A member of the Shuar people of the Amazon basin, Juan Carlos Jintiach is Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC) and previously served as climate change and biodiversity advisor to the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA).  He has studied ecology and environment at the University San Francisco de Quito, as well as an international diploma at the University of Nuuk Groelandia on human rights, rights of indigenous peoples and international cooperation in the United Nations system. Juan Carlos has served as a member of: the Interprovincial Federation of Shuar Centers of Ecuador – Ficsh, the Confederation of Amazonian Indigenous Nationalities – Confeniae, and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador – Conaie. In addition, he has served as the Co-Chair of the global indigenous caucus in the international indigenous forum on climate change within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.