Mayta Villafane

Mayta Villafane joined the European Climate Foundation in 2012 as Director of Strategy and Operations. He became Chief Operating Officer in 2015, and was appointed Managing Director in June 2026.

In his role as Managing Director, Mayta is responsible for leading the organisation’s overall strategy and performance, ensuring effective day‑to‑day operations, and aligning teams, resources, and stakeholders to achieve ECF mission and objectives, in coordination with the CEO and the Executive Management team. He is based in Brussels.

Prior to joining the ECF in 2012, Mayta gained 10+ years of operations and IT management experience in the financial software industry, as project manager, programme manager, and key account manager for global clients. He was responsible for the launch of several Internet banks in different countries. After deciding to focus on climate change issues, Mayta worked for nearly five years with Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a Norwegian foundation whose mission is to safeguard life, property, and the environment. He headed the DNV’s Climate Change and Environmental Services Division for Benelux, Germany, and the UK. Among other things, he was involved with Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) validation and verification projects, carbon footprint design, and third-party services related to greenhouse gas emission reduction projects.

Throughout his professional trajectory, he has held governance positions on the steering committees of several philanthropic collaborative initiatives.

A Belgian citizen, Mayta holds a civil engineering degree and a master’s in Environmental Management, both from the Free University of Brussels. His native language is French, and he is fluent in English and in Dutch. A father of two, he loves off-track skiing and playing chess while drinking a good beer.