Jesus Quintana has over thirty years of experience helping people find transformative and sound solutions, via investments, resource mobilization, partnerships and technical assistance, to tackle global and local challenges in the sectors of food systems, sustainable agriculture and rural development, climate change, landscape planning and natural resource management. Jesus has extensive technical and managerial experience, with positions of increasing responsibility with international agencies, UN and the CGIAR in more than 10 countries. During his 30-year long career, he was director general of CIAT; managing director for the Americas with the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT in Colombia; head of Subregional Hub for IFAD; country representative in Peru with FAO, country director in Mozambique and Bolivia, and program manager/expert in Italy, the Philippines, Paraguay, Guatemala and Spain. Jesus was born in Malaga (Spain) and holds a degree in forestry engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and another as a sociologist from UNED in Spain. He also earned a master's degree in environment and development from the University of Reading (UK).