María Amparo Albán – 2026 – Inter-American Institute on Justice and Sustainability

Lawyer by training, with Juris Doctor Degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, with a Master’s degree in Economic Law from the Andean University Simón Bolívar. She has been part of  several specialization programs at universities such as Harvard and Columbia regarding international negotiations and others. Possesses extensive academic experience of over twenty-five years on the Political Economy of Sustainable Development and Environmental Law. She has taught  at various universities in Ecuador and abroad. She has coordinated several Judicial Training Programs in environmental law both within and internationally.

Professionally, she has undertaken numerous advisory jobs, consulting, research, and  projects. She has collaborated with various national and international institutions, civil society organizations, business associations, and several public and private institutions at the national and international levels. She was a member of the Environmental Law Advisory Group of the Organization of American States (OAS). For the last fifteen years she has been a consultant and advisor on sustainability and governance issues for the mining industry.

Member of several boards of directors, including the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining, Civil Society Organizations, and until recently, Solgold Plc., where she chaired the ESG committee.

Author of several academic publications and recently co-author of the book, “Environmental Responsibility in Ecuador.”

Founder, Executive Director, and President of the Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law – CEDA (1996) and currently founder of the Inter-American Center for Justice and Sustainability (IIJS), based in Washington, D.C.

She is the Executive Director of ACD Consulting and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of WIM Ecuador.