Rodrigo de la Cruz belongs to the indigenous village Kichua/Kaambi of Ecuador. He has a Master in intellectual property rights and has held important positions as a specialist in Intellectual Property, Biodiversity, Climate Change and Traditional Knowledge with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous People, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), German Technical Cooperation (GIZ), among others.

Furthermore, he is a consultant on intellectual property rights, access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge and a member of the World Bank’s Global Steering Committee with Indigenous Peoples.