Leo Heileman has served as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean – based in Panama – since February 2016.

Prior to this appointment, Heileman was the UN Resident Coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UNDP and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Resident Representative in the Union of the Comoros from March 2015. He was the UNDP Interim Resident Representative in Angola and, from 2009 to 2014, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Equatorial Guinea.

Before his assignments with the UNDP, Heileman worked with UNEP in Paris, Nairobi and Mexico City. His positions in Paris included: Senior Programme Officer, Sustainable Consumption and Production (2008-2009); Senior Programme Officer, Business and Industry Unit (2007-2008); Senior Programme Officer, Implementation Unit (2005-2007); and Network and Policy Manager, OzonAction Programme (2002-2005). In Nairobi he served as Programme Officer, Regional Coordination (1999-2002); and in Mexico City he worked as Programme Officer at the UNEP Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (1992-1999).

Heileman also worked in Trinidad and Tobago as Senior Research Officer with the Institute of Marine Affairs from 1979 to 1991, and as Senior Environmental Officer with the Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company Limited from 1991 to 1992.

Heileman holds a BS in Natural Sciences with a focus on Analytical Chemistry from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago; a Master’s degree in Environmental Pollution Control and Operations Research from Pennsylvania State University, USA; a post-graduate diploma in Marine Pollution Chemistry from Liverpool University, UK; and a post-graduate diploma in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies. He speaks English, French and Spanish.