Meet the DEAL Community

Big Pool, Maryland, United States

Seattle Seattle, Washington, United States

Bangkok, Thailand

Conwy, Wales, United Kingdom

Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium

My name is Kalina Fonseca. I am originally from Ecuador, but now I live in Giessen, Germany, where I am pursuing my PhD in water resource management with an emphasis on nature-based solutions. Since 2016, I have been working with local Andean communities facing water pollution affecting irrigation and drinking water. Due to a lack of financial resources, these communities cannot access conventional water treatment methods. In this context, I have been working on implementing nature-based solutions as cost-effective alternatives to improve water quality and ensure water security for both present and future generations.

Slaughterford, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany

London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

I specialise in material innovations across fashion supply chains, focusing on biomaterials, recycling, circular business models, and agri-food innovation. Currently, I oversee UK and European partnerships at The Mills Fabrica's VC fund and innovation platform. Workshops, roundtable, innovation days and lab visits.

Ealing, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Uma pessoa preocupada com o mundo!

Brasília, Federal District, Brazil

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

As Co-Executive Director, Alan supports MASS to build a more just, resilient, and beautiful world. He co-founded MASS with classmates at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and served as Founding Principal and the Chief Design Officer before taking on his current role. Alan works alongside Patricia Gruits, Co-Executive Director for North America, and Christian Benimana, Co-Executive Director for Africa, to support the leadership of the five design studios and the departments of MASS. In addition to continuing to collaborate on and lead select projects, he oversees various teams working across the practice. This includes Global Operations, Design Process & Learning, which focuses on three pillars: Accompaniment, Performance & Provenance, and Building Integrity, as well as the Advocacy team, which aims to bring MASS's work and the organizations they serve to the forefront of the public’s attention.  MASS Design Group has received the National Design Award for Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and was named Firm of the Year by the American Institute of Architects. The organization was also recognized as Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal.  He has recently led advanced architecture studios at Yale and Harvard and regularly speaks, writes, and helps to create films focused on the role of architecture in catalyzing social change. Chris Anderson, chief curator of TED, described his TED talk as “a different language about what architecture can aspire to be.”  Alan was honored with an International Fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects in appreciation of his significant contributions to the field. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, a community working towards positive change and progress in various fields.  He lives in a house he designed in Cambridge, MA, with his wife Cristina and three children, Siena, Sage, and Sloan, who provide him with regular design critiques. Before architecture, he tried many other fields, but he is mainly asked to tell stories about a brief stint as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. Alan holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College, where he was also bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Santa Cruz, California, United States

Montpelier, Vermont, United States

Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

As a mental health counsellor offering online therapy, I help clients heal past traumas, improve struggling relationships, and make positive life changes through services like clinical, behavioral, and relationship therapy. My online counseling targets issues from parenting challenges to preventing breakups, managing stress, overthinking, and more. I meet clients who are emotionally stressed and provide customized therapy facilitating deep healing, all conveniently through online sessions.

Lyon, Rhône, France

Bucharest, Romania

My story starts with books. I grew up surrounded by myths and fairy tales, so I followed this childhood passion in my career journey when I decided to make a living out of listening to stories. I became an Event & Speaker Manager and invited +500 voices to share ideas on stage at major conferences in Romania, offering audiences of +200 persons the courage to go on the “hero’s journey”. My studies in communication, public relations and advertising boosted this openness to conversation. I could always find myself going down the rabbit hole - the more I listened, the more questions I had. A deep question was still searching for its answer: How can I have a global impact through storytelling? The answer came in 2019 when I co-created Community Index Magazine - the first and only sustainability magazine in Romania - where I interviewed +100 global thought leaders. After 5 years, I started feeling that sustainability tends to focus a bit too much on doom and gloom. That moment activated my imagination to shift the narrative on active hope and spotlight a new type of change maker: the Regenerative Leader. In 2022, I created Inspirators, a storytelling ecosystem and interview series on regenerative leadership based on a questionnaire similar to Marcel Proust’s, where +120 diverse voices from +80 countries of the world and all walks of life share their reflections, resources and evergreen inspiration. Stories are a force when you engage with them to give your life and the world a new shape. Inspiration, to me, is all about action and making an imagined future real. This is why my purpose lies in wearing three hats: * Regenerative Storyteller. I deliver transformative content where inspiration is the red thread that connects inner and outer change to enlighten on a wide range of sustainability knowledge * Sustainable Leadership and Communication Advisor. I empower leaders with the tools, resources, and guidance to become visible speakers and inspiring thought leadership presences * Community Builder and Global Partnerships Activator. I lead multi-sector collaborative projects engaging a diverse global network to amplify impact.  I wish to apply this experience to sense and respond to the needs, challenges and aspirations of values-aligned leaders and organizations and elevate, together, collective consciousness surrounding sustainability and regeneration. ioana.marin@imconnected.ro www.inspirators.org

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Cantabria, Spain