In my decade of experience in the social sector, I've delved into social impact from all sides: identifying and measuring it while at Innovations for Poverty Action, supporting decisions on investments to maximize it at the Rockefeller Foundation, accelerating it within governments with Reboot, and empowering individuals and organizations to do it better themselves in
my work with IDEO.org.
There's a common thread: channeling my constant curiosity about how and why impact happens towards a more creative approach to designing policies, services, and programs that improve lives.
Combining a formal training in rigorous policy analysis with professional experience applying design thinking in the social sector, I often act as a bridge between different methodologies, areas of expertise, and disciplines. My ability to thrive in those intersections is something I credit to having worked with passionate colleagues in the philanthropic, public, private, multilateral, academic, and non-profit sectors.
Previous Work
Since 2017, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with various organizations as an independent consultant. Most recently, I worked with the American Refugee Committee to identify opportunities to unleash the possibility of their frontline service teams working in refugee camps and settlements worldwide. Prior to that, I joined IDEO.org's Amplify program to design a digital tool to increase livelihood opportunities for people with disabilities. Also with IDEO.org, I led a cohort of six grantees from across the United States on an innovation journey that included funding, design workshops, and innovation coaching to prototype their innovative ideas into reality. I joined Dalberg Design for a strategic design research project on women's experiences with healthcare services in Mexico, Peru, and Argentina. With Evidence Action Beta, I led a research and design sprint in Western Kenya to kickstart live prototyping for a new agricultural initiative being tested in their incubator.
In 2016, I joined an IDEO.org team full-time as an Organizational Designer to help build innovation capacity in grantees of the Rockefeller Foundation. I managed the implementation of prototypes three modes of innovation support with partners in South Africa over a 6-month period, during which I coordinated external partners and contractors to deliver coaching sessions and future-oriented funding, as well as designed and facilitated a series of three immersive innovation.
From 2014-2016, I worked with Reboot, a social impact consultancy that applies design thinking methods to governance and development challenges. First as a Program Manager and then as Associate Director of Programs, I led an in-depth study of a public sector innovation program within Mexico's federal government, which culminated in writing Implementing Innovation: A User's Manual for Open Government Programs. I also led an evaluation of an open data procurement monitoring intervention in Indonesia as a case study in the Making All Voices Count evaluation portfolio. I facilitated co-creation workshops in Panama, Turkey, the Republic of Georgia, and the United States as part of the Civil Society Innovation Initiative.
From 2012 to 2014, I was a member of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Strategic Insights unit, where I supported strategic decision making, liaising with grantees and shepherding early-stage exploratory research projects. I led the production of RF Insights, a magazine to spotlight emerging issues in the social sector.
From 2007 to 2010, I worked at Innovations for Poverty Action, where I managed the implementation for two randomized impact evaluations of CompartamosBanco, Latin America’s largest microfinance bank. While there, I also advanced the organization's mission of disseminating evaluation findings by writing research briefs and coordinating a website re-design.
I've also completed short-term roles with the World Bank Philippines country office, supporting a rapid impact assessment of the Philippines’ conditional cash transfer program, and with the Financial Access Initiative at NYU, where I created data visualizations and wrote blog posts.
I graduated magna cum laude from Boston College with a major in International Studies. I earned my Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, with a field concentration in Economics and Public Policy.
I speak fluent (non-native) Spanish and dabble in improv comedy.
TOPICS
I'm a generalist, and I always seize
the chance to work in new sectors.
Civic & public sector innovation
Women's health
Access to finance
Open government
Social protection
Evidence-based policymaking
Strategic philanthropy
Monitoring & evaluation
COUNTRIES
This list is always growing.
Mexico
The Philippines
Indonesia
South Africa
Argentina
Peru
United States
Kenya
Nepal
Uganda
Democratic Republic of Congo
Rwanda