LAURA CARRILLO, CO-FOUNDER

Laura is a co-founder of the Dead Mask Project. Laura is a bi-lingual English-Spanish, Mexican architect, interior designer, artisan and landscape photographer with a passion for languages and cultural exchange. 

She has traveled extensively in Europe and the Americas exploring new cultures, learning different ways of living and sharing her perspective about life with respect, love and compassion.

Because Laura is constantly looking for ways to help improve the quality of life of the community around her, she has a passionate commitment to taking care of the environment in the same way that she cares for her loved ones and herself.

Laura is committed to finding equitable solutions to today’s pressing environmental challenges and shares the entire Dead Mask Project team’s sense of urgency about bringing attention to, and finding solutions for, the global problem of pandemic waste, especially toxic mask pollution in the world’s watersheds and oceans.

CARLA ALVARADO, CO-FOUNDER

Carla is a co-founder of the Dead Mask Project. She is finishing her studies at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) to obtain her degree with a specialty in Political Science and International Relations.

From an early age Carla has been attracted to social and environmental studies, and she ultimately decided to focus on understanding and critical analysis of the link between society and the environment.

Guided by a strong passion for understanding, analysis and respect for others, she embarked on different projects that allowed the development of a harmonious relationship between the human being and her environment.

This is how Dead Mask Project visualizes an opportunity to rescue awareness about the link that unites the human being and the environment, which in turn helps to repair the damage caused by the mass production of pollutants that destroy our world today, day by day.

Carla has been alarmed by the large amount of toxic waste created during the pandemic without any political strategy to stop the environmental impact generated by such medical waste.

Carla has extensive experience in International Law and Environmental Treaties. She is an ambassador for the Dead Mask Project for university students in Latin America.

ROBERTO CARVALLO, PHD, SENIOR ADVISOR

Roberto is the Founder and Director of the sustainability consultancy Terraetica in Mexico City. He is also the Publisher of Resiliente Magazine, one of México’s most popular periodicals dealing in depth with issues ranging from sustainability to social equity.

Roberto is one of North America’s leading experts on the management of sustainable organizations and environmental mediation policies. His client list is a veritable Who’s Who of both the global corporate and NGO sectors.

Roberto is in constant demand as a guest speaker and visiting professor on sustainability and impact measurement. He did his graduate studies in film criticism and philosophy in Australia and Europe, finishing his doctoral dissertation in the Max Planck Library in Berlin before returning to México to found Terraetica.

FERNANDA SANTOYO, MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Fernanda is a mezzo soprano opera singer and a graduate of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (National Conservatory of Music) in Mexico City. Fernanda also has a Masters Degree in opera and is the Founder of Óperachera.com, a creative project combining the revered musical traditions of both classical opera and ranchera.

Fernanda and her co-Director Macarena Palazuelos are working on a new album of unique compositions as a form of concerto highlighting the fate of discarded face masks on their long journey from solid waste on land through urban drainage systems, rivers and streams and ultimately the world’s oceans. The working title of the musical album & playlist is the Dead Mask-Living Oceans Concerto. 

MACARENA PALAZUELOS, MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Macarena is a classically trained pianist who has recorded and released two albums of solo piano compositions. Her repertoire and love for music ranges from improvisational jazz, to swing to classical. You can hear Macarena’s music at both Apple Music and Spotify.

Macarena and her co-Director, Fernanda Santoyo, are working on a new album of unique compositions as a form of concerto highlighting the fate of discarded face masks on their long journey from solid waste on land through urban drainage systems, rivers and streams and ultimately the world’s oceans. The working title of the musical album & playlist is the Dead Mask-Living Oceans Concerto. 

MICHAEL MEURER, CO-FOUNDER

Michael is a co-founder of the Dead Mask Project. He is an internationally published political analyst and communications strategist focused on civic  and media innovation. Michael is bilingual English-Spanish and has traveled widely studying citizen-driven civic innovation in Europe and the Americas.

Michael has consulted for and/or managed political and organizing campaigns over the past 20 years at local, state and national levels in the US through Meurer Group & Associates, his Los Angeles based political and communications consultancy. He also works with a network of partners in México through his Latinos Votando project.

Based on his broad experience in capacity building and political startups, Michael founded the Reimagining Politics project in 2017, as a non-profit, crowd-funded educational initiative focused on civic innovation and new models of citizen-driven political engagement worldwide.

As a lifelong environmental advocate who graduated from the University of Montana in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, Michael has been alarmed by the reckless disregard for the enormous quantity of toxic medical waste being discarded during the global Covid-19 pandemic, especially masks, which typically have a lethal 450 year biodegradation period. 

This led directly to the launch of Dead Mask Project with friends and partners in the US and México to force action by policymakers and global institutions to address this enormous new source of toxic waste, especially in the world’s rivers and oceans.