Atossa Soltani is the director of global strategy for The Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, an alliance of 30 indigenous nations working to permanently protect 86 million acres in one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth in Ecuador and Peru. The initiative is advancing a just ecologic-economic transition based on the indigenous principles of harmony and reciprocity and focused on communities and ecosystems flourishing.

Atossa is also the founder and board president of Amazon Watch and served as the organization’s first executive director for eighteen years. She is one of the co-founders of Artists for Amazonia and a contributing author to the Science Panel for the Amazon. Atossa is the Hillary Institute 2013 Global Laureate for Climate Leadership and in 2015, received the Hillary Step Prize for building a broad movement for leaving fossil fuels in the ground.  She served on the board of trustees of The Christensen Fund from 2008- 2017 and was board chair from 2011-2016

Soltani has been researching and publicizing human rights abuses and environmental destruction caused by extractive industries and large-scale infrastructure projects throughout the Amazon for three decades. She is a story-teller, campaign strategist with experience working with indigenous organizations and nations on their strategies for protecting their rights and territories. Atossa is currently a producer of a feature-length documentary film titled The Flow about learning from nature’s genius.  Prior to starting Amazon Watch, Atossa directed campaigns at the Rainforest Action Network (1992-1996) that helped end clear-cut logging in British Columbia and convince Hollywood Studios to phase out the use of tropical hardwoods in movie sets.  She began her career in the 1980’s as the Conservation Director for the City of Santa Monica.   Ms. Soltani received her B.S. in public policy from the University of Akron and speaks Spanish, English, Persian, and Portuguese.

Please follow and like us: