Richenel Ansano is an anthropologist and healer. He is a heritage consultant, facilitator, implementation advisor for the 2003 Convention. He has served as Director of NAAM (the National Archaeological and Anthropological Memory Management Institute), an NGO based in Curaçao and accredited under the 2003 Convention. He is also the founder and previous Secretary of the mechanism of collaboration on ICH among the Dutch Caribbean islands, previous member of the Advisory Board of CRIHAP, previous member of the ACHS Intangible Cultural Heritage Group, and past Vice-President of MOWLAC, the regional organization for the UNESCO Memory of the World Program.

Mr Ansano has developed facilitation methodology and ICH capacity-building materials for several countries, and trained community and NGO members in the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific on implementation and on inventorying practices. He has also consulted as regional expert on ICH and cultural policy in Jamaica, Saba, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.