Ximena Saskia Warnaars

Ximena Saskia Warnaars is a program officer with the Natural Resources and Climate Change team and leads the foundation's global work on extractive industries. Trained as an anthropologist, Ximena has worked in support of human rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, and environmental justice for nearly 15 years, with a focus on the mining, oil, and gas sectors.

Prior to joining Ford in 2016, she set up EarthRights International’s regional office in Peru where, as director, she was responsible for developing and overseeing the program focused on strategic litigation, training with indigenous advocates and environmental defenders. She also served as adviser on the Andes Advisory Board for the Global Greengrants Fund and was responsible for identifying and regranting small funds to grassroots organizations working on extractives and climate change mitigation. Ximena has deep understanding and experience working on extractive industries, social movements, and indigenous rights issues globally.

Ximena holds a PhD from the University of Manchester’s School of Environment and Development in the United Kingdom, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in development anthropology from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is also passionate about art and theater and sits on the board of the Shipibo Conibo Centre, working on experimental indigenous art in New York City.