WHO WE ARE

Our Goal
Our History
Our Team

We have a solid institutional culture.

Each one of us is a juanfelipista.

We have a solid institutional culture

Each one of us is a juanfelipista.

TEAM WORK

CATALINA ESCOBAR

Catalina Escobar Restrepo graduated in 1993 from Clark University with a degree
of Business Administration, studies she combined with other academic programs
in economics in Europe and Japan at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka. She later
completed a M.B.A. at the INALDE Business School in Bogota. She began her career in the banking and private fields, when in 2001 she created what would become her passion: Juanfe Foundation.
Catalina is globally recognized social entrepreneur. Awarded the National Merit
Order Award by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in 2011, she joined the
Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership and
became a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2012.
Being the recipient of numerous awards, including 21 Leaders of the 21st Century
(Women eNews) in N.Y., The 10 Best Colombian Leaders 2013, the Poder Business Awards (together with Former President of Brazil, Fernando Cardozo), and Lewis Institute Award from Babson College, Catalina was recognized as Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 by the World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation, and recently won the World of Children Humanitarian Award. In 2016 she was given the Honorary Doctorate Degree from Clark University.

CATALINA ESCOBAR
President

CAMILA REINA

Social Communicator and Journalist, specialist in Marketing Management, with more than 12 years of experience in large publishing houses in Communications, Marketing and Events departments. During her career she has built important communication and marketing strategies, event organization, platform management, products and digital media. She also has a long trajectory in public relations and media relations.

As Juanfe’s Communications Director, she developed the organization’s Communications area, generating a positive impact on key audiences for the expansion of the 360 model. In 2021, together with the team, she designed and created the digital platform Women Working for the World, a platform focused on gender issues and sustainable social development that takes Juanfe’s message of empowerment around the world.

CAMILA REINA
Communications director

CATALINA PIMIENTA

Catalina is an lawyer with a Master’s Degree in Government and Public Policy, specializing in Administrative Law. With more than 15 years of professional experience, she has served as Director of Public Management at the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, Deputy Director of Market Studies and Strategic Sourcing at Colombia Compra Eficiente, Director of Support and Opportunities at Reconciliación Colombia, and Director of Contracting at the ICBF, among other roles. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Juanfe Foundation.

She has extensive experience in public and private contracting, e-procurement, public-private relations, strategic sourcing, regulatory affairs, public policy design, and project management.

CATALINA PIMIENTA
Executive director

PAOLA GÓMEZ

Paola is a social communicator-journalist from Universidad Externado de Colombia and is currently specializing in Marketing Management.
With more than 22 years of experience in reputation building and strategic communication, she has worked as account manager in the consulting firms LLYC and IDDEA Comunicaciones. She was also director of special projects for Grupo Semana and director of La República forums. Currently, she is the director of strategic alliances and events at Fundación Juanfe.
She has extensive experience in public relations, internal communication and organizational culture change, corporate social responsibility communication, community relations and crisis management.

PAOLA GÓMEZ
Director of Events and Strategic Alliances

ANA MARIA MELGUIZO

Ana María Melguizo is a Business Administrator, specialized in Senior Management and Strategic Leadership.

With more than 10 years of professional experience, she has served as Head of Oversight Department, Sales Manager, Regional National Manager, Director of Sales Support, Assistant Director of Sales, Back Office Support Sales Manager, among others. Currently, she is the Director of the Juanfe Foundation, Medellin branch.

ANA MARIA MELGUIZO
Executive Director – Medellin

DEISY GUERRERO

Deysi Guerrero O., Certified Public Accountant and Technologist in Administration, with a specialization in Auditing and Comptrollership. With over 20 years of professional experience, she has worked as an accounting assistant, Head of Portfolio at the Red Cross of Bolivar, and as an independent consultant for companies in Cartagena. Currently, she serves as the Accounting and Financial Director of the Juanfe Foundation.

She possesses extensive experience in accounting and financial management for non-profit entities, specializing in special regimes, which she has acquired through her dedication to the Juanfe Foundation since 2007.

DEISY GUERRERO
Financial and Accounting Director – Cartagena

MELISSA ROMERO

Melissa is a political scientist with a Master’s degree in evaluation and educational quality assurance.
With 9 years of professional experience, she has worked as a trainer of trainers at Empresarios por la Educación, Fundación Marina Orth, Coschool, Enseña por Colombia, among others. Currently, she is the Operational Director of the Juanfe Foundation, Medellin.
She has extensive experience in the education sector, accompanying educational projects, monitoring of educational public policies and evaluation of educational programs.

MELISSA ROMERO
Operational Director – Medellín

EUNICE CORTECERO

Eunice Cortecero, the current director of the Transformemos Sin Fronteras project, is a specialist in Project Management, with a solid professional background in family development and social work, as well as a diploma in Social Policy. With a decade-long tenure leading the psychosocial area, followed by five years as the mission director at the Juanfe Foundation, Cortecero took on the role of directing the Transformemos Sin Fronteras project in partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Alliance.

EUNICE CORTECERO
Project Director / Let’s Transform Without Borders

GUIOVANNA ROCA

With more than 18 years of dedication to the social sector, Guiovanna shows a deep passion and commitment to the empowerment and transformation of vulnerable adolescent mothers. In her role as Operational and Administrative Director of the Juanfe Foundation, she has spearheaded and facilitated empowerment projects that have had a significant impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.

Her main objective is to coordinate and strengthen the competencies of her multidisciplinary team to achieve goals with a clear focus on results and sustainability. Her commitment is focused on continuing to drive the growth and transformation of the organization, guided by values of equity, inclusion and social justice.

GUIOVANNA ROCA
Administrative and Operational Director – Cartagena

ANGELA SANCHEZ

Angela is a Psychologist specializing in Clinical Psychology, with extensive professional experience in assessment and clinical care for the elderly and children. She has worked as a leader in mental health and psychosocial risk prevention programs in the National Police and the Health Directorate.
In addition, she has held the position of Coordinator in Psychology counseling, youth and projects in process in Profamilia. Currently, she is the Deputy Mission Director of the Juanfe Foundation, leading effective intervention strategies that allow the young women of the Foundation to acquire tools for their personal strengthening and significantly improve their quality of life.

ANGELA SANCHEZ
Missionary Deputy Director – Cartagena

NATALIA SÁNCHEZ

Natalia is a Public Accountant, Specialist in Financial Management, Tax Policies and Legislation.
She has dedicated nearly a decade of her working life to work in various sectors within the accounting and financial field, in the Medical Laboratory Las Americas of the Auna Group, Grupo Escala – Packaging Company among others, in the field she was presented with the challenging opportunity to belong to the Juanfe and is currently the Administrative and Financial Director at the Medellin headquarters.

NATALIA SÁNCHEZ
Administrative and Financial Director – Medellín

YEIMI BRAVO

Specialist in Strategic Human Talent Management, with a background in Public Accounting and more than 6 years of experience in the social sector, leading Human Management processes, with a focus on the integral development of people. As Deputy Director of Happiness Management and Organizational Development at Juanfe, my mission is to integrate the individual potential of each colleague with the strategic and mission objectives of Juanfe.

Throughout my career, I have led key projects to strengthen, align and expand interdisciplinary and multicultural teams with the DNA of the organization, creating and implementing innovative policies for compensation, emotional salary, well-being and happiness. These initiatives have been fundamental to consolidate an organizational culture that allows us to retain and attract new talent.

YEIMI BRAVO
Deputy Director of Happiness Management and DO.

PAOLA CABALLERO

She is a Business Administrator and Organizational Social Responsibility Specialist with more than 13 years of experience in social program leadership. Her focus is on sustainable community and organizational development. Recognized for her social sensitivity, strategic thinking and inter-institutional relationship skills, she currently serves as Deputy Director of Projects in Cartagena. She is a leader committed to the creation of shared value, betting on inter-institutional collaboration as a means to maximize positive social impact.

PAOLA CABALLERO
Deputy Project Director – Cartagena

Alejandra Izquierdo

Alejandra is a Political Scientist graduated from the Pontifical Javeriana University, with a diploma in Cooperation, Project Management, and Financing for Development from the Externado University of Colombia. With over 5 years of professional experience, she has led various initiatives in the field of international cooperation and social development in Colombia.

Her career path includes prominent roles such as National Project Manager and Specialist in Social Investment and Knowledge. She has been responsible for project identification, formulation, execution, and evaluation, as well as budget management and agreement negotiation. Alejandra specializes in fundraising, crowdfunding, and strategic communication with national and international donors.

Currently, Alejandra leads the knowledge management process at the Juanfe Foundation. Her passion for social development constantly drives her to seek new ways to innovate and improve projects aimed at vulnerable communities.

ALEJANDRA IZQUIERDO
Specialist in Social Investment and Knowledge

MARIA JOSE CORREA

María José Correa Vallejo holds a degree in Business Administration with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s degree in Social Enterprise Management for Social Innovation and Local Development. She has over 2 years of experience in the social sector. She has worked as marketing professional at Corporación Presentes and assumed the role of Deputy Director of Projects at Fundación Juanfe in 2023. In this role, she leads the foundation’s relationship-building efforts to contribute to its positioning and achieve financial sustainability for the organization.

MARIA JOSE CORREA
Deputy Project Director – Medellín

María Laura Rocha

María Laura has a degree in Sociology from the University of Toronto. She has more than six years of experience in the social sector, specializing in the creation and execution of funding strategies for Civil Society Organizations in Colombia and Canada. She has worked as Senior Fundraiser at Public Outreach Fundraising in Canada and as Fundraising Leader at Fundación Mi Sangre. In 2022, she assumed the role of Deputy Director of Projects at Juanfe. She currently leads the national project team, responsible for developing fundraising strategies and the formulation of projects crucial to the financial sustainability of the organization.

MARÍA LAURA ROCHA
National Project Leader

LILIAN LEAL

Lilian Leal, an economist graduated from the Universidad Externado de Colombia with a postgraduate degree in international cooperation and project management for development, currently works as a strategic project leader at Juanfe in Spain.

LILIAN LEAL
Strategic Projects Leader – Spain

ELENA PITA

Elena Pita es una persona inclusiva y con mentalidad internacional. Licenciada en Administración de Empresas con especialidad en Marketing y MBA por el IE Business School.

Después de seguir una carrera de 12 años en banca corporativa (en BNP Paribas y Credit Agricole), Elena decidió dar un giro hacia un sector más orientado a lo social.

Desde 2023 lidera la Fundación Juanfe en España para relanzar su actividad de recaudación de fondos que se había detenido a causa del COVID 19.
En este cargo, gestiona todos los requisitos regulatorios de la Fundación en España y construye relaciones en todos los niveles para aumentar la visibilidad del embarazo adolescente como perpetrador de la pobreza y el impacto del modelo de 360 grados de la Fundación Juanfe para romper los ciclos de pobreza, no solo para estas madres adolescentes sino también para sus comunidades.

ELENA PITA
Director Juanfe – Spain

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