This story is available in Spanish.
Tania Eulalia Martinez Cruz is the focal point for Indigenous Peoples at the Global Environment Facility, focused on strengthening how the institution collaborates in a meaningful way with Indigenous Peoples. Grounded in her lived experience as an Ëyuujk (Mixe) Indigenous woman and her path as an interdisciplinary, action-oriented researcher and practitioner, she brings together technical knowledge, policy insight, and many years of working alongside Indigenous Peoples and diverse actors around the world. In a GEF Voices interview, she shared life lessons from her work and offered guidance to Indigenous girls and women: “We can occupy spaces and roles where we are not represented, and we can do it with confidence and purpose.”
What do you do for a living? What are you currently focused on?
It is widely recognized that Indigenous Peoples play a key role in addressing the multidimensional environmental crisis we face, yet the support they receive remains limited. Because of this, a large part of my work involves brokering connections between the communities at grassroots levels working to address environmental crises and institutions willing to support them in this mission. After many years implementing projects in different regions, working on human rights issues, and learning to navigate multiple worlds, I bring both lived experience and technical expertise into global spaces so environmental projects and agendas become more inclusive, culturally grounded, and impactful. My goal is to engage all actors, and especially Indigenous Peoples, in ways that respect their rights, knowledge systems, and leadership.
At the GEF, I am currently focused on strengthening how the institution collaborates in a meaningful way with Indigenous Peoples. This means improving the implementation safeguards and implementing Free, Prior and Informed Consent; ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ rights and perspectives guide project design; exploring ways to support direct funding for Indigenous-led initiatives; supporting the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group; and helping teams across the GEF partnership understand how to engage respectfully and effectively. I also work on building stronger bridges between global climate and biodiversity priorities and what Indigenous Peoples are already accomplishing on the ground.
How did you get into this line of work?
My journey began in my own community. Being an Ëyuujk (Mixe) Indigenous woman shaped the way I understand the world, where territories, water, food, spirituality, identity, and memory are deeply interconnected. My grandmother, a spiritual guide, taught me early on that caring for the environment is a responsibility held with love but also that community work is the foundation for society. My parents were among the first generation of Indigenous leaders to fight for our right to keep our language, culture, and education rooted in our values and worldview at a time when assimilation policies threatened our communities.
I spent my childhood moving between Indigenous communities, listening to elders, cultivating the land, and learning from a world very different from the cities and countries I later encountered. These experiences taught me to navigate multiple worlds with curiosity while keeping my roots as my compass and always aiming to improve my surroundings inspired by my parents and grandparents.
Professionally, I explored engineering, water management, agriculture, technology development for smallholder farmers and Indigenous Peoples, nutrition, human rights, and policy. Along the way, mentors, colleagues, and Indigenous leaders guided me, encouraging me to step beyond my comfort zone.
I came to the GEF because its mandate and work align with my values and vision. I wanted to contribute to an environmental global agenda while uplifting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and the GEF offered me a space to do work I love, to bring together my personal and professional experiences, and to continue growing as a researcher, advocate, and broker between communities and global institutions. Being part of this organization allows me to walk alongside Indigenous Peoples, continue being rooted to my community (which I feel the GEF values) while contributing to solutions that matter both locally and globally.
Is there a GEF-funded project or program that is close to your heart?
There are several GEF projects close to my heart, but two of them especially stand out.
The first is the Inclusive Conservation Initiative (ICI). When hearing the testimonies and talking to the Indigenous leaders implementing the initiative, I feel so connected to this initiative because it represents something rare in the environmental and conservation world: trust. Too often, Indigenous Peoples are either romanticized as living in pristine worlds or treated with a paternalistic lens that strips away our agency. Both narratives come from old colonial views that tell us what we should do instead of recognizing what we already do and have done for generations. ICI breaks that pattern. It is one of the few initiatives in the world where Indigenous Peoples receive direct funding and set their own priorities, while also contributing to national and global objectives. Through the work of its 10 Indigenous Peoples’-led projects, the initiative shows what becomes possible when Indigenous Peoples are supported directly. Examples include Indigenous leaders from ANAPAC (Association Nationale d’Appui et de Promotion des Aires du Patrimoine Autochtone et Communautaire en République démocratique du Congo) doing biocultural mapping that beyond preserving primary forests and biodiversity, also strengthens peace and social cohesion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; FENAMAD (Federación Nativa del Río Madre de Dios y Afluentes in Spanish) is generating community-led data to reduce mercury pollution in the Amazon and promote more sound environmental policies and with mapping supporting the protection of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact who care for some of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet, and IMPACT (the Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation) is strengthening intergenerational and Indigenous women’s knowledge in Kenya to protect their territories and biodiversity. What inspires me most is how these organizations are creating bridges with other Indigenous Peoples worldwide, from the Arctic to the Pacific, from African drylands to the rainforests of South America.
Another GEF-funded project very close to my heart supported the integrated system of camelid livestock and agriculture in northern Chile's High-Andean and Pre-Andean regions, which has been recently designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. My visit to this territory last August touched me deeply, not only because of the landscape itself, a place where life flourishes at almost 4,000 meters above sea level in an arid, cold, and breathtaking environment, but because of the people who have cared for it generation after generation, and it plays a crucial role in the world. One story stays with me. I met Gerson, a young Aymara man whose mother once encouraged him to migrate away from their community. She believed that only poverty lived in the land that had raised them, even though it is one of the richest ecosystems in the world in biodiversity and cultural heritage. Like many Indigenous mothers, she was trying to protect her child from the hardships she had endured. For her, the city represented opportunities she feared her son would never have if he stayed. Through this project, Gerson returned. He came back not because someone told him to, but because he began to see that his land still had a future, that his knowledge mattered, and that the relationship between his people and their llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and ancestral terraces could continue. Today he is helping lead efforts to restore their food systems, strengthen their cultural identity and revitalize their territory. He is one of the founders and leaders of a regional livestock association and inviting other Indigenous young people to stay and protect their heritage. In his story, I saw a larger truth.
Environmental projects are never only about the environment. They are about people, dignity, memory, and possibility. When we invest in these landscapes, we are also investing in the people who love them. We help ensure that young Indigenous people do not feel forced to migrate, that they can see a future in their homelands, and that they can return home with pride instead of leaving out of necessity. Supporting the environment is also supporting the continuity of cultures, languages, and ways of relating to the world that hold profound knowledge for us all.
Has anyone you have met through your work made a lasting impact on you?
Many people have shaped me into who I am, but the one who left the deepest mark on me is my grandmother Eulalia. She was a woman of extraordinary strength who spoke only our mother tongue, Ëyuujk, became a mother at 14, was denied land ownership, and, despite being gifted as a spiritual guide (Xëë mapyë, the woman that counts the days through maize), was not allowed to fully practice her calling because she was a woman. Yet she reshaped the dynamics of her family and community through love, generosity, and slowly made changes for the next generations of women in her family and community.
When I was born, she buried my umbilical cord in the backyard of our home so that my spirit would always know where I belong and I would always stay connected to my ancestral land. She taught me that true success is measured not by titles or positions, but by the ties you hold to your people and the responsibility you carry for your community. She reminded me that if you care for the land, the land will care for you, because Mother Earth never forgets her children.
My parents also shaped me in profound ways. They fought for the right to education, not only for their children, but also as a collective responsibility to strengthen our communities. They taught me that we carry obligations to our people, to our ancestors, and to future generations; that every step we take should honor where we come from and help open paths for those who come after us. Their belief in dignity, collective work, and hope has inspired me throughout my career.
Throughout my journey, many mentors have also left lasting imprints and naming all of them would be impossible. Professors and colleagues from the Universidad Autonoma Chapingo, University of Arizona, the Fulbright Program, Wageningen University, CIMMYT, FAO, IFAD, UNESCO, WFP, and others opened doors with kindness, encouraged curiosity, and guided me with patience, even when I doubted myself or felt out of place. They expanded my world while reminding me that my roots were never a limitation, but a source of strength. Many of them have offered me a hand in difficult times and have been the light I needed to continue pursuing my dreams.
And perhaps most importantly, the Indigenous leaders and friends I have met along the way have been my compass. They have shown me alternative ways of knowing and doing, held me upright when the work felt heavy, and reminded me that the most meaningful changes come from walking alongside others, not ahead of them.
At the GEF, I have many great mentors, and it has been a journey I have enjoyed. I feel that my expertise and contributions are appreciated along with the multiple identities and perspectives they are grounded. I am also constantly inspired by my many women colleagues who show me what I can aspire to.
Each of these people continues to live in my decisions, my commitments, and the way I choose to show up in the world.
What life lessons has your job taught you?
I have learned that relationships and networks are vital. To go fast, one may go alone, but to go far, one must walk with others. My job has taught me to be patient even when it’s challenging, to focus on both process and outcome, and to prioritize people, because it is the people who make change happen. I have also learned the importance of embracing fear, stepping into discomfort, and always trying no matter what.
The state of the global environment is concerning. What gives you hope?
I find hope in the resilience and collective spirit of Indigenous Peoples. I see people willing to learn, adapt, and work together. I see that when people balance respect for their societies with respect for their environments, they can find impactful solutions. Governments and other actors are increasingly recognizing that Indigenous Peoples are not peripheral but central to solving global challenges. Hope is knowing that we can act together, that we can change, and that we can be the change we want to see in the world. Indigenous leaders inspire me, knowing that we have strong roots and that we can together shape the future we want.
What advice would you give a young person today who is interested in a career like yours?
Be open to learning and exploring. Take the time to understand your strengths and weaknesses and work on them. Surround yourself with mentors, friends, and allies who guide you, encourage you, and inspire you to grow. Learn from both successes and challenges. Take risks, try new things, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
To Indigenous girls and women, I want to say: we can occupy spaces and roles where we are not represented, where we once thought we could not aspire, and we can do it with confidence and purpose. We can be scientists, advisors, policy makers, or community leaders, and we can support each other along the way. Little by little, we nurture one another and open paths for the next generation.
Let yourself be guided by others while following your heart and values. Above all, work with passion, and live with purpose and passion. That is how you can make a difference for yourself, for your community, and for the world.
