Joana Borges Coutinho

Joana grew up in the Azores islands and left at 17 to go to law university – after 3 uninspiring years she moved to the UK to study and work in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. She worked in a broad spectrum of activities, from project management to lecturing, business ownership and consultancy in geographies as disperse as Brazil, Madagascar and Indonesian Borneo. Post-graduated in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies, followed by a move back to the Azores 20 years after her departure from the islands. A mother of two, she now runs three small businesses: sustainable lodging and experiences at Quinta do Bom Despacho, agroecology and social horticulture at Hortelã-Pimenta, and sustainability consulting/change management at Sustain Azores. She enables partners to adopt the SDGs, supporting NGOs, businesses and leaders in developing, reinforcing or converting to sustainable models whatever their activites/spheres of action. She sees herself as a change agent and a facilitator in the transition to a better world for her children and future generations, always keen to learn more and go further.