Letícia Benavalli

Letícia is a Brazilian conservationist, storyteller, and founder of the Pró-Onça Institute. Her work focuses on protecting jaguars and restoring ecological corridors in the Cerrado, while empowering rural and traditional communities, especially women and youth, to lead local conservation efforts. With a background in Ecology and Wildlife Conservation from institutions in Brazil and Oxford, she combines scientific research with environmental education, community engagement, technology, and bioacoustics.

She is passionate about transforming conservation into a tool for justice and resilience, using participatory methods and creative communication to build bridges between local knowledge and policy.

She has led initiatives that link biodiversity monitoring with community-based restoration, seed collection, and storytelling, and has been recognised as a Rolex Explorers Club grantee and Forbes Sustainability finalist.

She believes in the power of collective leadership and is excited to connect, exchange, and grow alongside this cohort of changemakers working to reimagine conservation from the ground up.