CNF is deeply saddened at the loss of one of our dearest and oldest friends.
With her marketing flair, Eva-Maria Melchers was the impetus for much of our work over the last 15 years to develop and promote the CNF brand. She joined us on our first tour of Georgia in 2010. She was immediately smitten by the Caucasus and never got over it.
By 2011 she had pushed us to set up a CNF collection point at the Tbilisi airport for tourists leaving their unspent Lari behind. A year later she was back again to help open a store to promote local artisans in selling their creations so that eco-tourists would have something to bring home with them (with CNF receiving royalties on the sales). By 2014 Eva-Maria’s store had opened a sales counter in Borjomi Kharagauli National Park and we later opened a shop in the town center. Our most recent joint initiative from 2024 involves locally produced leather handbags with biodiversity inspired themes.
Over the years she joined us in numerous board/donor visits to both Georgia and Armenia and continued to promote our work in both countries. Eva-Maria was a force of nature – and a force for nature.
We miss her.
David and the CNF Team
