Zandra Martinez
Zandra serves as Preferred by Nature’s Social Sustainability Global Lead, bringing together the organisation’s work on social performance and human rights. In her role, she helps shape and carry out strategies that strengthen our positive social impact, supports colleagues across teams in building their skills, and leads the development of practical approaches for social risk assessment and impact evaluation.
With more than 20 years of international experience, Zandra brings a deep and practical understanding of human rights, governance, and sustainability. She has worked closely with communities and organisations on issues such as Indigenous Peoples’ rights, workers’ rights, gender, and social risks in both forestry and agricultural settings.
Her background spans advisory and consulting roles for international organisations, where she has contributed to FSC policy work, human rights due diligence, risk analysis, and impact evaluations. She has also designed and delivered training programmes on business and human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and has led engagement processes across Latin America and Europe.
Zandra holds an academic background in Human Rights and Governance and combines strategic leadership with hands-on field experience. She is deeply committed to strengthening equitable and sustainable supply chains, ensuring that people and their rights remain central to environmental and sustainability efforts.
"My motivation for working with Preferred by Nature is deeply connected to my own background. As a Mexican woman with Indigenous roots, I feel a strong commitment to ensuring that human rights and Indigenous and community voices remain at the centre of sustainability efforts that put people and nature first. I value the organisation’s integrity, transparency, and connection to the field, and am inspired by the opportunity to help strengthen the social dimension of Preferred by Nature’s work."
- Human rights and gender-focused capacity building
- Governance analysis
- Stakeholder engagement
- Social risk assessments and due diligence
- Development of training tools and methodologies
- Multilingual communication and intercultural facilitation
- Experience with FSC and other voluntary certification systems
- Languages: Spanish, English, German
