Letícia Santiago de Moraes
Vice President, The National Council of Extractivist Populations
she, her, hers
“Local organizing processes are fundamental if we are to move forward with broader actions and influence the construction of public policies that reflect the realities and needs of Indigenous Peoples, quilombolas, and traditional communities.”
Leticia Santiago de Moraes is an Afro-Brazilian social justice advocate who works to preserve the cultural and ecological biodiversity of forest communities in the Amazon, including her home, the Ilha São João Extractive Settlement Project. As the vice president of the National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS), she combines traditional knowledge with public policy advocacy to reduce inequality for Traditional Extractive Peoples and uplift the voices of women and young people, who are often hardest hit by injustice.
Leticia holds a degree in ethnodevelopment from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). She focused on the social movements of the Amazon that center the knowledge of traditional communities in sharp contrast to other imported education models. She also holds a master’s degree in Amazonian agriculture and sustainable rural development from the Federal University of Pará. In addition to her work with CNS, she is the chair of a cooperative of agro-extractive producers in her community.
Through her work, Leticia aims to help build a world in which the traditional knowledge of forest communities is uplifted as a way to better care for the forest and the planet as a whole. She believes that forest communities—particularly their women and young people—need better access to social services and infrastructure, as well as recognition for being a fundamental part of the solutions to environmental and social crises.