Board

Emilio Cruz

Emilio has a Bachelor’s degree in Law, with a specialty in Environmental Law, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He also holds a Master’s in Human Rights, Interculturalism and Development from Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain.

Emilio is currently Director of Strategic Alliances for the civil association “Reforestamos Mexico”, where he has worked since 2010.

His professional practice has focused on ensuring that forest ecosystems are recognized as an essential element to achieve sustainable development, which includes sharing how rural communities improve their quality of life through responsible forest management, as well as political advocacy to keep forests high on the public agenda.

Ernesto Isunza

Ernesto is ‘chilango’ (from Mexico City) by birth and ‘xalapeño-coatepecano’ (from Xalapa, Veracruz) by adoption. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, as well as a PhD in Political Science and Sociology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He completed his Post-Doctorate at Campinas State University (São Paulo, Brasil).

Ernesto is currently a professor and researcher at the Center for Research and Higher Education in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) where he is responsible for the special program “CCiudadano, Construcción y Articulación de lo Público” (Citizen. Construction and Connection of the Public). Ernesto is a member of the National System of Researchers (Level 3). Through CIESAS, he has worked as an external assessor in the formation and consolidation of the Xalapa Municipal Police Department, as well as in the training of staff from the State Search Commission of Veracruz. With the support of the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt), he coordinates an interdisciplinary group focused on the design and implementation of public participation policies at the federal level.

Ernesto focuses on promoting concrete and effective forms of democratic control, that is, citizens participating to influence the actions of public policy servants and processes.

Laura Sarvide

Laura has worked with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) since 1976. She is a driver of many diverse local, regional, national and international institutions, networks, programs and initiatives aimed at promoting and empowering civic participation as an essential factor in a democratic society. Over the years, her work has focused on generating collaborative encounters between social, public and private sectors.

Through “Espiral Consultoría” (Spiral Consultants), she has contributed to institutional, political and organizational strengthening in Mexico and Latin America. Laura co-designed and launched the “Puentes” network, which focuses on Corporate Social Responsibility. Laura is the founder and first President of “Comunalia” – the Alliance for Community Foundations in Mexico, as well as the President of the “Malinalco” community foundation. In the Citizen Collaboration program, Laura was responsible for coordinating partnerships between the social private sectors.

In 2018, Laura published her first political novel – “Intermittent Citizenship – When Will It End?”, which gives an account of the complex and fascinating process of the construction of citizenship. Laura contributes to improving society and promoting civic engagement and commitment to citizenship, both in her daily life and her public roles – through her weekly radio program “Full-Time Citizenship” aired on station “Citizen 660” of the Mexican Radio Institute (IMER). Laura also publicizes exemplary citizen initiatives through her partnership with the “Communication University” in Mexico City. She promotes her passion for citizenship through a wide range of actions: conferences, discussions panels, workshops, micro-theatre, experience exchanges, fairs and computer applications. Laura is a sportswoman, Zen Buddhist, opera-lover

Gabriela Anaya

Gabriela is an independent consultant in strategic philanthropy, collaborative processes with a focus on collective impact, and strengthening non-traditional leadership. Her clients include philanthropic foundations, international agencies, and multidisciplinary networks that are interested in systematically addressing complex environmental and social issues.

Gabriela has worked for the government and in civil society, in different roles related to the design, implementation and supervision of projects and initiatives for marine and coast conservation and sustainability.

Gabriela participates in the advisory boards of several civil society organizations. She is a woman, mother, and advocate for the work-life-balance. She is the author of the blog ‘cuidadoconelpeaton.blog’.

Leticia Jauregui

Leticia works in the area of disruptive innovation as a consultant to businesses in Mexico, the United States and Europe. She is a certified ExO Consultant with a focus on digital transformation and innovation. She founded and directed “Máquina”, a pensions and insurtech innovation laboratory; and also instituted “Crea”, a social enterprise that has improved the lives of over 160,000 women, by offering business-development services in marginalized areas to support women to create and/or grow micro or small businesses. She has contributed to the design and implementation of a number of financial products and programs that support the inclusion of women with low incomes in the sector.

Leticia has presented and published work on remittances, women’s entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and gender equality. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Relations from ITAM and Master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics and Community Development from the University of California. Leticia has also studied Exponential Technologies at Singularity University.

Miguel Pulido

Miguel Pulido is the managing partner of “Creatura”. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the Technological Institute for Higher Studies, Monterrey (Tec de Monterrey). He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Rights and Processes of Democratization from the University of Chile and a Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democracy from the Latin American Social Sciences Institute.

From June 2009 to January 2014, he was the Executive Director of “Fundar, Center for Analysis and Investigation”. In 2014, he was named a World Fellow by Yale University.

Sharon Bissell

Sharon is the director of the MacArthur Foundation in Mexico, an institution that provides donations to civil society organizations that work in issues of reproductive health and human rights. She has directed the design and implementation of philanthropic strategies to reform the criminal justice system in Mexico, and to improve public maternal and reproductive health services.

Sharon holds a Master’s degree from Tulane University, a Bachelor’s degree from Whitman College and Diplomas in Gender, Reproductive Health and Human Rights from “El Colegio de México” and the Technological Institute for Higher Studies, Monterrey (Tec de Monterrey).

Before joining the Foundation, Sharon worked with a Mexican organization that focussed on reproductive rights, as well as providing consultancy services to numerous civil society organizations and networks. Sharon has also taught at the University of Puerto Rico.

Zenaida Pérez

Zenaida is Ayuujk (Mixe), from Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies, and a postgraduate qualification in Gender and Communication. She has also participated in the International Course in Women’s Rights in times of Crisis at the International Institute for Women’s Rights and the National Institute for Higher Studies in Ecuador.

Zenaida is currently the coordinator of the Indigenous Women’s Program at the Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute. She is a founding member of the National Political Assembly of Indigenous Women in Mexico, and member of the Citizen Council for the Mexican Radio Institute, the External Council for the Rosario Castellanos Women’s Studies Group (GESMujer) and the Expert Technical Committee for the Consultation Process in the Constitutional and Legal Reform of the Rights of the Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples of Mexico.

Zenaida aims to bring the indigenous peoples’ and indigenous women’s agendas to public platforms in Mexico, as well as increasing awareness and strengthening the Afro-Mexican women’s movement.