Sylvia Aguilera

Executive Director

Sylvia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Psychology from the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico and a Master’s in Peace Studies from Bradford University, United Kingdom. She began her professional career as a human rights defender in the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, where she was Director from 2000 to 2004.

Over the last 14 years, Sylvia’s work has focussed on public conflicts in Mexico, including the management of lands and natural resources, as well as issues related to advancing human rights, the justice system, victims’ rights and the rights of women. She was Director of the Center for Civic Collaboration from 2012 to 2018. Sylvia has provided consultancy services in issues of negotiation and human rights to many national and Latin-American organizations, as well as the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.

Part of Sylvia’s work has focused on strengthening coalitions from civil society and developing their capacity for participation, collaboration and negotiation. She received the Omecíhuatl medal from the Government of Mexico City in 2004 and was named a World Fellow by Yale University in 2018.

Christian Mendoza

Grants Director

Christian is a feminist committed to social justice and human rights. She holds a Master’s degree in Regional Studies and is a specialist in gender issues, with more than 12 years of experience in the coordination of projects to promote the rights of women, indigenous communities and young people.

From civil society, she has driven forward proposals including labor rights for domestic workers and public policies with a gender perspective. She has accompanied organized groups of indigenous women to influence women’s and indigenous people’s rights agendas. She has provided consultancy services to international authorities on issues related to social protection for women in Mexico.

Christian worked with the Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute for a period of 7 years and is currently part of the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ working group for Women (Red DESC).

Liliana Monroy

Administrative Manager

Liliana Monroy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has extensive experience in multicultural environments. She spent 9 years as Office and Programs Administrator in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Mexico City office.

Earlier in her career, Liliana, worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Mexico, as well as holding several positions in different United Nations offices, including the Environment Programme (UNEP), the Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Development Program (UNDP).

Throughout her career, Liliana has acted as a link between donors and civil society organizations – promoting and evaluating proposals and implementing social projects. She is an expert in the entire process of grant solicitation and provision, from initial selection and approval, to the implementation, monitoring and completion of projects.

Rossana Ramírez

Institutional Development Coordinator

Rossana holds a degree in Communications from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and has dedicated her professional life to the promotion and defense of human rights.

Over the past 25 years, Rossana has helped to develop and train community human rights defenders in many states of Mexico, and has worked to promote the rights of women and indigenous people. She has also provided training in human rights to public servants, and collectives from civil society.
Rossana is passionate about improving education in human rights, having worked for more than a decade in the public sector, as Deputy Director for Professional Training in the Professional Human Rights Service of the Mexico City’s local ombudsman.
Through different spaces in civil society, such as the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, Amnesty International, Inclusion and Equity, and Latin-American Consultancy, among others, Rossana has driven forward civic movements for the promotion of human rights, human rights education, and the construction of peace.

Diana Trevilla

Finance Officer

Diana holds a degree in Sociology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a Master of Science in Natural Resources and Rural Development, and a PhD in Ecology and Sustainable Development. She is a feminist, and a researcher in socio-environmental issues.

For the past 15 years, Diana has worked as a consultant, trainer and human rights defender, with an emphasis on women’s rights and the defense of territories. She has collaborated with civil society organizations across Mexico, providing support in training, accompaniment and the execution of projects to mainstream the gender perspective, as well as training public servants in human rights issues. Diana has coordinated projects aimed at influencing agendas for health, education, social justice, food, and the management of common goods at the local level, and currently participates in collaborative and activist research networks.

Diana has also worked as a consultant and researcher on issues of women’s rights, feminist economics, care work, agroecology and social movements, collaborating with organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Oxfam Mexico, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and the Institutional Fund for Regional Promotion for Scientific, Technological and Innovative Development (FORDECYT).

Lizeth García

Compliance officer

Lizeth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, awarded by the Faculty of Accountancy and Administration. She also has a Diploma in External Audit in an International Environment.

Lizeth has worked with a number of civil society organizations, ensuring compliance with their tax obligations, as well as the specific obligations that apply to organizations authorized to receive donations. She has experience in internal and external audit, and specializes in the preparation of financial and budgetary reports to support decision making in both government and business sectors.

Tadeo Cervantes

Grants Officer

Tadeo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the UNAM, and has also studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d’architecture Paris Bellevile and Nanterre University in Paris.

Tadeo’s professional experience has focused on working with different groups that use culture to raise awareness of human rights issues, particularly those that affect the LGBTTTTI+ community. During his time at the Border Trans Pack Cultural Center he collaborated in a wide range of issues related to sexual and gender diversity, including incarcerated trans-people, trans families and childhoods, and dissident sexual activism; as well as working with different sex and gender non-conformist groups, including Hysteria, The Noa Noa Research Institute, and Maricarmen, among others. He has also provided consultancy services to a group of creatives, supporting communities in the south of the country to develop communication strategies for the transition from Pemex to Cenagas.

Tadeo also participated in the “UNAM Diversx” project, run though the National Diversity Laboratory, investigating and raising awareness of homolesbotransphobic discrimination among students at the UNAM. He was also a junior consultant in Colectivo Meta’s institutional development project with human rights organizations.

Tadeo currently works as a Professor of History and Architecture at the UNAM Faculty of Architecture, and is working towards obtaining a Master’s Degree in Visual Arts.

Miguel López

Financial Officer

Miguel is a popular educator. Political scientist from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and Political Sicence post-graduate student at the Colegio de Mexico.

He is a high school teacher and member of  Chicome Compartiendo Saberes Collective and the coordinating group of Ciudad Cuauhtémoc Community Center. For two years he served as General Coordinator of Órale Program in Mexico City, which works to promote the employability of youth, and for 5 years he coordinated a comprehensive process of social prevention of violence (communities, schools, community centers, prison and communities of minors with externation measures) at the Cauce Ciudadano Foundation, in Ecatepec de Morelos, State of Mexico. He is also a certified trainer of the Leadership and Innovation for Democracy Program of the National Human Rights Commission  and the organization Nosotrxs and has served as an external consultant for organizations such as Article 19, Community Cooperation and Innovations for Poverty Action.