Staff

IBI Staff

Mehdeen has spent over a decade in the non-profit sector, helping mission-driven organizations achieve…their development and fundraising goals. She has worked with both international and US-based organizations, including Afrika Tikkun (an award-winning and Nelson Mandela endorsed organization), Roadrunner Foodbank of New Mexico, and GoPhilanthropic Foundation. Her work has enabled organizations to diversify their revenue streams and achieve a sustainable fundraising model. She has a proven track record of connecting and cultivating deeper relations with existing and prospective donors across multiple sectors.
Mehdeen has a Masters degree in educational leadership, politics, and advocacy from New York University and a Bachelor of Science degree in international relations from Szabist University, Pakistan.
She is a first-generation Pakistani immigrant who moved to the United States with her family in 2011. In her free time, Mehdeen loves to experiment in her kitchen and enjoys traveling and exploring new places with her family. She currently lives with her husband and son in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Read more

Camila Aquije is an Environmental Engineer based in Lima, Peru.…Since 2021, she has been working with biochar as a Market Research Intern with IBI, conducting research about the situation of biochar in Latin America and The Caribbean region. Camila also was part of a multi-country research team creating a framework to calculate biochar’s impact on nationally determined contributions. Most recently, Camila is supporting the IBI Board of Directors, as well as organizational and member services.
Camila lives with her mom, half a dozen cats and a dog. Every morning she enjoys taking long walks with her dog and also does crafts such as embroidery.Read more

Wendy Lu’s professional background and personal passion are centered in stakeholder management and…engagement, as well as cause-based marketing, public relations, and communications. She has focused for the decade on climate solutions, with an emphasis on regenerative, climate smart agriculture. Most recently, Wendy Lu led the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture as it transitioned from a volunteer-led organization into a professional industry association with over 250 members based in 12 countries. Prior to that, Wendy Lu founded and ran an insects-as-food company with products distributed online and in 12 US states.
Wendy Lu also spent more than a decade in international development, working with UN agencies, including WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, and IOM, as well as international development organizations such as Habitat for Humanity International. Focusing on multiple sectors, including water and sanitation, anti-human trafficking, rural infrastructure, and climate-smart agriculture, she worked with distributed, multi-country teams in over a dozen countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Wendy Lu has a Masters degree in international and intercultural communications from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Outside of her extremely fulfilling career, Wendy Lu lives in Denver, Colorado, US, with her husband, Richard, two teenage children, Scout and Sage, and non-human family members, two large dogs and three-legged cat. She can be contacted at wendy.lu.mcgill@biochar-international.org.Read more