Joel Verde is a former fisherman from the Sarteneja community, and built his capacity as a Tour Guide, leading to the establishment of the Sarteneja Tour Guide Association (STGA) before becoming more involved in conservation. Mr. Verde is also a founding member of the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD) before he was first hired in 2009 as a project coordinator in said Organization to establish the Sarteneja Homestay Program, one of SACD’s income diversification opportunities for the fisher families of Sarteneja. He was then promoted to the Executive Director position in October, 2010; since then, over the years  Mr. Verde continues to build his capacity as Executive Director of SACD through professional training opportunities, both in Belize and abroad. He is currently pursuing an Associate’s degree in Natural Resource Management, with support of the MAR leadership program as a result of his participation in the 2012 cohort.  He has also successfully achieved participation in the Gulf of Honduras Conservation and Fellowship programme in 2010 and most recently represented Belize at the 2015 ICCROM international forum in Rome and Naples.