Mr. Gauto is Paraguayan, and has worked extensively in the Latin American region in various capacities for the last 25 years. He is an Agricultural Engineer, who got his degree in 1979 from the National University of Asunción in Paraguay. Later, in 1986, he got a Master of Science degree on “Forest Economics and Resource Management” from the Virginia Polytechnic University, at Blacksburg, Virginia, in the USA.
After graduating from the USA, he returned to his country, and opened a Conservation Data center, under a contract with The Nature Conservancy, from Washington DC. In 1988, along with other peers, he founded “The Moises Bertoni Foundation” dedicated to the Sustainable development of Paraguay. This is today one of the most prestigious organizations of the civil society of Paraguay.
In 1998, Mr. Gauto started a 17-year-long engagement with Fundacion Avina. He began as the local Representative, in charge of Avina’s operation in Paraguay and Bolivia. In 2002 he was invited to become Regional Representative, to oversee Avina’s operations in Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay.
Since 2009, Mr. Gauto is responsible for supervising Avina’s “Access to Water Program” in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2012, he was also appointed Liaison to the Social Progress Imperative, with the responsibility of supporting the deployment of the Social Progress Index in the region.
In March 2013, Avina asked him to head a strategic planning to start working in East Africa on WASH Issues, and to develop a Global Water Alliance along with several interested partners.