MANUEL MAQUEDA
Manuel Maqueda was born and raised in Spain and currently lives in California. He is focused on making a more “just, wise, thriving, life-sustaining and ardent culture.” Maqueda loves spending time in the ocean, ponds and lakes, falling in love with nature and everything it implies. He is fluent in 3 languages (Spanish, English, and French) and has graduate degrees in both Economics and Law. He is also a photographer and writer, with his most recent book project being “The Meaning of Economy.”
To honor his passions, Manuel founded of several nonprofits. Some of these -Plastic Pollution Coalition, El Plástico Mata, and Midway Journey- are working globally to stop the adverse impact of plastics on the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
In addition, Manuel loves helping other activists, visionaries, innovators, and entrepreneurs have a greater positive impact. He leads Kumu, an nonprofit organization gifting free incubation and capacity-building to transformative social startups.
Manuel has taught, spoken, or lectured at venues such as Google, Institute for the Future, San Francisco Green Festival, and others, including other GIN conferences. He has been interviewed in print media, radio and television internationally. He teaches at business schools in several countries, and he is an instructor on Social Entrepreneurship at the University of California, Berkeley.