About
Bio
Louise is a chef, farmer, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder of The Cacao Project, which cultivates resilient and Climate-smart livelihoods, positioning farmers for sustainable success in San Fernando, Camarines Sur, Philippines.
Louise is a National Geographic Young Explorer, a Young Champion of the Earth under United Nations Environment Programme, named as one of BBC’s 100 Most Inspiring and Influential Women of the Year, a featured honouree for Forbes Asia’s list ‘30 Under 30’, Young Activists Summit Laureate, an honouree of Tatler’s ‘Generation T’ and one of the World’s 50 Next Game-changing Producers listed by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awarding Body.
Louise is currently an Ambassador of the World Resources Institute’s Food and Land Use Coalition, a member of the Climate Overshoot Commission, a member of the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration Advisory Committee, and an official TED Speaker.
She is a member of the UN Women 30 for 2030 Network, the youngest member of Disciples des Escoffier Philippines, an Earth Prize Changemaker, and was notably a finalist in the TV Reality Show, Junior MasterChef Philippines.
She is the host of the cooking show ‘Simply Sarap’, aimed at promoting cultural diplomacy under the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines. She is also the host of #GenGeo Conversations under the National Geographic Society. Louise strives toward empowering farmers and advancing climate action & environmental stewardship through her work.
Living in the most vulnerable region to hazards brought about by Climate Change, and experiencing the devastation from Typhoon Nock-Ten, which destroyed 80% of Agricultural land in San Fernando Camarines Sur in 2016, destroying homes and leaving farmers with little to no income, Louise moved to transform the unsustainable way Food Systems were structured in her rural hometown and established The Cacao Project that builds sustainable, equitable, and resilient livelihoods for farmers through Agroforestry that also combats deforestation by harnessing the power of forests to restore landscapes, disassemble destructive Food Systems, and create rural lifestyles that are inherently regenerative.
By removing the middleman, The Cacao Project reinstates power in the hands of farmers to steward a rural-led green economy, with farmers now running their own enterprises and creating their own brands of products, localizing production of chocolates and artisan handicrafts. Louise also works as an advisor to inform International Climate policy, highlighting invisible rural and indigenous knowledge, and bridging the intersections of Agriculture, Policy, Food, Climate, and Economy.
