Sociologist in agricultural development Marike de Peña is currently chair of the board of directors at CLAC. In the late 1980s, she arrived in the Dominican Republic from her native Netherlands to work with family farmers on organizational strengthening and market access, promoting fair trade particularly in the banana sector.

In 2000 she founded the fair trade banana cooperative BANELINO where she is still director, and in 2002 she took on the role of Banana Network Coordinator at CLAC. She has also been president of COORDOM, the Dominican Platform of Fair Trade Producers, a board member of the Dominican Banana Association (Adobanano) and chair of the board at Fairtrade International.