Eric Bouchet
Chairman

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Eric has a background in electrical engineering and was involved in several hi-tech projects, including the design of Eurostar traction electronics. In 1995, he decided to dedicate his career to the family business, Botanic. As CEO of Botanic he has managed the company’s growth and the eco design of stores. With 70 shops located across France, Botanic is a major player in the garden centre industry and was the first company to have abandoned the sale of artificial pesticides, as well as being a major lobbyist to modify the French law towards a ban for non-professionals.

As a grower’s son and an engineer, Eric likes to think of himself as a nature-rooted dreamer, technology and nature are not to be opposed, but to be reconciled.

Luc Cardyn
Vice Chairman

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Luc has a successful background as a senior banking executive, with over three decades with a world-renowned French financial institution, including more than ten years as the country manager and CEO in Vietnam and Indonesia.

Spending 14 years in Southeast Asia has raised his awareness of the numerous challenges facing agriculture in this region. Luc will support Earthworm Foundation in developing robust sustainability strategies and support small farmer communities in this challenging transition.

Hannah Mowat
Member of the Board

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Hannah Mowat has worked on environmental and social issues for 15 years, facilitating networks and campaigning for stronger forest, climate and energy policies across European NGOs and think tanks.

She currently works as an Adviser at Fern, where her work has covered forest conservation, land rights, finance, carbon markets and biodiversity. She previously worked with Friends of the Earth and the Munden Project and has written and contributed to numerous publications on forests, climate and community rights. Hannah is also a certified conflict resolution mediator and is interested in how dialogue and mediation can help navigate environmental and social challenges.

Pascal Gauthier
Member of the Board

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In late 2011, Pascal Gauthier founded an advisory and private equity activity to help corporations and organisations develop strategies and projects to address environmental needs and protection, and to face the future impact of energy cost increases and raw material rarefactions, as well as to materialise the benefit of resource recovery and renewable energies. He is also a direct capital investor in businesses such as plastics recycling, biomass preparation, water treatment, solid waste management, development of new environmental technologies.

Pascal is an independent member of various Board of Directors, a senior advisor to many operators in the environmental industry and the founder of Waste Force, an NGO addressing toxic waste pollution in emerging countries, in partnership with UNO.

Saskia Ozinga
Member of the Board

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Saskia Ozinga is the founder of Fern, an organisation with the aim of making the EU work for forests and people. Born in Beverwijk, the Netherlands, she studied biology and healthcare at the Hogeschool Utrecht. Since graduating in the 1980s, she worked briefly as a teacher in environmental science at the Hogeschool Utrecht and for nearly ten years as a forest campaigner at Friends of the Earth Netherlands.

She founded Fern in 1995. While at Fern, she has facilitated various NGO coalitions on different topics related to forests and community rights and written and published numerous books, articles and reports on themes like forest certification, trade and forests, effective advocacy, and improving forest governance and forests and climate. She now works part-time for Fern and on a consultancy basis for various organisations. Besides being a board member of Earthworm Foundation, she is also a board member of Corporate Europe Observatory and the American Hardwood Council's Standard Endorsement Body.

Cherrie Atilano
Member of the Board

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Cherrie Atilano is a Filipino farmer, social entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of AGREA, an organisation working to build more sustainable and inclusive agricultural systems in the Philippines. She has worked in agriculture and with farming communities for more than two decades, with a particular focus on smallholder farmers, women and young people. Through AGREA, Cherrie works across farming communities, businesses and government to strengthen agricultural value chains, improve livelihoods and advance regenerative approaches to food production. Her work has been recognised internationally, including as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a United Nations Food Systems Champion.

Stefan Nalletamby
Member of the Board

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Stefan Nalletamby is an international banking and finance professional with more than 35 years of experience across Europe, Asia and Africa.

He spent much of his career at the African Development Bank, where he held several senior leadership positions, including Director of the Financial Sector Development Department and Director of the Treasury Department. His work has covered financial sector development, capital markets, financial inclusion and trade finance, with a focus on strengthening financial systems and mobilising investment across Africa.

Stefan currently serves on several boards and continues to contribute his experience in finance, governance and international development.

Catharina Plummer
Member of the Board

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Catharina brings extensive experience in finance and governance, together with a deep understanding of Earthworm Foundation and its evolution, to her role as a Board member.

She first joined Earthworm in 2008 and previously served as Director of Finance & Legal and as a member of the Executive Team. Before joining Earthworm Foundation, Catharina held management positions across the financial and advertising sectors, including 10 years with a Swedish bank in New York and roles with agencies in Paris and Brussels. Catharina holds a BA in Accounting from Florida International University in Miami.

Krisztina Bende
Member of the Board

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Krisztina Bende, a Swiss citizen, is the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Organizations in Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Before her current posting, Krisztina Bende was the Director of the Trade Relations Division at the European Free Trade Association in Geneva, overseeing trade negotiations with non-EU countries.

In 2005, Krisztina Bende joined the Federal Office for Agriculture to work on international trade issues related to agriculture. She was a Member of the Swiss delegation to the World Trade Organisation and chaired the Joint Committee on Agriculture between Switzerland and the European Union.

She started her career at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, where she worked on environmental issues in the Policy Directorate. She then worked as a lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights. Ambassador Bende holds a Law degree from the University of Berne, CH and an MBA from IE Madrid and Brown School of professional studies in the USA. 

Julie Wynne
Member of the Board

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ulie Wynne is a highly regarded social impact lawyer with expertise in philanthropy, charity law and social entrepreneurship. As a partner at MLL, a Swiss business law firm, she advises individuals, non-profit organisations, and businesses aiming to create social and environmental impact. Julie (TEP) also advises nonprofit and cultural institutions on charity law, governance, legacies, fundraising, and sponsorship.

She is deeply involved in promoting philanthropy and using business as a force for good. She sits amongst others on the boards of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Movement Health and Earthworm Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Council of the Geneva Centre for Business and Human Rights and of Art for Action.

Julio J. Copo Terrés
Member of the Board

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Julio is an attorney with more than fifteen years of experience in Regulatory Law, Health and Life Sciences Law, Compliance and Anti-Corruption law, and Philanthropy. He graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana, holds a Master's in Administrative Law fromUniversidad Panamericana, and has a Master's in International Human Rights Law from the University of Notre Dame.

In the professional field, Julio works as Counsel at Arochi & Lindner. In the past he worked as Junior Counsel at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica; and as Senior Associate at Basham, Ringe y Correa where he had a foreign professional exchange with the firm FRORIEP in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a full member of the International Bar Association, the International Association of Young Lawyers, the Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados, where he heads the Administrative Law Commission and an active member of the Mexican Bar Association, where he was founding Coordinator of the Health Commission.

Since 2021, Chambers & Partners has consistently ranked him as a leading lawyer for "Life Sciences" in LatinAmerica. In 2022, they also recognised him as a "Thought leader" in the field.