Introducing our New Executive Director, Masaaki Nagai

We are honoured to welcome Masaaki Nagai as the new Executive Director of the Earth Elders, the charitable arm of the Grand Council of the Eagle and the Condor, founded by Mindahi Bastida. Masaaki is one of the co-founders of this work and has been a quiet yet steadfast force in supporting the vision of Indigenous-led regeneration and global harmony since its early formation. His stepping into this role marks an important new phase in the evolution and implementation of our shared mission.

Masaaki brings decades of experience as a respected elder and bridge-builder from Japan, working across cultures, faith traditions, and international institutions. Throughout his career, he has collaborated at the highest levels with the United Nations and other multilateral organisations, advancing interfaith dialogue, peacebuilding, and the emergence of an ecological civilisation rooted in harmony with nature. As former Chair of the Advisory Board of the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, Masaaki has demonstrated both strategic leadership and deep humility in guiding initiatives that unite ancestral wisdom with contemporary systems change. As a Council member representing Japan and the wider Asian region, he brings a wealth of experience, relationships, and spiritual grounding.

In his initial focus as Executive Director, Masaaki will lead the expansion of the Earth Elders Council from 13 to 52 representatives of the world’s biocultural territories. This expansion reflects the original vision of a global circle of guardians and knowledge holders. He will also guide the piloting of several Centres of Ancestral Wisdom—places of learning, dialogue, and transmission where traditional ecological knowledge can inform education, governance, and regenerative practice for future generations. This marks a new phase of implementation of the Five Earth Mandates, first received in 2013 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta by more than 150 elders and knowledge keepers.

As a reminder, the Mandates call for:

1. A global Council of Elders to speak for Mother Earth and all life.

2. The protection of biocultural territories and sites of special importance.

3. Intercultural dialogue, storytelling and advocacy to advance ancestral wisdom.

4. Centres of Ancestral Wisdom as living beacons for future generations.

5. The regeneration and long-term protection of 52 critical territories worldwide.

We also extend our gratitude to Stephen Vasconcellos, who supported the launch of the Earth Elders as our founding start-up Executive Director, and who has guided the organisation through its formative years and global positioning. Stephen will now focus on developing the Earth Shield Fund alongside Roy Budjawan, former CEO of ING Microfinance Bank, and Thomas Mog Alonso of the Berlin Institute of Governance and Leadership (BIGL). This work will help mobilise capital, partnerships, and regenerative finance to support the restoration and protection of Indigenous territories worldwide. Meanwhile, Stephen will also support a nascent collaboration with the World Health Organization’s Global Traditional Medicine Centre, helping position traditional medicine and ancestral knowledge within emerging global health systems.

Together, these transitions reflect a maturing movement—rooted in ancestral wisdom, guided by collective leadership, and a deep and abiding commitment to the wellbeing of all life on Earth.