Draft:Salvatore Coppola-Finegan

Salvatore James Mauro Coppola-Finegan (born June 1986) is a British-Costa Rican scientific researcher, co-founder and chairman of Ecocitizen S.à.r.l., author,  and keynote speaker.

Early life
Coppola-Finegan was born in Solihull to parents of Italian and Irish heritage. He is the grandson of Catherine Finegan. He was brought up in Birmingham and Wolverhampton with stints in his paternal grandparents' home region of Irpinia, Avellino, Italy which would also go on to influence his cultural upbringing.

He was educated at St Edmund's Roman Catholic School where he was awarded the Victor Hermolle Upper School Prize. In Sixth Form he also studied at the Wolverhampton Girls' High School. He graduated with an M.A. from the University of St Andrews, after studying in the Schools of Classics, History (Department of Mediaeval History) and Modern Foreign Languages

Career
While serving in the public sector as a university researcher and lecturer at the Universidad de Costa Rica, the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, and the Universidad Tecnica Nacional, Coppola-Finegan led and collaborated in development projects in the border region between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, notably in the province of Guanacaste and the department of Rivas, in the areas of environmentalism and energy, water, and human rights.

Coppola-Finegan was appointed as a board member of the Costa Rican National Conservation System, the decision-making body for all protected areas such as national parks and reserves, and biodiversity at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, where he served on the national board, as well as at the regional level on the board of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste. He was also selected by the office of the President of the Republic and the Ministry of Environment and Energy as an expert on environment and energy to participate in the dialogue and preparation of the VII National Energy Plan 2015-2030.

As a management consultant in the private sector, Coppola-Finegan also advised and trained executives at AKAMAI Technologies, Banco Cuzcatlan, Banco Nacional, Dentons, amongst other entities in the United States and Central America, on communications strategies, and sustainability.

His experience and regional leadership led him to become campaign manager and chief special adviser for the Congressman for Guanacaste, Ronal Vargas Araya in the runup to the 2014 Costa Rican General Election to the Costa Rican National Parliament. He was then subsequently appointed chief special Adviser to Congresswoman Laura María Garro Sánchez, leader of the Government bench held by the Citizens' Action Party during the government of President Luis Guillermo Solís. In these roles, he was responsible for and advised the Permanent Special Committee on Energy and Environment and the Permanent Ordinary Committee on Agricultural Affairs and Natural Resources, amongst others. He also served as presiding advisor to the Permanent Special Committee on Human Rights.

In 2016 he moved with his wife to Oldenburg, Germany, where he returned to the private sector first as a management consultant, and then as a manager in-house to set up a new international business unit at Amagno GmbH. In 2019 he moved with his wife to Luxembourg and worked as an independent consultant for public and private sector projects in Europe, South-East Asia, and Central America in digital transformation, ESG, and sustainability. He is currently active in transdisciplinary research on regenerative socio-ecological systems at the University of Luxembourg under the supervison of Prof. Dr. Ariane König, and is working towards his Ph.D. in Sustainability Science.

In 2023, Coppola-Finegan’s book on the past, present, and future of sustainable family forestry in Luxembourg was published for the 90th anniversary of the National Association of Private Forest Owners, the Lëtzebuerger Privatbësch. The book launch took place during the celebrations in the presence of H.R.H. Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, MPs, officials, and more than 400 international forestry experts and other VIPs. The book demonstrates Luxembourg's commitment to sustainable forestry practices and environmental management, and the publication hopes to promote the regeneration of the country's forests in the context of the challenges of climate change.

Personal life
Coppola-Finegan lives in Luxembourg with his wife and children, and speaks English, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.