Mauricio Ruiz is a political scientist and environmentalist renowned in Brazil. He is a winner of the Muriqui award, dedicated by UNESCO to personalities with great influence in the fight for biodiversity conservation. Mauricio is also a fellow of the International Visitors Leadership Program of the United States Department of State. He was a finalist for the Social Entrepreneur award offered by the Schwab Foundation, founder of the World Economic Forum. He was Secretary of the Environment of Volta Redonda, the tenth-largest economy in the State of Rio de Janeiro and president of ANAMMA (National Association of Municipalities and the Environment), Rio de Janeiro branch. He is the founder and CEO of ITPA, one of the main environmental organizations in Brazil, which works in the areas of forestry, sanitation, and local development.
