Guayana Páez-Acosta has 20 years of professional practice and a unique set of experiences and skills related to social change, collaborative research, planning and management and institutional partnership building. Her primary focus has been facilitating institutional collaborations and designing and implementing interventions in support of organizations and field programs that seek to contribute to sustainable development, philanthropy and purpose driven businesses in Latin America and the US.
She holds a Master of Science in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London, UK, and graduated in Sociology -first in class- from Andres Bello Catholic University, Venezuela. She has held positions with international non-governmental organizations, philanthropic foundation, and scientific institutions in the US and Latin America.
During her adult life, she has developed a consistent yoga and meditation practice, which have been catalytical for her experiencing a sense of well-being independent from worldly affairs. With 20 years of professional experience and 14 years studying & practicing yoga, as a self-transformation method and later on conducive to her own spiritual practice, she founded and leads Athena–Lab for Social Change Unlocking Transformations for a Sustainable Thriving Future.
Combining a systems-change approach, the sustainability framework and contemplative practices, with Athena – Lab for Social Change, Guayana also seeks to offer experiences that enliven the individual, enhance team work, and make your organization thrive to catalyze your success and a more sustainable world.
Guayana strongly believes that “as a species, living more sustainably will only be possible if we develop more intimate, meaningful, authentically personal ways of connecting to ourselves, our fellow human beings, our surroundings, and the Earth. A sense of wholeness and purpose then unfolds that makes us receive with gratitude the opportunity of being alive and that impels us to give back”.