Paula Pavanel Fernandes

Paula is an Agricultural Sustainability Analyst at Proforest, where she works as a technical partner to strengthen agricultural and forest supply chains, making them more resilient and responsible, supporting productive landscapes that generate concrete benefits for both society and the environment. 

Before joining Proforest, Paula built a diverse career spanning the private sector and non-profit organizations. She holds a degree in Food Engineering from UNICAMP and spent about 5 years in the agribusiness sector, working across HR, Training & Development, and Supplier Quality Engineering. Seeking a path closer to social and environmental challenges, she lived in the United Kingdom, where she specialised in sustainable development and contributed to a circular economy project in the textile sector. She then moved to Zambia, where she worked as a development facilitator on education, regenerative agriculture and rural development projects. This journey consolidated her interest in building more inclusive and regenerative food systems. Back in Brazil, she is pursuing two MBAs in ESG & Sustainability (USP/ESALQ) and Project Management (FM2S) and began collaborating remotely with two international non-profit organisations on environmental and nutrition-focused projects in Africa.