James Spalding Hellmers
Founding Member - Initiatives for the Future of Great Rivers
James Spalding Hellmers is a founding member of the Initiatives for the Future of Great Rivers (IFGR) organization and has held several very important posts in the Paraguayan government. In particular, he was Minister of Finance (2002) and Ambassador of the Paraguayan Republic to the United States (2003-2009). More recently, he was the Paraguayan Managing Director of Itaipu Binacional, the second largest hydroelectric dam in the world, jointly owned by Paraguay and Brazil. In charge of co-managing the Itaipu hydropower plant from 2013 to 2018, as well as implementing Itaipu´s vast Sustainable Development programs and Social Responsibility actions.
He acts regularly in Paraguay and elsewhere on different subjects such as hydroelectricity and its role in sustainable development, economic globalisation, regionalisation and international relations.