The Team
At Naledo our operations are run by our incredible team. We provide training and mentorship on everything business, from accounting to marketing. It is our hope that as each team member grows with us, they branch out and start their own social enterprise or influence other businesses, increasing our impact.
Umeeda Switlo
Co-Founder/CEO
Umeeda has enjoyed a varied career that includes working as a marine biologist, entrepreneur, concert promoter and artist manager, non-profit and international development sectors. Umeeda created Truly Turmeric and manages operations in Belize.
Belkis
Production Manager
Belkis is from Mafedi in Belize. She loves to cook and one day hopes to open a restaurant. Her passion for food makes Belkis the perfect production manager! She is always experimenting with new ways to use our turmeric.
Finn
Security
Finn passed away, but he will always be a founding member of team Naledo. Finn helped keep the team safe and entertained. He liked chasing chickens and cats. He was adopted as a puppy when his family no longer wanted him.
Nareena Switlo
Co-Founder/COO
She is an experienced project manager and business development specialist with a background in Anthropology. She has worked with innovative organizations in Zanzibar, Kenya, Ghana, India, and Canada. At Naledo Nareena manages sales, distribution, and marketing.
Romelia
Assistant Production Manager
My mother use to make coconut oil to sell in the caye where we lived. From her labour she bought her own property and built us a home. My father was also a hard worker he taught us that respect is very important and to always work decently. I now work at Naledo Belize where I know I will excel.
Bella
Nature Relations
Bella passed away, but she will always be a founding member of team Naledo. Bella was found living under an ice cream shop. She was sassy and loved hanging out with the team at lunch and going into the field for grower inspections.
Volunteer Team
Thank you to our volunteers for helping us increase our impact and empower our team to make Truly Turmeric and all the communities we work with even better!
Tim Collins
Planning/Contruction 2016
Tim Collins met Umeeda through Cuso International where he has served in Vanuatu. Tim is an amazing person able to work with computers to construction. Tim came to Belize for 2 weeks and helped us set up our first small factory.
David Crichton
Systems Design Volunteer 2017
David used his expertise in anthropology and IT to design our first farmer database to track our impact! He was in Belize for three months.
Thank you David.
Angela Niesing
Food Science and Safety 2016
Angela joined the Naledo team as a volunteer for three months. With 2 Masters degrees in Food Science from Germany and Canada she was well equipped to ensure that we met and exceeded all food safety regulations.
Alison Chadwick
M&E Volunteer 2019
Alison volunteered with Naledo to create a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to measure our impact in Toledo, Belize. She worked alongside our partnering growers, production staff, CEO, and COO to produce our impact report for 2019! Alison also collaborated with our COO to complete the B Impact Assessment, the first step to becoming a certified BCorp!