Our Common Humanity in the Information Age. Principles and Values for Development

Pera Wells, Secretary-General, World Federation of United Nations Associations 
Pera Wells is the Secretary-General of the World Federation of United Nations 
Associations. Prior to this, she was Executive Director of the Federation of Ethnic 
Communities’ Councils of Australia, the national advocacy body for a multicultural 
society in Australia and Project Manager at BHP Pty Ltd. for the Leader of the Asia 
Network Project where she conducted research into the netwo rks of Asian family-based 
conglomerates and how they create business opportunities and strategic alliances. Wells 
had also been diplomat with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 
with posting in Ghana, United Nations (New York), Commonwealth Secretariat, London 
and India.
Tensie Whelan, Executive Director, Rainforest Alliance
Tensie Whelan serves as Executive Director of the Rainforest Alliance. She has been 
involved with the Rainforest Alliance since 1990, first as a board member, and then later 
as a consultant, becoming the executive director in 2000. 
Whelan served as the executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters 
from 1992 until 1997, prior to which she was Vice President of Conservation Information 
at the National Audubon Society. Whelan also worked as a journalist and environmental 
communications consultant in Costa Rica, and she was the managing editor of Ambio - 
an international environmental journal based in Stockholm. For several years prior to 
coming to the Rainforest Alliance, Whelan worked as a management consultant to 
various environmental and political groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, 
the Hudson River Park Alliance and the Federation of State Leagues of Conservation 
Voters, among others.
Whelan's published work includes one of the first books on ecofriendly tourism, Nature 
Tourism: Managing for the Environment (1991, Island Press). She is the Chair of the 

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition and served on the boards of the League of Conservation 
Voters Education Fund and the Vermont League of Conservation Voters. She holds an 
M.A. in International Communication from American University's School of 
International Service and a B.A. in Political Science from New York University.