John Goedschalk

John Goedschalk is an accomplished business leader and conservationist from Suriname. John’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from Beloit College in Wisconsin, USA, and an MBA in finance and marketing from NIMBAS University in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Throughout his career, John has held various positions at prestigious companies such as Ernst & Young, McDonald’s Netherlands, and ABN AMRO in the Netherlands, and later Suriname. In addition to these corporate roles, John is also a successful entrepreneur, having founded multiple start-up companies, including FreshCotton, which was a leading online Amsterdam streetwear sales retail company. John later moved into the public sector where he led the Climate Compatible Development Agency within the Office of the President, leading climate change negotiations and climate finance initiatives on behalf of Suriname. He then moved to the non-profit sector where he was the Executive Director at Conservation International Suriname for 10 years overseeing multiple conservation, governance and livelihood projects. Here he also helped found the Friends of Green Suriname program within Conservation International to collaborate with local companies for the conservation and restoration of Surinamese biodiversity. John is dedicated to preserving Suriname as the greenest country on earth. He is committed to advocating for forest sector reform, such as reduced impact logging methods. He is also passionate about developing alternative income sources for vulnerable and disadvantaged people. In BioTara these passions come together.