Our Mission
We design, implement, and evaluate programs that connect families with nature and develop sustainable solutions to local challenges. Through hands-on class activities, community workshops, and island excursions, youth of all ages build relationships with the wildlife that shares their home, shaping a generation that sees local communities and conservation as inseparable.
Our Team
Ashleigh Klingman
Founder & Executive Director
Ashleigh brings 15+ years of experience as an educator and participatory project coordinator on San Cristóbal. With a master’s degree in sustainable development from the U.S. and a childhood spent exploring nature, she is living her dream of bridging education and conservation.
Karla Vera
Research Assistant & Co-Facilitator
Karla is an environmental management graduate from USFQ whose work teaching children about conservation and nature reserves through interactive, hands-on activities confirmed what she always believed: environmental awareness built early creates lasting change.
Valeria Quijozaca
Community Development Facilitator
Vale is a San Cristóbal native who moved to Brazil in 2014 to study food security and rural development at UNILA. Now back on the island, she channels that passion into teaching marine conservation, leading community gardening restoration projects, and mentoring our youth eco-club students.
Martha Castillo
M&E Specialist & Co-Facilitator
Martha is a proud Galápagos native and environmental management graduate with a passion for marine life and the environment. She strives to improve quality of life in her community while protecting San Cristóbal’s unique biodiversity, believing collective change starts with the individual.
Sheyla Andino
Co-Faciliator
Sheyla Andino is a final-year psychology student at USFQ’s San Cristóbal campus who began as a volunteer with the foundation in 2025. Now, she leads classroom sessions to help children develop literacy skills through reading and creative writing about marine life.
Summer Hargrave
International Fellow & UX Designer
Summer is an art and human-centered design graduate from Dartmouth College passionate about outdoor education, community development, and conservation. She leads web design, visual strategy, and content creation to spread E4NG’s mission and conservation story.
Jacob Salinas
Naturalist Guide & Wildlife Photographer
Jacob grew up surrounded by Galápagos wildlife. Early environmental education sparked a lifelong passion for these creatures, inspiring him to become a naturalist guide. Now, he combines guiding with capturing the islands’ incredible species through photography.
Tania Toscano
Naturalist Guide & Wildlife Photographer
Tania is a Galápagos naturalist guide and marine biologist whose love of outdoor adventure and nature photography brings ocean conservation to life for our students. She leads hands-on sessions at Playa Mann exploring why the Galápagos Marine Reserves are critical to our islands’ future.
Our Board
Dr. Michael Ben-Eli
Michael is founder of the Sustainability Laboratory in New York. After visiting the Galápagos 15 years ago and connecting with deans at USFQ’s San Cristóbal campus, he launched a long-term partnership on the islands and has been a dedicated supporter of E4NG’s growth.
Mgs. Lisa Leenhouts-Martin
Lisa is founder and CEO of the Forward Group, a Brussels-based consultancy specializing in innovative strategy and public-private partnerships. With 14+ years in global health and development, she brings interdisciplinary thinking and international expertise to E4NG’s mission.
Dr. Francisco Laso
Francisco is an assistant professor of Geography from Ecuador who has worked in the Galápagos since 2010. As E4NG’s board secretary, he’s committed to strengthening applied research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and making a tangible difference in island communities.
Dr. Julio Stimson-Rodríguez
Julio is an anthropologist who earned his PhD in the Galápagos studying agriculture and climate risk with the Charles Darwin Foundation and Lindblad Expeditions. Now an Oxford postdoctoral researcher studying volcanic recovery in Montserrat, he brings expertise in island protection.
Our Partners & Donors
Join Our Team
Have environmental expertise or creative ideas? We don’t have funding for paid positions, but we welcome self-funded volunteers passionate about our mission and partners interested in collaboration.