- Who we are
WHO WE ARE
OUR PEOPLE
Pro Mujer is a Social Enterprise
Pro Mujer is
a social enterprise
that has been working to advance gender equality in Latin America for more than 35 years.
Pro Mujer is a social enterprise that has been working to advance gender equality for more than 35 years
Our objective is for women to reach their full potential, improve their living conditions, and become agents of change for their communities. We use a comprehensive and holistic model, to provide underserved women in Latin America with services and tools across three strategic areas:
Health and well-being
Financial Inclusion
Skilling Oportunities
Mission
Mission
To empower underserved women to realize their full potential.
Vision
A Latin America where all women thrive.
35 years
During our 35 years of operation
of women accessed a loan for the first time in their lives
0
%
of women report an improvement in quality of life
0
%
of women report an increase in their business income
0
%
Pro Mujer’s work delivers relevant and transformative services to women in Latin America and is closely aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), delivering tangible results in eight SDGs to ensure our impact contributes to global development targets.
1
No poverty
3
Good health and well-being
4
Quality education
5
Gender Equality
8
Decent Work
10
Reduce inequalities
11
Sustainable cities and communities
17
Partnership for the goals
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton is currently Head of Legal and Government Affairs at UScellular. In that capacity, Adriana leads the company’s legal, regulatory and policy efforts. Prior to joining UScellular she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T Mexico, a business with approximately 20 million customers and more than 19,000 employees. Adriana previously was legal counsel for DirecTV Latin America and was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she counseled public and privately held businesses on a broad range of topics. Adriana earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and holds a juris doctor from Duke University Law School. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli is a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. She has provided leadership and direction to strategies and programs, creating an enabling environment for multifunctional teams and ensuring programs are innovative, designed based on evidence, well-executed, and reach results. Alejandra has been the Regional Program Quality and Impact Director with Save the Children (SCI) Latin America and Caribbean region since January 2022. In 2021, Alejandra worked as a strategic consultant for Iwords Global. Before that, she worked for more than 20 years (1998- 2020) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (now FOS Feminist). She held many positions at IPPF/WHR; her last one was Director of Quality, Access, and Care, overseeing the programmatic work focusing on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has participated in global advocacy forums such as Cervical Cancer Action and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, ensuring that learnings from the field helped advance global policy work. She contributed to disseminating knowledge on integrating cervical cancer screening and preventive treatment with family planning and HIV-related services at the World Cancer Congress. She authored publications in the 2017 International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and other journals. She has also contributed to the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Program as a Technical Expert invited to attend the 2017 and 2018 meetings and review the Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Elimination launched in 2020. Alejandra is a sociologist who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a Master’s in Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on women in development.
Ana Demel
Ana Demel
Ana Demel, teaches The Law and Business of Microfinance, Financing Development, and Project Finance at the New York University Law School. Prior to 2009, Ms. Demel was a partner at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP where her practice focused on international financing and business transactions, particularly in Latin America. At Cleary Gottlieb she advised private and public sector clients on a variety of transactions, including structured finance and project finance as well as sovereign debt restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Ms. Demel was involved in pro bono matters involving microfinance. Ana was distinguished by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Latin American investment and Chambers Latin America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for corporate/M&A. Ana received a J.D. degree from New York University in 1986, where she was a note editor of the New York University Law Review, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.
Camilo Mendez
Camilo Mendez
Treasury of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Camilo Mendez is chief financial officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s budget and investment strategies. Camilo works closely with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and President and CEO and manages relationships with investment consultants and financial agents to ensure the Foundation meets New Jersey’s future needs. Camilo has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and impact investing across the public, private, and social sectors. Prior to joining Dodge, he was chief financial officer at Pro Mujer, an international women’s organization committed to positively impacting the lives of its clients and their families. Mendez holds a Master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Latin American studies and history from Oberlin College.
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz is an experienced investment banker, consultant and entrepreneur, with expertise in strategy, finance, operations and planning. She currently works as an investment consultant for Monticello Capital Partners, sourcing investment opportunities in Latin America in the Fintech space. She founded and ran “For a Brighter Venezuela” a nonprofit focused on educating and feeding children. She is a former CEO and founder of Coucou LLC, a children’s clothing wholesaler. She has assisted non-for profits, providing them with strategic and operational improvement consulting services. She has worked at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Goldman Sachs. Cinthia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (London), and a project coordinator for the Arts & Culture Committee of Harvard Business School Community Partners in New York. She serves on the boards of the Dream Project, For a Brighter Venezuela, and UVA’s Bolivar Network. She holds a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from Harvard University. She is a native of Bolivia.
Diego Cristancho
Diego Cristancho
Diego is a Vice President International Marketing Strategy and Capabilities at American Express where he enables Small and Medium size business to grow via digital products and solutions. Diego has a passion for advising global organizations on how to operationalize their digital transformation with an eye to build and to scale their businesses. He brings proven client experience on how to translate strategy into the delivery of automated and scalable customer experiences by leveraging Tech/Data/Design/Agile Operations. Prior to joining AMEX, Diego worked at Accenture Interactive as Managing Director advising and Financial Service clients on their Digital Transformation projects. During his tenure at BBVA as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, he was responsible for providing a vision on how to build and operate the digital sales channel across Retail, Insurance and Commercial Banking. This included designing, implementing and operating digital marketing strategies across Paid Media Performance, SEO, CRM, Content Management, Optimization and Behavioral Economics. He also brings domestic and global digital agency (Digitas), media (New York Times / Reed Elsevier) and CPG (Procter&Gamble) experience from earlier in his career. Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy – Media and Technology from NYU Stern School of Business / London Business School.
Estibalitz Laresgoiti
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje is a physician with graduate studies in immunology, neurosciences, health psychology, and health sciences. She has been a basic and clinical immunology professor since the year 2000. Currently, she is a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs in Health Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her research interests include immune regulation during pregnancy, chronic stress, and childhood obesity. She is a member of the Medical Society of the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the National Researchers System (SNI) of Mexico´s National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT).
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton is currently Head of Legal and Government Affairs at UScellular. In that capacity, Adriana leads the company’s legal, regulatory and policy efforts. Prior to joining UScellular she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T Mexico, a business with approximately 20 million customers and more than 19,000 employees. Adriana previously was legal counsel for DirecTV Latin America and was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she counseled public and privately held businesses on a broad range of topics. Adriana earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and holds a juris doctor from Duke University Law School. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli is a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. She has provided leadership and direction to strategies and programs, creating an enabling environment for multifunctional teams and ensuring programs are innovative, designed based on evidence, well-executed, and reach results. Alejandra has been the Regional Program Quality and Impact Director with Save the Children (SCI) Latin America and Caribbean region since January 2022. In 2021, Alejandra worked as a strategic consultant for Iwords Global. Before that, she worked for more than 20 years (1998- 2020) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (now FOS Feminist). She held many positions at IPPF/WHR; her last one was Director of Quality, Access, and Care, overseeing the programmatic work focusing on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has participated in global advocacy forums such as Cervical Cancer Action and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, ensuring that learnings from the field helped advance global policy work. She contributed to disseminating knowledge on integrating cervical cancer screening and preventive treatment with family planning and HIV-related services at the World Cancer Congress. She authored publications in the 2017 International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and other journals. She has also contributed to the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Program as a Technical Expert invited to attend the 2017 and 2018 meetings and review the Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Elimination launched in 2020. Alejandra is a sociologist who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a Master’s in Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on women in development.
Ana Demel
Ana Demel
Ana Demel, teaches The Law and Business of Microfinance, Financing Development, and Project Finance at the New York University Law School. Prior to 2009, Ms. Demel was a partner at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP where her practice focused on international financing and business transactions, particularly in Latin America. At Cleary Gottlieb she advised private and public sector clients on a variety of transactions, including structured finance and project finance as well as sovereign debt restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Ms. Demel was involved in pro bono matters involving microfinance. Ana was distinguished by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Latin American investment and Chambers Latin America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for corporate/M&A. Ana received a J.D. degree from New York University in 1986, where she was a note editor of the New York University Law Review, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.
Camilo Mendez
Camilo Mendez
Treasury of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Camilo Mendez is chief financial officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s budget and investment strategies. Camilo works closely with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and President and CEO and manages relationships with investment consultants and financial agents to ensure the Foundation meets New Jersey’s future needs. Camilo has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and impact investing across the public, private, and social sectors. Prior to joining Dodge, he was chief financial officer at Pro Mujer, an international women’s organization committed to positively impacting the lives of its clients and their families. Mendez holds a Master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Latin American studies and history from Oberlin College.
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz is an experienced investment banker, consultant and entrepreneur, with expertise in strategy, finance, operations and planning. She currently works as an investment consultant for Monticello Capital Partners, sourcing investment opportunities in Latin America in the Fintech space. She founded and ran “For a Brighter Venezuela” a nonprofit focused on educating and feeding children. She is a former CEO and founder of Coucou LLC, a children’s clothing wholesaler. She has assisted non-for profits, providing them with strategic and operational improvement consulting services. She has worked at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Goldman Sachs. Cinthia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (London), and a project coordinator for the Arts & Culture Committee of Harvard Business School Community Partners in New York. She serves on the boards of the Dream Project, For a Brighter Venezuela, and UVA’s Bolivar Network. She holds a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from Harvard University. She is a native of Bolivia.
Diego Cristancho
Diego Cristancho
Diego is a Vice President International Marketing Strategy and Capabilities at American Express where he enables Small and Medium size business to grow via digital products and solutions. Diego has a passion for advising global organizations on how to operationalize their digital transformation with an eye to build and to scale their businesses. He brings proven client experience on how to translate strategy into the delivery of automated and scalable customer experiences by leveraging Tech/Data/Design/Agile Operations. Prior to joining AMEX, Diego worked at Accenture Interactive as Managing Director advising and Financial Service clients on their Digital Transformation projects. During his tenure at BBVA as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, he was responsible for providing a vision on how to build and operate the digital sales channel across Retail, Insurance and Commercial Banking. This included designing, implementing and operating digital marketing strategies across Paid Media Performance, SEO, CRM, Content Management, Optimization and Behavioral Economics. He also brings domestic and global digital agency (Digitas), media (New York Times / Reed Elsevier) and CPG (Procter&Gamble) experience from earlier in his career. Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy – Media and Technology from NYU Stern School of Business / London Business School.
Estibalitz Laresgoiti
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje is a physician with graduate studies in immunology, neurosciences, health psychology, and health sciences. She has been a basic and clinical immunology professor since the year 2000. Currently, she is a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs in Health Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her research interests include immune regulation during pregnancy, chronic stress, and childhood obesity. She is a member of the Medical Society of the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the National Researchers System (SNI) of Mexico´s National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT).
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeff MacDonagh is a partner of Grandfield & Dodd, an investment counsel firm to high net worth families and trusts. In this capacity, Jeff manages client portfolios and conducts equity and credit research, primarily covering the technology sector and impact investments. Previously, he was Portfolio Manager and Director of Research at Domini Social Investments, a mutual fund family specializing in socially responsible investing. He has also worked as Assistant Portfolio Manager at Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors. Jeff began his investment career in 2000 with KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. as an ESG (environmental, social, governance) analyst. Jeff earned a Master of Science in Engineering Systems and a Master of Science in Urban & Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Philosophy, and holds a patent for energy efficient lighting. Jeff has served in various positions for the Metro New York Synod and United Lutheran Seminary. He lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City with his wife and two children.
Mark MacMahon
Mark Roy McMahon
Secretary of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Mark comes to Pro Mujer as a veteran corporate executive, philanthropist and manager. Mark was Chief Operating Officer of Packaging-Americas of MeadWestvaco Corporation, where he oversaw operations with more than $250 million in annual sales. Mark has been a major donor to Pro Mujer and has traveled extensively to our field programs. He joined the Pro Mujer Board in 2014, has chaired the Development Committee and served on the Auditing and Finance Committees. Mark resides in Rio de Janeiro and New York. In Brazil, he was President of the Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The World Policy Institute. Mark received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from Iona College and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mark Garay
Mark Garay
Mark Garay is a Managing Director and Senior Advisor in Deloitte’s U.S. Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Services practice. He is responsible for facilitating the cross-functional collaboration of the 4000+ U.S. M&A professionals in providing strategic and private equity investors with comprehensive professional services across the M&A and Restructuring lifecycles. In his 30+ year career with Deloitte, Mark has held a number of firm leadership positions, including: Chief of Staff, US Tax Practice; Executive Director, The Deloitte Center for Cross-Border Investment; Chief of Staff, US Merger and Acquisition Services; Director of Tax Policy, Washington, D.C., National Tax Office; Chief of Staff, Global M&A Services; and Clients and Markets Growth Liaison to the Hispanic/Latinx and Allies National Advisory Board. Prior to coming to Deloitte, Mark worked for U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, focusing on Judiciary, State Department, and Appropriations matters before the U.S. Congress. Mark has volunteered at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), lobbying members of Congress on issues impacting the U.S. Latino community. In honor of his father, he and his wife Melissa established the Manuel Luna Garay Sustaining Scholarship Fund for high achieving underrepresented students to enable them to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Mark received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and a B.S. in Organizational Communication, both with Honors.
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone is a director with the accounting and advisory firm Deloitte, LLP where he is focused on developing its middle market practice through Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services. His responsibilities include business development, marketing, public relations, advertising and communications. Prior to this role, Bob served as the chief of staff for Deloitte’s Chairman of the Board for six years, and has held numerous marketing and leadership positions since joining the firm in 1998. Earlier in his career, he was a vice president of sales with Chase Bank from 1988-1998, and sold municipal and corporate bonds for various brokerage firms. In addition to serving on the board of Pro Mujer Inc., Bob is also a member of the board of The United Way of Monmouth County, New Jersey and the Affordable Housing Alliance, and chairs the Business & Professional Committee of the American Cancer Society, Monmouth County Chapter. Bob graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982 with a B.A. in Political Science and earned his MBA from Fordham University in 1994. He is married with three children, ages 22 and 19 year old twins.
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel recently retired as a Clinical Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where he created and directed the school’s Specialization in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. As former Chief Operating Officer for the Clinton Foundation’s Enterprise Partnership, Professor Taitel was responsible for establishing impact investment funds and the oversight of a portfolio of social enterprises as well as economic development, health, and nutrition projects throughout Latin America. Prior to joining the Clinton Foundation, Professor Taitel was a Managing Partner of an international venture capital firm and held numerous senior executive roles in both private and public multinational technology companies. His earlier career was in economic development with both urban government and community action agencies. Professor Taitel has a BA in Policy Studies from Syracuse University and an MBA from Northeastern University where he taught as an adjunct faculty member.
Vanessa Dager
Vanessa Dager
Chair of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Vanessa Dager is a Managing Director and Head of Americas M&A and Advisory at BNP Paribas. Vanessa has more than 20 years of investment banking and strategic M&A experience advising companies across industries. Vanessa joined Wells Fargo in 2021 from Credit Suisse, where she was a Managing Director in the M&A Group and Head of the Sell-Side Group for the Americas. She was responsible for the bank’s dedicated M&A practice for privately owned and sponsor owned clients across industries and markets. Vanessa joined Credit Suisse in May 2010 and spent her entire career at the firm within the M&A Group. She moved to the Sell-Side M&A Group in May 2019 after transitioning from being the Head of Latin America M&A Group. Prior to Credit Suisse, Vanessa served as a Vice President within the Latin America investment banking coverage team for Citigroup Global Markets in New York. She also spent three years as an Associate at Stern Stewart & Co. Vanessa holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia). Vanessa serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Pro Mujer, a nonprofit development organization that provides financial inclusion, health and education programs to low-income women in Latin America. She was elected as Vice-Chair in January 2021, and has been a Board member since September 2018.
Zelma F. Acosta Rubio
Zelma F. Acosta-Rubio
Zelma Acosta-Rubio is a senior executive trained in law and experienced in project finance, corporate governance, compliance and risk dynamics, retail banking, consumer protection, in-house legal team innovation, and customer centricity. In April 2007, Zelma joined the Executive Management Team of Interbank as General Counsel and Board Secretary. Interbank is Peru’s fourth largest bank with approximately $ 11.3 billion in total assets. Zelma is also responsible for overseeing Interbank’s CSR integrated strategy. Zelma holds an MBA from the University of Piura, Peru; an LLM in International Banking Law from the Center for Finance, Law & Policy at Boston University; a Master in Comparative Jurisprudence from New York University; and a Law Degree from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela. Zelma started her professional career at the Finance & Banking Group at Milbank, N.Y. In 1992, she joined the Project Finance Energy Group at Clifford Chance (CC) in London, focusing on privatization and infrastructure projects within the energy industry, particularly in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In addition to serving on Pro Mujer’s board, Zelma is a Board Member for La Fiduciaria, for which she serves as Chairwoman. She is also a Board Member for Intertitulos, Vida Perú, and Organization of Women in International Trade, Peru.
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeff MacDonagh is a partner of Grandfield & Dodd, an investment counsel firm to high net worth families and trusts. In this capacity, Jeff manages client portfolios and conducts equity and credit research, primarily covering the technology sector and impact investments. Previously, he was Portfolio Manager and Director of Research at Domini Social Investments, a mutual fund family specializing in socially responsible investing. He has also worked as Assistant Portfolio Manager at Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors. Jeff began his investment career in 2000 with KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. as an ESG (environmental, social, governance) analyst. Jeff earned a Master of Science in Engineering Systems and a Master of Science in Urban & Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Philosophy, and holds a patent for energy efficient lighting. Jeff has served in various positions for the Metro New York Synod and United Lutheran Seminary. He lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City with his wife and two children.
Mark MacMahon
Mark Roy McMahon
Secretary of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Mark comes to Pro Mujer as a veteran corporate executive, philanthropist and manager. Mark was Chief Operating Officer of Packaging-Americas of MeadWestvaco Corporation, where he oversaw operations with more than $250 million in annual sales. Mark has been a major donor to Pro Mujer and has traveled extensively to our field programs. He joined the Pro Mujer Board in 2014, has chaired the Development Committee and served on the Auditing and Finance Committees. Mark resides in Rio de Janeiro and New York. In Brazil, he was President of the Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The World Policy Institute. Mark received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from Iona College and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mark Garay
Mark Garay
Mark Garay is a Managing Director and Senior Advisor in Deloitte’s U.S. Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Services practice. He is responsible for facilitating the cross-functional collaboration of the 4000+ U.S. M&A professionals in providing strategic and private equity investors with comprehensive professional services across the M&A and Restructuring lifecycles. In his 30+ year career with Deloitte, Mark has held a number of firm leadership positions, including: Chief of Staff, US Tax Practice; Executive Director, The Deloitte Center for Cross-Border Investment; Chief of Staff, US Merger and Acquisition Services; Director of Tax Policy, Washington, D.C., National Tax Office; Chief of Staff, Global M&A Services; and Clients and Markets Growth Liaison to the Hispanic/Latinx and Allies National Advisory Board. Prior to coming to Deloitte, Mark worked for U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, focusing on Judiciary, State Department, and Appropriations matters before the U.S. Congress. Mark has volunteered at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), lobbying members of Congress on issues impacting the U.S. Latino community. In honor of his father, he and his wife Melissa established the Manuel Luna Garay Sustaining Scholarship Fund for high achieving underrepresented students to enable them to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Mark received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and a B.S. in Organizational Communication, both with Honors.
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone is a director with the accounting and advisory firm Deloitte, LLP where he is focused on developing its middle market practice through Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services. His responsibilities include business development, marketing, public relations, advertising and communications. Prior to this role, Bob served as the chief of staff for Deloitte’s Chairman of the Board for six years, and has held numerous marketing and leadership positions since joining the firm in 1998. Earlier in his career, he was a vice president of sales with Chase Bank from 1988-1998, and sold municipal and corporate bonds for various brokerage firms. In addition to serving on the board of Pro Mujer Inc., Bob is also a member of the board of The United Way of Monmouth County, New Jersey and the Affordable Housing Alliance, and chairs the Business & Professional Committee of the American Cancer Society, Monmouth County Chapter. Bob graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982 with a B.A. in Political Science and earned his MBA from Fordham University in 1994. He is married with three children, ages 22 and 19 year old twins.
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel recently retired as a Clinical Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where he created and directed the school’s Specialization in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. As former Chief Operating Officer for the Clinton Foundation’s Enterprise Partnership, Professor Taitel was responsible for establishing impact investment funds and the oversight of a portfolio of social enterprises as well as economic development, health, and nutrition projects throughout Latin America. Prior to joining the Clinton Foundation, Professor Taitel was a Managing Partner of an international venture capital firm and held numerous senior executive roles in both private and public multinational technology companies. His earlier career was in economic development with both urban government and community action agencies. Professor Taitel has a BA in Policy Studies from Syracuse University and an MBA from Northeastern University where he taught as an adjunct faculty member.
Vanessa Dager
Vanessa Dager
Chair of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Vanessa Dager is a Managing Director and Head of Americas M&A and Advisory at BNP Paribas. Vanessa has more than 20 years of investment banking and strategic M&A experience advising companies across industries. Vanessa joined Wells Fargo in 2021 from Credit Suisse, where she was a Managing Director in the M&A Group and Head of the Sell-Side Group for the Americas. She was responsible for the bank’s dedicated M&A practice for privately owned and sponsor owned clients across industries and markets. Vanessa joined Credit Suisse in May 2010 and spent her entire career at the firm within the M&A Group. She moved to the Sell-Side M&A Group in May 2019 after transitioning from being the Head of Latin America M&A Group. Prior to Credit Suisse, Vanessa served as a Vice President within the Latin America investment banking coverage team for Citigroup Global Markets in New York. She also spent three years as an Associate at Stern Stewart & Co. Vanessa holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia). Vanessa serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Pro Mujer, a nonprofit development organization that provides financial inclusion, health and education programs to low-income women in Latin America. She was elected as Vice-Chair in January 2021, and has been a Board member since September 2018.
Zelma F. Acosta Rubio
Zelma F. Acosta-Rubio
Zelma Acosta-Rubio is a senior executive trained in law and experienced in project finance, corporate governance, compliance and risk dynamics, retail banking, consumer protection, in-house legal team innovation, and customer centricity. In April 2007, Zelma joined the Executive Management Team of Interbank as General Counsel and Board Secretary. Interbank is Peru’s fourth largest bank with approximately $ 11.3 billion in total assets. Zelma is also responsible for overseeing Interbank’s CSR integrated strategy. Zelma holds an MBA from the University of Piura, Peru; an LLM in International Banking Law from the Center for Finance, Law & Policy at Boston University; a Master in Comparative Jurisprudence from New York University; and a Law Degree from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela. Zelma started her professional career at the Finance & Banking Group at Milbank, N.Y. In 1992, she joined the Project Finance Energy Group at Clifford Chance (CC) in London, focusing on privatization and infrastructure projects within the energy industry, particularly in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In addition to serving on Pro Mujer’s board, Zelma is a Board Member for La Fiduciaria, for which she serves as Chairwoman. She is also a Board Member for Intertitulos, Vida Perú, and Organization of Women in International Trade, Peru.
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton is currently Head of Legal and Government Affairs at UScellular. In that capacity, Adriana leads the company’s legal, regulatory and policy efforts. Prior to joining UScellular she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T Mexico, a business with approximately 20 million customers and more than 19,000 employees. Adriana previously was legal counsel for DirecTV Latin America and was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she counseled public and privately held businesses on a broad range of topics. Adriana earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and holds a juris doctor from Duke University Law School. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli is a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. She has provided leadership and direction to strategies and programs, creating an enabling environment for multifunctional teams and ensuring programs are innovative, designed based on evidence, well-executed, and reach results. Alejandra has been the Regional Program Quality and Impact Director with Save the Children (SCI) Latin America and Caribbean region since January 2022. In 2021, Alejandra worked as a strategic consultant for Iwords Global. Before that, she worked for more than 20 years (1998- 2020) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (now FOS Feminist). She held many positions at IPPF/WHR; her last one was Director of Quality, Access, and Care, overseeing the programmatic work focusing on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has participated in global advocacy forums such as Cervical Cancer Action and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, ensuring that learnings from the field helped advance global policy work. She contributed to disseminating knowledge on integrating cervical cancer screening and preventive treatment with family planning and HIV-related services at the World Cancer Congress. She authored publications in the 2017 International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and other journals. She has also contributed to the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Program as a Technical Expert invited to attend the 2017 and 2018 meetings and review the Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Elimination launched in 2020. Alejandra is a sociologist who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a Master’s in Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on women in development.
Ana Demel
Ana Demel
Ana Demel, teaches The Law and Business of Microfinance, Financing Development, and Project Finance at the New York University Law School. Prior to 2009, Ms. Demel was a partner at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP where her practice focused on international financing and business transactions, particularly in Latin America. At Cleary Gottlieb she advised private and public sector clients on a variety of transactions, including structured finance and project finance as well as sovereign debt restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Ms. Demel was involved in pro bono matters involving microfinance. Ana was distinguished by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Latin American investment and Chambers Latin America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for corporate/M&A. Ana received a J.D. degree from New York University in 1986, where she was a note editor of the New York University Law Review, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.
Camilo Mendez
Camilo Mendez
Treasury of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Camilo Mendez is chief financial officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s budget and investment strategies. Camilo works closely with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and President and CEO and manages relationships with investment consultants and financial agents to ensure the Foundation meets New Jersey’s future needs. Camilo has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and impact investing across the public, private, and social sectors. Prior to joining Dodge, he was chief financial officer at Pro Mujer, an international women’s organization committed to positively impacting the lives of its clients and their families. Mendez holds a Master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Latin American studies and history from Oberlin College.
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz is an experienced investment banker, consultant and entrepreneur, with expertise in strategy, finance, operations and planning. She currently works as an investment consultant for Monticello Capital Partners, sourcing investment opportunities in Latin America in the Fintech space. She founded and ran “For a Brighter Venezuela” a nonprofit focused on educating and feeding children. She is a former CEO and founder of Coucou LLC, a children’s clothing wholesaler. She has assisted non-for profits, providing them with strategic and operational improvement consulting services. She has worked at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Goldman Sachs. Cinthia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (London), and a project coordinator for the Arts & Culture Committee of Harvard Business School Community Partners in New York. She serves on the boards of the Dream Project, For a Brighter Venezuela, and UVA’s Bolivar Network. She holds a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from Harvard University. She is a native of Bolivia.
Diego Cristancho
Diego Cristancho
Diego is a Vice President International Marketing Strategy and Capabilities at American Express where he enables Small and Medium size business to grow via digital products and solutions. Diego has a passion for advising global organizations on how to operationalize their digital transformation with an eye to build and to scale their businesses. He brings proven client experience on how to translate strategy into the delivery of automated and scalable customer experiences by leveraging Tech/Data/Design/Agile Operations. Prior to joining AMEX, Diego worked at Accenture Interactive as Managing Director advising and Financial Service clients on their Digital Transformation projects. During his tenure at BBVA as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, he was responsible for providing a vision on how to build and operate the digital sales channel across Retail, Insurance and Commercial Banking. This included designing, implementing and operating digital marketing strategies across Paid Media Performance, SEO, CRM, Content Management, Optimization and Behavioral Economics. He also brings domestic and global digital agency (Digitas), media (New York Times / Reed Elsevier) and CPG (Procter&Gamble) experience from earlier in his career. Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy – Media and Technology from NYU Stern School of Business / London Business School.
Estibalitz Laresgoiti
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje is a physician with graduate studies in immunology, neurosciences, health psychology, and health sciences. She has been a basic and clinical immunology professor since the year 2000. Currently, she is a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs in Health Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her research interests include immune regulation during pregnancy, chronic stress, and childhood obesity. She is a member of the Medical Society of the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the National Researchers System (SNI) of Mexico´s National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT).
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton is currently Head of Legal and Government Affairs at UScellular. In that capacity, Adriana leads the company’s legal, regulatory and policy efforts. Prior to joining UScellular she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T Mexico, a business with approximately 20 million customers and more than 19,000 employees. Adriana previously was legal counsel for DirecTV Latin America and was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she counseled public and privately held businesses on a broad range of topics. Adriana earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and holds a juris doctor from Duke University Law School. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli is a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. She has provided leadership and direction to strategies and programs, creating an enabling environment for multifunctional teams and ensuring programs are innovative, designed based on evidence, well-executed, and reach results. Alejandra has been the Regional Program Quality and Impact Director with Save the Children (SCI) Latin America and Caribbean region since January 2022. In 2021, Alejandra worked as a strategic consultant for Iwords Global. Before that, she worked for more than 20 years (1998- 2020) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (now FOS Feminist). She held many positions at IPPF/WHR; her last one was Director of Quality, Access, and Care, overseeing the programmatic work focusing on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has participated in global advocacy forums such as Cervical Cancer Action and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, ensuring that learnings from the field helped advance global policy work. She contributed to disseminating knowledge on integrating cervical cancer screening and preventive treatment with family planning and HIV-related services at the World Cancer Congress. She authored publications in the 2017 International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and other journals. She has also contributed to the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Program as a Technical Expert invited to attend the 2017 and 2018 meetings and review the Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Elimination launched in 2020. Alejandra is a sociologist who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a Master’s in Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on women in development.
Ana Demel
Ana Demel
Ana Demel, teaches The Law and Business of Microfinance, Financing Development, and Project Finance at the New York University Law School. Prior to 2009, Ms. Demel was a partner at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP where her practice focused on international financing and business transactions, particularly in Latin America. At Cleary Gottlieb she advised private and public sector clients on a variety of transactions, including structured finance and project finance as well as sovereign debt restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Ms. Demel was involved in pro bono matters involving microfinance. Ana was distinguished by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Latin American investment and Chambers Latin America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for corporate/M&A. Ana received a J.D. degree from New York University in 1986, where she was a note editor of the New York University Law Review, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.
Camilo Mendez
Camilo Mendez
Treasury of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Camilo Mendez is chief financial officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s budget and investment strategies. Camilo works closely with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and President and CEO and manages relationships with investment consultants and financial agents to ensure the Foundation meets New Jersey’s future needs. Camilo has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and impact investing across the public, private, and social sectors. Prior to joining Dodge, he was chief financial officer at Pro Mujer, an international women’s organization committed to positively impacting the lives of its clients and their families. Mendez holds a Master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Latin American studies and history from Oberlin College.
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz is an experienced investment banker, consultant and entrepreneur, with expertise in strategy, finance, operations and planning. She currently works as an investment consultant for Monticello Capital Partners, sourcing investment opportunities in Latin America in the Fintech space. She founded and ran “For a Brighter Venezuela” a nonprofit focused on educating and feeding children. She is a former CEO and founder of Coucou LLC, a children’s clothing wholesaler. She has assisted non-for profits, providing them with strategic and operational improvement consulting services. She has worked at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Goldman Sachs. Cinthia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (London), and a project coordinator for the Arts & Culture Committee of Harvard Business School Community Partners in New York. She serves on the boards of the Dream Project, For a Brighter Venezuela, and UVA’s Bolivar Network. She holds a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from Harvard University. She is a native of Bolivia.
Diego Cristancho
Diego Cristancho
Diego is a Vice President International Marketing Strategy and Capabilities at American Express where he enables Small and Medium size business to grow via digital products and solutions. Diego has a passion for advising global organizations on how to operationalize their digital transformation with an eye to build and to scale their businesses. He brings proven client experience on how to translate strategy into the delivery of automated and scalable customer experiences by leveraging Tech/Data/Design/Agile Operations. Prior to joining AMEX, Diego worked at Accenture Interactive as Managing Director advising and Financial Service clients on their Digital Transformation projects. During his tenure at BBVA as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, he was responsible for providing a vision on how to build and operate the digital sales channel across Retail, Insurance and Commercial Banking. This included designing, implementing and operating digital marketing strategies across Paid Media Performance, SEO, CRM, Content Management, Optimization and Behavioral Economics. He also brings domestic and global digital agency (Digitas), media (New York Times / Reed Elsevier) and CPG (Procter&Gamble) experience from earlier in his career. Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy – Media and Technology from NYU Stern School of Business / London Business School.
Estibalitz Laresgoiti
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje is a physician with graduate studies in immunology, neurosciences, health psychology, and health sciences. She has been a basic and clinical immunology professor since the year 2000. Currently, she is a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs in Health Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her research interests include immune regulation during pregnancy, chronic stress, and childhood obesity. She is a member of the Medical Society of the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the National Researchers System (SNI) of Mexico´s National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT).
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeff MacDonagh is a partner of Grandfield & Dodd, an investment counsel firm to high net worth families and trusts. In this capacity, Jeff manages client portfolios and conducts equity and credit research, primarily covering the technology sector and impact investments. Previously, he was Portfolio Manager and Director of Research at Domini Social Investments, a mutual fund family specializing in socially responsible investing. He has also worked as Assistant Portfolio Manager at Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors. Jeff began his investment career in 2000 with KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. as an ESG (environmental, social, governance) analyst. Jeff earned a Master of Science in Engineering Systems and a Master of Science in Urban & Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Philosophy, and holds a patent for energy efficient lighting. Jeff has served in various positions for the Metro New York Synod and United Lutheran Seminary. He lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City with his wife and two children.
Mark MacMahon
Mark Roy McMahon
Secretary of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Mark comes to Pro Mujer as a veteran corporate executive, philanthropist and manager. Mark was Chief Operating Officer of Packaging-Americas of MeadWestvaco Corporation, where he oversaw operations with more than $250 million in annual sales. Mark has been a major donor to Pro Mujer and has traveled extensively to our field programs. He joined the Pro Mujer Board in 2014, has chaired the Development Committee and served on the Auditing and Finance Committees. Mark resides in Rio de Janeiro and New York. In Brazil, he was President of the Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The World Policy Institute. Mark received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from Iona College and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mark Garay
Mark Garay
Mark Garay is a Managing Director and Senior Advisor in Deloitte’s U.S. Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Services practice. He is responsible for facilitating the cross-functional collaboration of the 4000+ U.S. M&A professionals in providing strategic and private equity investors with comprehensive professional services across the M&A and Restructuring lifecycles. In his 30+ year career with Deloitte, Mark has held a number of firm leadership positions, including: Chief of Staff, US Tax Practice; Executive Director, The Deloitte Center for Cross-Border Investment; Chief of Staff, US Merger and Acquisition Services; Director of Tax Policy, Washington, D.C., National Tax Office; Chief of Staff, Global M&A Services; and Clients and Markets Growth Liaison to the Hispanic/Latinx and Allies National Advisory Board. Prior to coming to Deloitte, Mark worked for U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, focusing on Judiciary, State Department, and Appropriations matters before the U.S. Congress. Mark has volunteered at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), lobbying members of Congress on issues impacting the U.S. Latino community. In honor of his father, he and his wife Melissa established the Manuel Luna Garay Sustaining Scholarship Fund for high achieving underrepresented students to enable them to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Mark received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and a B.S. in Organizational Communication, both with Honors.
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone is a director with the accounting and advisory firm Deloitte, LLP where he is focused on developing its middle market practice through Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services. His responsibilities include business development, marketing, public relations, advertising and communications. Prior to this role, Bob served as the chief of staff for Deloitte’s Chairman of the Board for six years, and has held numerous marketing and leadership positions since joining the firm in 1998. Earlier in his career, he was a vice president of sales with Chase Bank from 1988-1998, and sold municipal and corporate bonds for various brokerage firms. In addition to serving on the board of Pro Mujer Inc., Bob is also a member of the board of The United Way of Monmouth County, New Jersey and the Affordable Housing Alliance, and chairs the Business & Professional Committee of the American Cancer Society, Monmouth County Chapter. Bob graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982 with a B.A. in Political Science and earned his MBA from Fordham University in 1994. He is married with three children, ages 22 and 19 year old twins.
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel recently retired as a Clinical Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where he created and directed the school’s Specialization in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. As former Chief Operating Officer for the Clinton Foundation’s Enterprise Partnership, Professor Taitel was responsible for establishing impact investment funds and the oversight of a portfolio of social enterprises as well as economic development, health, and nutrition projects throughout Latin America. Prior to joining the Clinton Foundation, Professor Taitel was a Managing Partner of an international venture capital firm and held numerous senior executive roles in both private and public multinational technology companies. His earlier career was in economic development with both urban government and community action agencies. Professor Taitel has a BA in Policy Studies from Syracuse University and an MBA from Northeastern University where he taught as an adjunct faculty member.
Vanessa Dager
Vanessa Dager
Chair of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Vanessa Dager is a Managing Director and Head of Americas M&A and Advisory at BNP Paribas. Vanessa has more than 20 years of investment banking and strategic M&A experience advising companies across industries. Vanessa joined Wells Fargo in 2021 from Credit Suisse, where she was a Managing Director in the M&A Group and Head of the Sell-Side Group for the Americas. She was responsible for the bank’s dedicated M&A practice for privately owned and sponsor owned clients across industries and markets. Vanessa joined Credit Suisse in May 2010 and spent her entire career at the firm within the M&A Group. She moved to the Sell-Side M&A Group in May 2019 after transitioning from being the Head of Latin America M&A Group. Prior to Credit Suisse, Vanessa served as a Vice President within the Latin America investment banking coverage team for Citigroup Global Markets in New York. She also spent three years as an Associate at Stern Stewart & Co. Vanessa holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia). Vanessa serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Pro Mujer, a nonprofit development organization that provides financial inclusion, health and education programs to low-income women in Latin America. She was elected as Vice-Chair in January 2021, and has been a Board member since September 2018.
Zelma F. Acosta Rubio
Zelma F. Acosta-Rubio
Zelma Acosta-Rubio is a senior executive trained in law and experienced in project finance, corporate governance, compliance and risk dynamics, retail banking, consumer protection, in-house legal team innovation, and customer centricity. In April 2007, Zelma joined the Executive Management Team of Interbank as General Counsel and Board Secretary. Interbank is Peru’s fourth largest bank with approximately $ 11.3 billion in total assets. Zelma is also responsible for overseeing Interbank’s CSR integrated strategy. Zelma holds an MBA from the University of Piura, Peru; an LLM in International Banking Law from the Center for Finance, Law & Policy at Boston University; a Master in Comparative Jurisprudence from New York University; and a Law Degree from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela. Zelma started her professional career at the Finance & Banking Group at Milbank, N.Y. In 1992, she joined the Project Finance Energy Group at Clifford Chance (CC) in London, focusing on privatization and infrastructure projects within the energy industry, particularly in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In addition to serving on Pro Mujer’s board, Zelma is a Board Member for La Fiduciaria, for which she serves as Chairwoman. She is also a Board Member for Intertitulos, Vida Perú, and Organization of Women in International Trade, Peru.
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeffrey MacDonagh
Jeff MacDonagh is a partner of Grandfield & Dodd, an investment counsel firm to high net worth families and trusts. In this capacity, Jeff manages client portfolios and conducts equity and credit research, primarily covering the technology sector and impact investments. Previously, he was Portfolio Manager and Director of Research at Domini Social Investments, a mutual fund family specializing in socially responsible investing. He has also worked as Assistant Portfolio Manager at Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors. Jeff began his investment career in 2000 with KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. as an ESG (environmental, social, governance) analyst. Jeff earned a Master of Science in Engineering Systems and a Master of Science in Urban & Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Philosophy, and holds a patent for energy efficient lighting. Jeff has served in various positions for the Metro New York Synod and United Lutheran Seminary. He lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City with his wife and two children.
Mark MacMahon
Mark Roy McMahon
Secretary of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Mark comes to Pro Mujer as a veteran corporate executive, philanthropist and manager. Mark was Chief Operating Officer of Packaging-Americas of MeadWestvaco Corporation, where he oversaw operations with more than $250 million in annual sales. Mark has been a major donor to Pro Mujer and has traveled extensively to our field programs. He joined the Pro Mujer Board in 2014, has chaired the Development Committee and served on the Auditing and Finance Committees. Mark resides in Rio de Janeiro and New York. In Brazil, he was President of the Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The World Policy Institute. Mark received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from Iona College and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mark Garay
Mark Garay
Mark Garay is a Managing Director and Senior Advisor in Deloitte’s U.S. Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Services practice. He is responsible for facilitating the cross-functional collaboration of the 4000+ U.S. M&A professionals in providing strategic and private equity investors with comprehensive professional services across the M&A and Restructuring lifecycles. In his 30+ year career with Deloitte, Mark has held a number of firm leadership positions, including: Chief of Staff, US Tax Practice; Executive Director, The Deloitte Center for Cross-Border Investment; Chief of Staff, US Merger and Acquisition Services; Director of Tax Policy, Washington, D.C., National Tax Office; Chief of Staff, Global M&A Services; and Clients and Markets Growth Liaison to the Hispanic/Latinx and Allies National Advisory Board. Prior to coming to Deloitte, Mark worked for U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, focusing on Judiciary, State Department, and Appropriations matters before the U.S. Congress. Mark has volunteered at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), lobbying members of Congress on issues impacting the U.S. Latino community. In honor of his father, he and his wife Melissa established the Manuel Luna Garay Sustaining Scholarship Fund for high achieving underrepresented students to enable them to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Mark received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and a B.S. in Organizational Communication, both with Honors.
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone
Robert Rosone is a director with the accounting and advisory firm Deloitte, LLP where he is focused on developing its middle market practice through Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services. His responsibilities include business development, marketing, public relations, advertising and communications. Prior to this role, Bob served as the chief of staff for Deloitte’s Chairman of the Board for six years, and has held numerous marketing and leadership positions since joining the firm in 1998. Earlier in his career, he was a vice president of sales with Chase Bank from 1988-1998, and sold municipal and corporate bonds for various brokerage firms. In addition to serving on the board of Pro Mujer Inc., Bob is also a member of the board of The United Way of Monmouth County, New Jersey and the Affordable Housing Alliance, and chairs the Business & Professional Committee of the American Cancer Society, Monmouth County Chapter. Bob graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982 with a B.A. in Political Science and earned his MBA from Fordham University in 1994. He is married with three children, ages 22 and 19 year old twins.
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel
Scott Taitel recently retired as a Clinical Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where he created and directed the school’s Specialization in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. As former Chief Operating Officer for the Clinton Foundation’s Enterprise Partnership, Professor Taitel was responsible for establishing impact investment funds and the oversight of a portfolio of social enterprises as well as economic development, health, and nutrition projects throughout Latin America. Prior to joining the Clinton Foundation, Professor Taitel was a Managing Partner of an international venture capital firm and held numerous senior executive roles in both private and public multinational technology companies. His earlier career was in economic development with both urban government and community action agencies. Professor Taitel has a BA in Policy Studies from Syracuse University and an MBA from Northeastern University where he taught as an adjunct faculty member.
Vanessa Dager
Vanessa Dager
Chair of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Vanessa Dager is a Managing Director and Head of Americas M&A and Advisory at BNP Paribas. Vanessa has more than 20 years of investment banking and strategic M&A experience advising companies across industries. Vanessa joined Wells Fargo in 2021 from Credit Suisse, where she was a Managing Director in the M&A Group and Head of the Sell-Side Group for the Americas. She was responsible for the bank’s dedicated M&A practice for privately owned and sponsor owned clients across industries and markets. Vanessa joined Credit Suisse in May 2010 and spent her entire career at the firm within the M&A Group. She moved to the Sell-Side M&A Group in May 2019 after transitioning from being the Head of Latin America M&A Group. Prior to Credit Suisse, Vanessa served as a Vice President within the Latin America investment banking coverage team for Citigroup Global Markets in New York. She also spent three years as an Associate at Stern Stewart & Co. Vanessa holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia). Vanessa serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Pro Mujer, a nonprofit development organization that provides financial inclusion, health and education programs to low-income women in Latin America. She was elected as Vice-Chair in January 2021, and has been a Board member since September 2018.
Zelma F. Acosta Rubio
Zelma F. Acosta-Rubio
Zelma Acosta-Rubio is a senior executive trained in law and experienced in project finance, corporate governance, compliance and risk dynamics, retail banking, consumer protection, in-house legal team innovation, and customer centricity. In April 2007, Zelma joined the Executive Management Team of Interbank as General Counsel and Board Secretary. Interbank is Peru’s fourth largest bank with approximately $ 11.3 billion in total assets. Zelma is also responsible for overseeing Interbank’s CSR integrated strategy. Zelma holds an MBA from the University of Piura, Peru; an LLM in International Banking Law from the Center for Finance, Law & Policy at Boston University; a Master in Comparative Jurisprudence from New York University; and a Law Degree from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela. Zelma started her professional career at the Finance & Banking Group at Milbank, N.Y. In 1992, she joined the Project Finance Energy Group at Clifford Chance (CC) in London, focusing on privatization and infrastructure projects within the energy industry, particularly in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In addition to serving on Pro Mujer’s board, Zelma is a Board Member for La Fiduciaria, for which she serves as Chairwoman. She is also a Board Member for Intertitulos, Vida Perú, and Organization of Women in International Trade, Peru.
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton is currently Head of Legal and Government Affairs at UScellular. In that capacity, Adriana leads the company’s legal, regulatory and policy efforts. Prior to joining UScellular she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T Mexico, a business with approximately 20 million customers and more than 19,000 employees. Adriana previously was legal counsel for DirecTV Latin America and was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she counseled public and privately held businesses on a broad range of topics. Adriana earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and holds a juris doctor from Duke University Law School. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli is a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. She has provided leadership and direction to strategies and programs, creating an enabling environment for multifunctional teams and ensuring programs are innovative, designed based on evidence, well-executed, and reach results. Alejandra has been the Regional Program Quality and Impact Director with Save the Children (SCI) Latin America and Caribbean region since January 2022. In 2021, Alejandra worked as a strategic consultant for Iwords Global. Before that, she worked for more than 20 years (1998- 2020) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (now FOS Feminist). She held many positions at IPPF/WHR; her last one was Director of Quality, Access, and Care, overseeing the programmatic work focusing on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has participated in global advocacy forums such as Cervical Cancer Action and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, ensuring that learnings from the field helped advance global policy work. She contributed to disseminating knowledge on integrating cervical cancer screening and preventive treatment with family planning and HIV-related services at the World Cancer Congress. She authored publications in the 2017 International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and other journals. She has also contributed to the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Program as a Technical Expert invited to attend the 2017 and 2018 meetings and review the Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Elimination launched in 2020. Alejandra is a sociologist who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a Master’s in Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on women in development.
Ana Demel
Ana Demel
Ana Demel, teaches The Law and Business of Microfinance, Financing Development, and Project Finance at the New York University Law School. Prior to 2009, Ms. Demel was a partner at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP where her practice focused on international financing and business transactions, particularly in Latin America. At Cleary Gottlieb she advised private and public sector clients on a variety of transactions, including structured finance and project finance as well as sovereign debt restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Ms. Demel was involved in pro bono matters involving microfinance. Ana was distinguished by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Latin American investment and Chambers Latin America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for corporate/M&A. Ana received a J.D. degree from New York University in 1986, where she was a note editor of the New York University Law Review, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.
Camilo Mendez
Camilo Mendez
Treasury of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Camilo Mendez is chief financial officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s budget and investment strategies. Camilo works closely with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and President and CEO and manages relationships with investment consultants and financial agents to ensure the Foundation meets New Jersey’s future needs. Camilo has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and impact investing across the public, private, and social sectors. Prior to joining Dodge, he was chief financial officer at Pro Mujer, an international women’s organization committed to positively impacting the lives of its clients and their families. Mendez holds a Master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Latin American studies and history from Oberlin College.
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz is an experienced investment banker, consultant and entrepreneur, with expertise in strategy, finance, operations and planning. She currently works as an investment consultant for Monticello Capital Partners, sourcing investment opportunities in Latin America in the Fintech space. She founded and ran “For a Brighter Venezuela” a nonprofit focused on educating and feeding children. She is a former CEO and founder of Coucou LLC, a children’s clothing wholesaler. She has assisted non-for profits, providing them with strategic and operational improvement consulting services. She has worked at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Goldman Sachs. Cinthia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (London), and a project coordinator for the Arts & Culture Committee of Harvard Business School Community Partners in New York. She serves on the boards of the Dream Project, For a Brighter Venezuela, and UVA’s Bolivar Network. She holds a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from Harvard University. She is a native of Bolivia.
Diego Cristancho
Diego Cristancho
Diego is a Vice President International Marketing Strategy and Capabilities at American Express where he enables Small and Medium size business to grow via digital products and solutions. Diego has a passion for advising global organizations on how to operationalize their digital transformation with an eye to build and to scale their businesses. He brings proven client experience on how to translate strategy into the delivery of automated and scalable customer experiences by leveraging Tech/Data/Design/Agile Operations. Prior to joining AMEX, Diego worked at Accenture Interactive as Managing Director advising and Financial Service clients on their Digital Transformation projects. During his tenure at BBVA as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, he was responsible for providing a vision on how to build and operate the digital sales channel across Retail, Insurance and Commercial Banking. This included designing, implementing and operating digital marketing strategies across Paid Media Performance, SEO, CRM, Content Management, Optimization and Behavioral Economics. He also brings domestic and global digital agency (Digitas), media (New York Times / Reed Elsevier) and CPG (Procter&Gamble) experience from earlier in his career. Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy – Media and Technology from NYU Stern School of Business / London Business School.
Estibalitz Laresgoiti
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje is a physician with graduate studies in immunology, neurosciences, health psychology, and health sciences. She has been a basic and clinical immunology professor since the year 2000. Currently, she is a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs in Health Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her research interests include immune regulation during pregnancy, chronic stress, and childhood obesity. She is a member of the Medical Society of the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the National Researchers System (SNI) of Mexico´s National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT).
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton
Adriana Rios Welton is currently Head of Legal and Government Affairs at UScellular. In that capacity, Adriana leads the company’s legal, regulatory and policy efforts. Prior to joining UScellular she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T Mexico, a business with approximately 20 million customers and more than 19,000 employees. Adriana previously was legal counsel for DirecTV Latin America and was an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she counseled public and privately held businesses on a broad range of topics. Adriana earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and holds a juris doctor from Duke University Law School. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli
Alejandra Meglioli is a leader in sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. She has provided leadership and direction to strategies and programs, creating an enabling environment for multifunctional teams and ensuring programs are innovative, designed based on evidence, well-executed, and reach results. Alejandra has been the Regional Program Quality and Impact Director with Save the Children (SCI) Latin America and Caribbean region since January 2022. In 2021, Alejandra worked as a strategic consultant for Iwords Global. Before that, she worked for more than 20 years (1998- 2020) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (now FOS Feminist). She held many positions at IPPF/WHR; her last one was Director of Quality, Access, and Care, overseeing the programmatic work focusing on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has participated in global advocacy forums such as Cervical Cancer Action and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, ensuring that learnings from the field helped advance global policy work. She contributed to disseminating knowledge on integrating cervical cancer screening and preventive treatment with family planning and HIV-related services at the World Cancer Congress. She authored publications in the 2017 International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and other journals. She has also contributed to the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Program as a Technical Expert invited to attend the 2017 and 2018 meetings and review the Guidelines on Cervical Cancer Elimination launched in 2020. Alejandra is a sociologist who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and has a Master’s in Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on women in development.
Ana Demel
Ana Demel
Ana Demel, teaches The Law and Business of Microfinance, Financing Development, and Project Finance at the New York University Law School. Prior to 2009, Ms. Demel was a partner at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP where her practice focused on international financing and business transactions, particularly in Latin America. At Cleary Gottlieb she advised private and public sector clients on a variety of transactions, including structured finance and project finance as well as sovereign debt restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Ms. Demel was involved in pro bono matters involving microfinance. Ana was distinguished by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Latin American investment and Chambers Latin America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for corporate/M&A. Ana received a J.D. degree from New York University in 1986, where she was a note editor of the New York University Law Review, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.
Camilo Mendez
Camilo Mendez
Treasury of the Pro Mujer Board of Directors
Camilo Mendez is chief financial officer at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s budget and investment strategies. Camilo works closely with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and President and CEO and manages relationships with investment consultants and financial agents to ensure the Foundation meets New Jersey’s future needs. Camilo has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and impact investing across the public, private, and social sectors. Prior to joining Dodge, he was chief financial officer at Pro Mujer, an international women’s organization committed to positively impacting the lives of its clients and their families. Mendez holds a Master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Latin American studies and history from Oberlin College.
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz
Cinthia Fernholz is an experienced investment banker, consultant and entrepreneur, with expertise in strategy, finance, operations and planning. She currently works as an investment consultant for Monticello Capital Partners, sourcing investment opportunities in Latin America in the Fintech space. She founded and ran “For a Brighter Venezuela” a nonprofit focused on educating and feeding children. She is a former CEO and founder of Coucou LLC, a children’s clothing wholesaler. She has assisted non-for profits, providing them with strategic and operational improvement consulting services. She has worked at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Goldman Sachs. Cinthia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (London), and a project coordinator for the Arts & Culture Committee of Harvard Business School Community Partners in New York. She serves on the boards of the Dream Project, For a Brighter Venezuela, and UVA’s Bolivar Network. She holds a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia and received her MBA from Harvard University. She is a native of Bolivia.
Diego Cristancho
Diego Cristancho
Diego is a Vice President International Marketing Strategy and Capabilities at American Express where he enables Small and Medium size business to grow via digital products and solutions. Diego has a passion for advising global organizations on how to operationalize their digital transformation with an eye to build and to scale their businesses. He brings proven client experience on how to translate strategy into the delivery of automated and scalable customer experiences by leveraging Tech/Data/Design/Agile Operations. Prior to joining AMEX, Diego worked at Accenture Interactive as Managing Director advising and Financial Service clients on their Digital Transformation projects. During his tenure at BBVA as the Global Head of Digital Strategy, he was responsible for providing a vision on how to build and operate the digital sales channel across Retail, Insurance and Commercial Banking. This included designing, implementing and operating digital marketing strategies across Paid Media Performance, SEO, CRM, Content Management, Optimization and Behavioral Economics. He also brings domestic and global digital agency (Digitas), media (New York Times / Reed Elsevier) and CPG (Procter&Gamble) experience from earlier in his career. Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy – Media and Technology from NYU Stern School of Business / London Business School.
Estibalitz Laresgoiti
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje
Estibalitz Laresgoiti Servitje is a physician with graduate studies in immunology, neurosciences, health psychology, and health sciences. She has been a basic and clinical immunology professor since the year 2000. Currently, she is a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs in Health Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her research interests include immune regulation during pregnancy, chronic stress, and childhood obesity. She is a member of the Medical Society of the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the National Researchers System (SNI) of Mexico´s National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT).
Directors Emerita
Lynne Patterson
Lynne Patterson
Co-Founder and Director Emerita
Based in New York City, Lynne serves as a Pro Mujer Ambassador throughout the United States and is a key member of the organization’s Development and Communications team. In 1990, Lynne moved with her family to Bolivia where she met and partnered with Carmen Velasco to develop training programs for women receiving donated food. These programs, in business and child development, and health and family planning, would later become the foundation for Pro Mujer. From 1996 to 2005, Lynne led Pro Mujer’s expansion efforts in Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico and Argentina. In addition, she opened the organization’s international headquarters in New York City in 1997. Prior to co-founding the organization, Lynne promoted educational programs for low-income families and children as a teacher and administrator in the New York City and Port Washington, Long Island public school systems. Most recently, Lynne was selected as one of five finalists for The Guardian’s 2010 “International Development Achievement Award.” In 2009, Lynne was honored by the International Development bank as a “Woman Microfinance Pioneer in Latin America” and in 2007, both Lynne and Carmen were jointly recognized as “Community Crusaders” at the annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” ceremony. Lynne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Principia College; Masters of Arts degrees in Education from the Teachers College at Columbia University and American History from New York University; and a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Administration from New York University.
Rosemary Werrett
Rosemary Werrett
Director Emerita
Rosemary Werrett is Director, Business Development at Observatory Group, an advisory firm to asset managers on macro policies in the G3 and China. Before joining Observatory Group in 2006 (then called G7 Group¬), Ms. Werrett was Director for Latin America at Medley Global Advisors, writing extensively on the monetary, economic and political drivers relevant to investors in the major markets of the region. From 2000-2003 she was Senior Director, Corporate Relations at the Council of the Americas, the premier organization for multinational corporations and banks operating in Latin America. From 1984-2000, she was Founder and President of Latin American Information Services, Inc, which published Lagniappe Letter and other high-end newsletters providing multinational corporations with analysis on business, financial and political developments in the region. Her firm also organized large international conferences on timely matters affecting Latin American business and provided tailored research to clients. She is a board member of the World Policy Institute and she is on the management committee of the New York Chapter of the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce. She was a member of the Nomos Conference at Harvard University and of the Leadership Committee of The American Assembly. Ms. Werrett’s articles on micro finance and on Latin American business and politics have appeared in Worth Magazine, Latin Finance, Fortune, Institutional Investor, Nation’s Business, Development Business and many other publications. She holds an M.A. from University of California, Berkeley.
Ruth B Cowen
Ruth B. Cowan
Director Emerita
Ruth B. Cowan served as president of the Board from its founding until 2000, during which she assumed responsibility for board development. Her perspectives on institutional revitalization, including board development, were featured at higher education seminars and conferences and in articles. Ruth is a political scientist interested in democracy development through the rule of law in South Africa and in Native American efforts to reclaim their sovereignty. She has written for the World Bank about the role of the courts in matters of private debt default in El Salvador. Ruth has a long history of active engagement in advancing human rights, with particular emphasis on the status of women. She chaired the New York statewide meeting preparatory to the first United Nations international Conference on Women and led various panels at the subsequent international meetings; represented the City of New York at the 1995 International Women’s meeting in Beijing; chaired the New York City Commission on the Status of Women during two mayoral administrations; served on the Board of Directors of the U.S Committee for UNIFEM; and was a founding member on the Board of Directors of the’ Women’s Leadership Foundation. As a result of her work on behalf of human rights, the Council for Human Rights in Latin America invited her to join its delegation in observing the Nicaraguan elections of 1990.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTE
Carmen Correa
Carmen Correa
CEO
With a vast experience inside Pro Mujer since 2017, Carmen is the organization's CEO. Correa previously served as Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, supervising the implementation of Pro Mujer’s social impact programs, which include expanding financial inclusion, providing health and well-being services, and offering skill-building opportunities to women across Latin America. Correa has more than thirty years of experience in operational management, strategic planning, and program execution focusing on sustainable development in Latin America. Before joining Pro Mujer, she led efforts at the National Research and Innovation Agency (ANII) in Uruguay, worked as Director of Programs at Fundación Avina, and was Director of Operations and Executive Director of Endeavor Uruguay. She also held different positions at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC and in the Organization of American States (OAS) in Uruguay. Carmen is part of the Advisory Board of Socialab Uruguay, an organization that promotes the development of social entrepreneurs. She is a mentor of Endeavor Uruguay and co-leads the Southern Cone Task Force of the Global Steering Group on Impact Investment. Correa holds a B.S. in Management from National- Louis University in McLean and has a Business Administration Certificate from Georgetown University, among other management development courses from John Hopkins University and USDA in Washington, DC, and ESADE/ORT in Uruguay.
Cruz Peman
María Cruz Pemán
Chief Human Resources Officer
She holds 16 years of professional experience working in Human Resources and Shared Services for international companies, including Chevron Corporation, where she held roles including HR Shared Services Leader and Latin America Regional HR Coordinator that included managing talent, compensation, and workforce planning in the region. Cruz also served as Head of Human Resources for Norwegian Air Argentina, leading HR operations, implementing HR information systems, managing labor relations and the due diligence process as part of the company’s divestiture. Cruz has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Communications from Buenos Aires University. She also holds a certification from the Society of Human Resources Management (SRHM) and a coaching certification from Chevron Business School.
Rolando Schmidt
Rolando Schmidt
Chief Financial Officer
Rolando has 30 years of professional experience working in finances, human resources and shared services for social enterprises and non-profits at a global level. In Lufthansa, he held management positions in Peru, Israel and India. In Mexico, he was the Director of Finances for Mexico and Central America. He also served as Head of Shared Services where he led the planning, creation and start-up of the Global Business Services company to provide financial and accounting services to Lufthansa branches in the Americas. Additionally, Rolando has served as Chief Financial Officer for Bertling Logistics, a Global Logistics Freight Forwarder & Shipping Company, and MAN Energy Solutions in Argentina and Chile. Before joining Pro Mujer, Rolando served as General Director for Goethe Schule (German school in Buenos Aires.) Rolando has a Bachelor´s Degree in Business Administration from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and has a Master´s Degree in Business Finance from the Universidad Iberoamericana de Mexico. He is fluent in Spanish, English and German.
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