gaia Education Saskia provides support and information for existing and potential students by connecting with them daily.

Silvia Di Blasio is a Design for Sustainability graduate and works as an eLearning assistant for Gaia Education, providing technical and administrative support in both English and Spanish programmes. She has a long track record of working with social and environmental justice movements, including the Work that Reconnects network and supporting immigrants and refugees in Canada.

James is an internationally experienced economist with an academic and professional background in economic policy research, risk management consulting and entrepreneurial management. Following his BA in History and Politics at Exeter, he joined the Spanish think-tank Royal Institute Elcano in 2016 before completing the MSc programme in Global Economic Governance and Policy at University of London’s SOAS. He has then worked across international organisations focussing on development, market intelligence and strategy, risk and operational management, including Talent Intelligence and the Wellbeing Foundation.