Management Team

Giovanni Ciarlo is a lifelong educator, organisational consultant, musician and change agent for sustainable social transformation. He has served as Gaia Education’s Head of eLearning and Curriculum Development since 2013, managing a variety of online sustainability courses in English, Spanish and Portuguese. He also delivers EDEs, teacher trainings and curriculum development workshops in the US and abroad. Giovanni has an undergraduate degree in Education and an MA in Sustainable Businesses and Communities, in addition to graduate studies in Linguistics and Systems Thinking. He served as a faculty member on the Sustainable Businesses and Communities MA programme at Goddard College, USA from 2010 to 2013, where he advised MA students on their research and final dissertations in Sustainable Systems Design. His education experience spans the decades from early childhood to adult and post-graduate education.

Pedro is our Chief Operations Officer. He is an Astronomer and has broad experience in Volunteer and NGO Management and has participated in several humanitarian missions, the last two as part of a rescue team in the Aegean Sea supporting the emergency refugee crisis in Greece. Pedro has also managed a homeless support centre in Portugal with more than 400 volunteers and is part of the board of several organisations, among them the environmental organisation, Quinta das Águias, the animal welfare organisation, Animais de Rua, and the search and rescue organisation, Refugee Rescue.
Pedro’s task in Gaia Education is to create and promote a progressive working environment, supporting students and staff members with the technological aspect of our programmes, managing the operations of face to face courses and also supporting the wellbeing of Gaia Education team.

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 financial advice to community-based organisations in Scotland. Fasil has been serving as Treasurer of Gaia Education since 2015 and, more specifically, he manages the finances of GE projects in the Global South.

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.

Co-creator of Gaia Education brand, has been collaborating with the organisation since 2005.
With a transdisciplinary background with a formal and non-formal education (From Interior Design, Painting, to Culinary Arts). Hold 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, ecological and student organisations. Alex has extensive experience in the creativity field: creative and design thinking, branding, Communication Strategy, 360º Design Approach in Communications and Design (from graphic to digital design). He is the responsible for thinking, conceptualising, creating and constantly developing, and implementing the Gaia Education brand.

Saskia is our Communications 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 an Argentinian born Design for Sustainability graduate and EDE facilitator with a lifelong passion and dedication to social justice, sustainability, and transformational change. With a degree in Psychopedagogie and Adult Education, Silvia has specialized on eLearning, curriculum design and facilitation for social change. Silvia has been with Gaia Education since 2018, first as an eLearning assistant and, since July 2020 as eLearning coordinator; she oversees and supports, along with the GaiaEd team, the programmes in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Silvia brings a long track record of working as an educator, curriculum designer, online specialist, career coach and facilitator in organizations that include, among others the Work That Reconnects Network, the Permaculture Women’s Guild and three NGOs supporting immigrants and refugees to Canada.

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.

Jane works in sustainable development using an empowerment and engaged spirituality approach. She is consultant to Gaia Education on programme development and resource allocation. Jane supports all stages of the project cycle and has contributed as a needs-based consultant for community led, sustainability education and rights-based projects in Asia and Africa for over 25 years. Jane mentors several local and national NGO leaders in the Global South, often working in incredibly challenging situations. She lives in Findhorn Ecovillage and has taught on Gaia Education Ecovillage Design Education and Training of Trainers in Scotland, Germany, Myanmar, Canada, Estonia and Thailand.

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.

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.

Paddy is an experienced project manager and energy systems engineer with broad experience spanning ten years and three continents. His project portfolio covers strategy, project management, project implementation, affordable housing, energy efficiency and cutting edge research. He has managed the UK-Aid funded project Increasing Food Security, Income Generation and Environmental Sustainability for 4 villages in Northern Senegal through Sustainable Settlements Capacity Building from 2014-17. He is currently managing the Scottish Government funded Zambian Youth for Conservation, Agriculture and Livelihood Action! (ZYCALA) project.