Maria De Cristofaro is Outreach and Capacity Building Officer for the Forestry Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. She has established six Regional Forest Communicators Networks, which promote communication and dialogue on forestry issues across borders. As part of her work with FAO, she has carried out extensive training and mentoring of forest communicators at national, regional and global levels, and speaks at international conferences about communication strategies and the importance of communication for the forestry community. De Cristofaro is also active in the area of forest education and is leading the development of interactive forest education modules for primary school children in Tanzania and the Philippines. Prior to her current role, she worked in media relations and advocacy for FAO and spent 12 years working as a journalist for leading newspapers and television agencies.