Founder & CEO
Dr. Eduardo V. Valdes is the founder and CEO of the LAZAC Foundation. Born in the Patagonia region, along the strait of Magellan in Punta Arenas, Chile, Eduardo has always treasured Latin American communities and wildlife throughout his life and career. Eduardo received an education in Animal Sciences and Agronomy at the University of Chile (BSc) and went on to pursue graduate studies (MSc. and Ph.D.) in the area of Animal Nutrition at the University of Guelph, Canada. He dedicated his professional life to the area of wild animal nutrition in zoos and aquariums.
Throughout the years, Eduardo has served as Nutritionist at the Toronto Zoo, President of NIRAVAL Analytical Technologies Inc, and as an adjunct professor for numerous institutions where he spent much of his time providing education in the field of wild animal nutrition in colleges, zoos, and aquariums around the world, but mainly in Latin America. In 2001, Eduardo obtained the position of Animal Nutritionist at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where he was introduced to the area of conservation biology and was part of a team who helped with the assessment of conservation projects. His major conservation initiatives included the Vancouver Island Marmots, Black-Footed Ferrets, Puerto Rican Crested toads, and the Atala Hairstreak butterfly.
He understands that nutrition is only one part of the whole picture of conservation. He believes most of the effort must go to protecting and working with natural habitats to ensure species thrive in their natural environment. His goal is to work with local communities to balance the negative effect of changing environments on the smallest of invertebrates to the largest of mammals.
Director of Conservation
Thomas R. Mason is the Director of Conservation for LAZAC. Born in Toronto,
Canada, Tom travelled extensively through Europe and West Africa before
getting his BSc at the University of Guelph.
From 1973 onwards Tom made a career in zoos and private collections in
Canada, the United States and the Channel Islands. In the former years, he
specialized in the husbandry of reptiles and amphibians. In 1980 he joined
Toronto Zoo rising to the position of the Curator of Birds and Invertebrates.
Throughout the years Tom has been a member of several recovery teams including the Karner Blue Butterfly, Blue Racer snake, Lupine Feeding Butterflies of Ontario, Trumpeter Swans and Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes. He still participates in the Mottled Duskywing Recovery Group. In Latin America, Tom has helped build butterfly gardens in Costa Rica and the Havana Zoo in Cuba. For over 20 years, he was on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation (COTERC) and helped establish and maintain the Cano Palma Biological Station in Costa Rica. Tom also has helped establish the Ontario Bioblitz in conjunction with the Royal Ontario Museum, which continued to run for several years after his retirement from Toronto Zoo.
Over the past years the dramatic decline in wildlife around the world has instilled
the need to teach people the importance of the diversity of life on the planet.
The conservation of a species or an ecosystem will only succeed if the community within the environment becomes part of the solution. Getting people to understand the value of wildlife and wild places is the first step to a successful project.
Chief Financial Officer
Jose Linares is the Chief Financial Officer for the LAZAC Foundation and a native of Caracas, Venezuela. Jose holds a bachelor’s degree in Administration and Financial Material Resources from the “Universidad Nacional Simon Rodriguez” and a master’s degree in Finance from the “Universidad Central de Venezuela”.
From 1990 to 2000, Jose held administrative and finance positions at Siemens S.A. and CANTV in Caracas, Venezuela. Jose and his wife moved to the U.S. in 2000, where they sought to start new lives. He is the father of two boys and raised them in the Orlando area. Jose was introduced to wildlife and conservation in 2008 when he worked as a Nutrition Assistant at the Animal Nutrition Center for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In 2016 he went back to finance and from 2016 to 2021 he worked as a Financial Service Professional for the New York Life Insurance Company. Currently, he is the President of J & May Insurance Solutions Inc. and oversees the financial systems for the LAZAC Foundation.
Project Manager
Ana Maria Valdes Molina is the project manager for the LAZAC Foundation. The daughter of Colombian and Chilean parents, Ana Maria was born in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in Orlando, Florida. She graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s in music performance, specializing in opera performance. She spent many years teaching music while traveling for performances and volunteer experience. Currently, she is teaching English at Ad Fontes Christian Academy in Yangpyeong, South Korea.
Ana Maria has had a passion for wildlife and their habitats from a very young age. She has participated in many volunteer opportunities involving different species, including programs in the Galapagos Islands and in South Africa. As project manager, Ana Maria is responsible for organizing and overseeing the completion of projects and the overall function of the LAZAC Foundation.
The Advisory Panel
The advisory panel of the LAZAC Foundation is built up of some of the most knowledgeable and passionate professionals from all around the world. Each with their own backgrounds, strengths, and experiences in different areas, our advisors are here to ensure we are working to make the best decisions for our threatened wildlife and the people sharing in those habitats.
Get to Know Our Team
Dr. Don Neiffer
Dr. Donald Neiffer is currently the chief veterinarian at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute where he oversees the day-to-day operation of the Wildlife Health Sciences department. As department head, he directs efforts at maintaining preventative health care, quarantine, and pathology programs, as well as offering post-graduate training programs for clinical medicine residents, anatomical pathology residents, and senior veterinary students.
Prior to coming to the National Zoo, Dr. Neiffer gained over 20 years of experience at other zoological institutions, including positions at Walt Disney World’s Animal Programs, the Pittsburgh Zoo, the National Aviary, and The Wilds. Dr. Neiffer also serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Zoo
and Wildlife Medicine.
Dr. Neiffer facilitates and takes part in research, conservation, and training programs, both within the U.S. and internationally. Currently, he is involved with three field conservation programs. In the Chaco region of Paraguay, Dr. Neiffer works with partners to conserve lowland tapir and Chacoan peccary in an ecosystem undergoing rapid deforestation. In Argentina, Dr. Neiffer works with partners including artisanal fishermen on efforts to limit the by-catch of the Franciscana dolphin. Lastly, he is currently partnering with staff from Kruger National Park to investigate the role of warthogs in disease transmission and the effect of endemic bovine mycobacteriosis on lion population dynamics. Dr. Neiffer has provided lectures and laboratories to U.S. veterinary and medical institutions as well as zoos and universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru.
Dr. Neiffer earned his Bachelor of Science in biology from Millersville University and his doctorate in veterinary medicine (V.M.D.) from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2017, Dr. Neiffer earned his Master of Health Sciences in One Health from the University of Florida’s Department of Environmental and Global Health. Dr. Neiffer is also a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine.
Maria Clara Dominguez
Maria Clara Dominguez is the CEO of the Cali Zoological Foundation, an NGO in charge of administering the Municipal Zoo of the city of Cali, Colombia. The Cali Zoological Foundation currently manages the Botanical Garden of the City, the largest wetland in the Region (Laguna de Sonso), and one of the most recognized restaurants in the city of Cali (Hacienda del Bosque).
Maria Clara was assigned as director in October 1987, after graduating in Animal Sciences at the National University of Colombia. When the Zoological Society of Cali took over the park and assigned Maria as director, the park was on the verge of being closed due to its ruinous condition. Today, the park is recognized as one of the leading zoological regions in Latin America.
As director of the Cali Zoological Foundation, Maria has been working with the local environmental and educational authorities for the last few years to coordinate the city ́s environmental plan through public schools. Maria and her team also designed and built an Amazon Fauna Park in Mocoa, in the state of Putumayo, and have helped rescue a large portion of Illegal trafficking fauna seized by the environmental authorities during the last 10 years.
Dr. Claudia Lewy
Dr. Claudia Lewy is the owner of “Clínica Veterinaria Playa del Carmen” in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The practice was established in the Mayan Riviera 25 years ago and is a mixed clinic for small animals, non-conventional pets, and wild animal medicine, surgery, and husbandry. Through her practice, she has received and trained new graduates from different universities in Mexico.
Dr. Lewy graduated from the National University of Mexico in 1994, where she obtained a Diploma in Zoo and Wild Animals Medicine and Surgery, and a Diploma in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Lewy worked as a staff veterinarian at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City where she implemented preventive health care programs and managed medical cases of the animals under her care. She also worked as an associate professor at the National University of Mexico and was the coordinator of the wild animal areas at the veterinary hospital.
Since 2010, she has been the Executive Director of the Mexican Association of Zoo and Wild Animal Veterinarians and has participated in organizing 10 international conferences. Most recently, she was named the General Director for the Zoos of Mexico City. Her role includes the general administration of zoos, promoting the modernization of enclosures, general facilities, and diets, and providing options for continuing education for the zoo keepers and veterinarians. Dr. Lewy is the attending veterinarian for non-conventional pets at Petco Cancun. She is also involved in research projects for native endangered species, including howler monkeys, and projects such as the prevalence of vector-borne diseases in dogs in the Mexican Caribbean.
Dr. Carlos Rodriguez
Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, received his veterinary degree from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Pursuing a clinical track, he completed an equine medicine and surgery internship at Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center in California, followed by a year as an ambulatory equine veterinarian in New England.
Dr. Rodriguez joined the Wildlife Conservation Society as associate pathologist in 2005. Based at the Bronx Zoo, his focus was the diagnosis of infectious and non-infectious pathologies throughout the animal collection in four major urban parks and an aquarium, as well as monitoring local wildlife diseases. Also, during this time, he developed a strong passion for capacity building and in-country conservation projects by participating in conservation initiatives worldwide, especially throughout Latin America. In 2011, he joined the animal health team at Walt Disney World in Orlando, where he currently serves as the veterinary pathologist and manager for the pathology team based at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot.
He has participated in amphibian conservation programs in Colombia through the Amphibian Ark, organized and delivered lectures and workshops in capacity-building courses throughout Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia, and continues to provide pathology support through a network of in-country specialists. Special interests include amphibian diseases, emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases, and supporting conservation programs through capacity building throughout Latin America.
Manuel Gonzalez-Rey
Manuel Gonzalez-Rey is a multicultural professional, with an extensive accounting background, being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a native of La Habana, Cuba, and an adoptive son of two beautiful countries, Venezuela, and the United States of America.
He received his accounting degree from “Universidad Catolica Andres Bello” in Caracas, Venezuela, and his master’s degree in “Finance, Banking, and Investments” at the University of Wisconsin, in the US.
Manuel has extensive Finance and Accounting international experience at Fortune 500 multinational companies, including “Big 4” public accounting and start-ups organizations, in Latin America, the U.S., and Europe. He has a broad knowledge of Strategic Planning, Financial Analysis, Accounting, Treasury, Auditing, Cost systems, Tax planning, and Information Systems management and implementations.
Complemented with a solid track of expertise in the areas of consulting, manufacturing, production and services, Fast-Food, real estate & construction, wholesale distribution, transportation, hospitality, tourism, software, and telecommunications.
Some of Manuel’s specialties include overall financial performance improvement. Strategic planning, Competitive Analysis, Project Analysis & Post-Completion Audits, Financing, Debt restructuring, Franchising, M&A Due Diligence, Real Estate, Tax Planning, VAT controls, Internal Controls & Compliance (SOX), ERP Implementation / Migration, ASC 606 Revenue Recognition, Translation of Financial Statements, US.GAAP and IFRS Accounting & Reporting.