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About me
MY PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

I am a multilingual (Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese) qualitative researcher with 11+ years of research and evaluation experience in child protection and forced migration in The Americas. I work as a research and evaluation consultant for international development agencies and national and international non-profits. I provide assistance in various areas including:

  • Program Evaluation & Learning (also known as M&E or MEAL): Critically reviewing programs for effectiveness and facilitating learning opportunities.
  • Qualitative Research: Conducting literature reviews, interviews, participatory methods, and focus groups to gather and analyze in-depth qualitative data.
  • Technical Writing: Crafting guides, advocacy reports, needs assessments, and recommendations to inform protection policies and programs.
FOCUS AREAS

My research, policy analysis, and evaluations have focused on two main areas:

1) Forced migration & the protection of refugees facing multiple vulnerabilities in the Americas

  • The drivers & responses to forced displacement in Latin America & The Caribbean
  • The protection of displaced populations with multiple intersecting vulnerabilities, such as children, LGTBQ+ individuals and survivors of GBV, in the Americas.
 
2) Child Protection against violence, abuse, and exploitation
  • Child protection and social justice issues that disproportionately affect children and with multiple intersecting vulnerabilities
  • The analysis and evaluation of child protection policies and programs developed by governments, international agencies, and non-governmental organizations alike in different contexts (middle-income countries, humanitarian contexts).
REGIONAL EXPERTISE in latin america

Since 2007, I’ve specialized in the Latin American and Caribbean region through my undergraduate and graduate coursework, a graduate diploma in Latin American & Caribbean Studies (Latin American Council of Social Sciences, CLACSO), and a Certificate of Afro-Latin American & Caribbean Studies (Harvard University). I’ve also studied and got certified in the most widely spoken official Languages across the region: I’m fully proficient in Spanish (native), English (C2), Portuguese (C2), and French (C1). Although my expertise and focus are on the Latin American and Caribbean region, I’ve also lived, studied, and worked in the European Union and the United States.

Through my work and research, I make a modest contribution to Latin American critical theory and to more egalitarian societies that uphold the rights of children, women, and other marginalized groups. I also try to contribute to decolonizing the international development sector by critically examining our practices and learning from them.

My research and evaluations in the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia has produced or contributed to 25+ reports, handbooks, and short articles, available here. I have also co-written over 50 grant proposals, donor reports, policy briefings & advocacy papers. I’m a TEDx speaker, and I like giving talks and presentations whenever I have the opportunity to do so. 

I’ve performed research and evaluations in the following countries: Argentina (2008-2015), Aruba and Curaçao (remotely, 2021), British Guyana (2012), Brazil (2010), Colombia (remotely, 2021), Costa Rica (2023), Haiti (remotely, 2013-2015), Hungary (2017 and 2019-2021), Kazakhstan (2015), Mexico (including the Mexico-US border, 2014, 2022, 2023), Mozambique (remotely, 2021), Panama (2017), Portugal (2017), and the United States (2022, 2023). I currently work remotely from the Bay Area of California, where I live. 

Approach
I am a multilingual (Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese) international consultant with 11+ years of research and evaluation experience in The Americas and Europe. I focus on the fields of child protection, refugee protection, and the Latin American region. My approach includes the following theories, methodologies, and methods:
  1. Applied Qualitative Research. As a social anthropologist with a graduate degree in public administration and expertise in MEAL (Evaluation and Learning), I have applied qualitative methods and tools (literature reviews, interviews, ethnographic field research, focus groups, participatory methods) and semi-quantitative research (surveys and polls) into practical needs assessments, recommendations, and guidance to inform policies and programs of national NGOs, governments and international agencies. For further details, please, read my article on the benefits of implementing ethnographic fieldwork and anthropological approach to human rights policy advocacy, needs assessments, and evaluations.

  2. Intersectional Feminist Analysis. In its extremely summarized definition, this framework addresses the intersecting forms of oppression experienced by marginalized individuals. The concept was originally developed by Black Feminism scholars, who sought to address the limitations of traditional feminist and anti-racist theories in explaining the unique challenges faced by Black women. Since then, it has helped shed light on the previously overlooked reality that certain individuals and social groups face oppression due to their simultaneous membership in multiple marginalized social categories and circumstances. These include their race, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, disability, religion, etc. These social categories intersect and overlap in complex ways within each historical, social, and cultural context, and understanding and responding to this oppression requires recognizing the interconnections between these social categories, rather than viewing each category in isolation. Therefore, qualitative research plays a crucial role in comprehending the complexities of these intersections.

  3. Latin American Critical & Decolonial Theories. Through my work and research, I make a modest contribution to Latin American critical theory and to more egalitarian societies that uphold the rights of children, women, LGTBQ+ individuals, people on the move, and other marginalized groups in our region. This theoretical framework provides us with tools to critically analyze current Latin American situations labeled as “humanitarian emergencies” or “political/human rights crises” by historicizing them through intersectional feminist analysis, critical geopolitics theory, and other critical theories. Taking the example of regional migration policies, conceptualizing migration from the region as an “emergency” or “humanitarian crisis” that can be resolved through isolated, narrowly defined interventions or policies obscures the reality that it is a constant and structural phenomenon. In addition, because Latin American theory is concerned with practical solutions, by embracing critical Latin American perspectives, we can explore alternative political solutions that prioritize social justice and human rights for individuals on the move throughout the region.

MY STUDIES & ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

I’m a sociocultural anthropologist (the University of Buenos Aires, one of the top-ranked anthropology programs worldwide), and a Master in Public Administration graduate from the School of Public Policy, Central European University, where I specialized in the design of evidence-based social policies and programs.

In affiliation with the Institute of Anthropological Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires, I carried out three years of in-depth academic research on child care regional and global advocacy coalitions (RELAF, Better Care Network & Child Rights Connect’s The Children Without Parental Care Working Group). My research led me to conduct fieldwork in Argentina, England, Mexico, Switzerland, and The Netherlands.

Since 2016, I’ve expanded my professional and research focus beyond child protection to the protection of asylum seekers and refugees with multiple vulnerabilities. Besides a two-year experience as the Program Manager of the Refugee Program at the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (one of UNHCR’s implementing partners in Hungary) and my consultancy roles, I have further honed my skills through various postgraduate diplomas and courses. These include:


I’m also certified in MEAL:

  • MEAL (Certification in Monitoring, Accountability, Evaluation & Learning by PHAP)
  • Advanced Monitoring & Evaluation Systems (by INTRAC)
Portfolio
As an independent consultant and researcher, I have worked with the following agencies, organizations, and universities:
International Refugee Assistance Project (United States)
Geographical Assessment Consultant for Latin America
Center for Democracy in the Americas (United States)
Policy Advisor Consultant, Refugee & Migrant Protection
Buenos Aires University (2011-2014)
Junior Academic Researcher on international children’s rights networks (Child Rights Connect y Better Care Network)
Center for Judicial Excellence (United States)
Consultant for the Prevention of Child Homicides
International Labor Organization (2017)
External Collaborator of the International Labor Organization’s Alliance 8.7
End Violence Lab, The University of Edinburgh (2021)
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E, MEAL) Consultant of the Colombia INSPIRE Coordination Course.
UNICEF The Netherlands (2021)
Project proposal developed for the prevention and response to child abuse in Aruba and Curaçao.
CARE Colombia (2021)
Participatory Project Proposal Developer on the protection of Venezuelans on the move in Colombia.
UNICEF Kazakhstan (2016)
Evaluation of the government and UNICEF’s child and adolescent suicide prevention program.
UNICEF Mozambique (2021)
Study on shelters for women and girls survivors of violence in Mozambique and Southern and Eastern Africa.
RELAF – Latin American Network (2016-2018)
Consultant on the care of unaccompanied and separated migrant and refugee children (UASC)
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