Ximena Saskia Warnaars is a program officer with the Natural Resources and Climate Change team, where she leads global and regional efforts to phase out fossil fuels, ensure gender equity in just energy transitions, and create accountability around critical minerals extraction.

Trained as an anthropologist, Ximena has 20 years of experience working to support human rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, and environmental justice, with a focus on the mining and fossil fuel sectors.

Prior to joining Ford in 2016, Ximena was a director at EarthRights International. She set up the Peru office and developed and oversaw the strategic litigation program, training indigenous advocates and environmental defenders. She also served as an adviser on the Andes Advisory Board for the Global Greengrants Fund, identifying and funding grassroots organizations working on extractives and climate change mitigation.

Ximena received her PhD from the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. She also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in development anthropology from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.