THE SPIRITUAL FOOTPRINT OF THE AMAZON, RIGHTS OF NATURE, AND MONEY
December 6th, 2022 at 3:30pm ET / 5:30pm BRT
Mysterious and enchanting. While the Amazon inspires reverence for nature, so too does Ayahuasca, a local indigenous brew. The 2020 book, the Immortality Key, argues that psychedelic experiences could be the common root of the world’s religions. Several recent scientific studies also confirm that psychedelics increase nature appreciation. In the case of Ayahuasca, 74% of users report feeling an ongoing connection to the spirit of the plant. These sentiments are visible in diverse faith-inspired movements that promote nature conservation such as the Catholic Laudato si encyclical. If nature reverence is supposed to be at the center of the Judeo-Christian worldview, then should it be at the center of our economic system as well? In late 2021, a supreme court case in Ecuador pitted the rights of nature against corporate rights. While both were protected in the country’s constitution, nature won out, thereby putting into question foreign debt that was securitized by mineral rights. Could it be securitized instead by local carbon rights and ecosystem service payments? How could a worldview based on nature celebration, help us re-imagine our global financial system to celebrate diversity and back our currencies with natural assets..
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai
Achuar Nation / Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai is a long time leader from the Achuar Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon serving the country’s indigenous movement. Currently Domingo is the coordinator for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative for the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE). CONFENIAE represents 11 indigenous nationalities from the Ecuadorian Amazon region. Domingo served as the director of communication for the Achuar indigenous Nation of Ecuador (NAE) from 2000-2003. He is also the founder of the Achuar indigenous community tourism project of Sharamentsa, and served as the Vice President of the CONFENIAE from 1993-1996. Domingo has also served as the Vice-President and later President of CODENPE (Council of Nationalities and Peoples of Ecuador) and as a representative of the German Foundation Indio-HILFE.
Valentina Roldán Espinosa
JumpScale
Valentina has been a strategist, serial entrepreneur, and executive performance coach for the last 15 years. On a mission to promote economic sovereignty for indigenous communities and the betterment of individual performance, she has created, launched, and lead over a dozen social enterprises and organizations. She currently works as a strategist and senior advisor in Jumpscale and has her own coaching practice..
Brian Muraresku
The Immortality Key (author)
Brian graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University with a degree in Latin, Greek and Sanskrit. As an alumnus of Georgetown Law and a member of the New York Bar, he has been practicing law internationally for fifteen years. He lives outside Washington D.C. with his wife and two daughters.
The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name is a groundbreaking dive into the role psychedelics have played in the origins of Western civilization, and a real-life quest for the Holy Grail.
Gregory Landua
Regen Network
Gregory is co-founder of Regen Network, an application specific public blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK. Regen is designed to support carbon markets and other ecological markets with ecological state verification and ecological asset issuance. Regen Network is a full stack Web3 community, using markets to coordinate climate action and ecological regeneration. Before founding Regen Network, Gregory co-wrote Regenerative Enterprise (2013) – a groundbreaking book outlining pathways to achieve ecological and social regeneration through business – as well as co-founded and grew Terra Genesis International from a Regenerative Agriculture consultancy and design firm, into a leader in the Regenerative Movement. Gregory also currently hosts the Planetary Regeneration Podcast.
Loic Le Meur
Paua
Serial entrepreneur, founder of the Paua, a community and events for conscious entrepreneurs with its first convened event in Paris in October 2022. Loïc is the founder of Seesmic, a popular app that helps enterprises and individuals manage their internal and external social networks. He also created the #1 European technology event LeWeb with his wife Geraldine, which brings together in Paris 3,000 entrepreneurs, brands, geeks, investors and press from 60 countries. Previously, Loïc successfully started and sold three companies. He was named one of “Europe’s Tech25” by the Wall Street Journal as well as one of the “25 most influential people” on the web by Business Week. He is featured in The Economist as one of “Europe’s Blooming Entrepreneurs”, and was named a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, where he helps select the next Technology Pioneers and is a regular speaker.
Christopher Varrone
Pickwick Capital
Chris is Managing Director at Pickwick Capital Partners, LLC, a FINRA-licensed registered broker dealer. He makes his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when he’s not traveling to Colorado, the West Coast, or beyond. He is also the founder and President of Riverview Consulting, Inc., an energy and cleantech advisory firm. Prior to joining Pickwick, Mr. Varrone served for four years as Managing Director of Silver Leaf Partners, a FINRA-registered broker-dealer in New York City, where he led successful financings in nanotechnology, sustainable packaging, and plastic recycling technology. Previously, Mr. Varrone served as Chief Strategist, Technology R&D at Vestas Wind Systems (VWS.CO), a $10 Billion wind turbine company based in Denmark. Prior to Vestas, Mr. Varrone worked in technology businesses for 14 years, culminating with SAP, where he was Senior Principal and founded the Value Engineering group in the Nordics.
