Current Fellows

Isabella Acosta-Jimenez graduated from Davidson College in 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies (Natural Science concentration) and a minor in Anthropology, where she developed a curiosity for the relationship between culture and the natural world. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, she will serve as a Secondary School Instructor at Antigua International School in Antigua, Guatemala. She is excited to engage students in hands-on conservation projects that make the surrounding landscape an extension of the classroom for study and stewardship.

My name is Anna Barrios, and I graduated from Bucknell University with a BS in Computer Science Engineering. I will be working at Liceo Científico Dr. Miguel Canela Lázaro, a public STEM-focused school in the Dominican Republic. While studying engineering, I have found a passion for teaching and Latin American, and am excited for the opportunity to combine these two passions. In this role, will be assisting with teaching, curriculum development, social media content, and event planning.

Ainhoa Bezerra-Gastesi graduated from Pomona College in 2025 with a degree in Environmental Analysis with a concentration in Biology as well as a minor in Studio Arts. As a 2026-2027 PILA Fellow, Ainhoa will serve as an Education Collaborator at Escuela Primaria Hermanas Mirabal in the Dominican Republic- a STEM-focused primary public school for low-income students. In this role, Ainhoa will conduct English language classes, develop engaging and place-based curriculum, and contribute to community outreach initiatives. Passionate about ecology and cross- cultural exchange, Ainhoa is excited to instill a curiosity for the natural world in their students, learn more about the ethno-botany of the area, and become immersed in the local community.

I’m a graduate of William and Mary with a B.A. in International Relations and a minor in Psychology. I’ll be an incoming fellow at Limitless Horizons Ixil, a non-profit centered on Maya youth education, working as an International Operations Coordinator. With a goal of dedicating myself to women’s and children’s rights, I’m most excited to meet the staff and community members and learn from ongoing local leadership.

Anna Escoto Cox graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Latin American Studies and Psychology and a minor in Music. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, she will serve as an English Teacher at Honduras Independence Bilingual School (HIBS) in Quimistan, Honduras, where she will teach English Language Arts and support bilingual education. During her fellowship year, Anna is most looking forward to building meaningful relationships with her students and the local community and contributing to a collaborative learning environment. Anna is excited to immerse herself in Honduran culture, hike, and explore the beautiful country of Honduras!

Darlene De La Cruz graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in African American Studies and Sociology. Where their high honors thesis explores intersections of traditional healing practices and Black repair in the island of Ayiti. Drawing from their work in advocacy and community engagement in Harlem they are joining Yspaniola as the Operations and Development Fellow for the 2026-2027 year. Darlene is very excited to build community and use their skills to support in community initiatives and development endeavors.

Maria Jose Cuenca is a PiLA Fellow serving as a Classroom Support Specialist with Limitless Horizons Ixil in Guatemala. She brings experience in international development, youth programming, community engagement, and local government. Before joining PiLA, she served as a Peace Corps Youth Development Volunteer in Peru, where she worked alongside youth and community partners to support leadership development, life skills education, and community-led initiatives. She most recently served as a Lead for NC Fellow with the Town of Murphy in Western North Carolina, supporting community development initiatives and working alongside local leaders and organizations to address community priorities. Maria Jose holds a B.A. in Political Science and Global Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a minor in Urban Planning.

Marian Enders recently graduated from Northwestern University with a major in Biological Sciences and minors in Spanish and History. As a pre-med student and member of Northwestern’s Brady Scholars Program in Ethics and Civic Life, Marian developed a strong interest in the intersection of healthcare, community engagement, and social responsibility. Outside the classroom, Marian gained clinical experience in cardiology and family medicine, was published as the second-author on a research paper about refugee women’s sexual and reproductive health, and volunteered with refugee children in Chicago. Marian is thrilled to join the 2026-2027 PiLA cohort as a fellow with Partners in Andean Community Health (PACH) in Riobamba, Ecuador. As the Women’s Health Program Associate, she will support PACH’s women’s health and adolescent mother programs through curriculum development and project management. She looks forward to working alongside healthcare providers and community members to advance health equity and improve access to care in the Andean region.

Max is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan Program in the Environment with a specialization in Food and Natural Resource Governance. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, he will be working with Osa Conservation as a Conservation and Community Engagement Fellow. Max also studied in Chilean Patagonia where he learned the fundamentals of environmental conservation which he has applied to his work around the world from the North Slope of Alaska to assisting in small scale, sustainable agriculture initiatives in Italy and Ecuador.

Ruby Groves graduated from Williams College with a BA in Spanish and Public Health, where she was also a captain of the Women's Swimming & Diving Team. She will be working with Mariposa DR Foundation in Cabarete, which matches her passions for girls education, health and wellness, and empowerment. Ruby is particularly excited to build meaningful connections with students and coworkers at Mariposa as well as in the broader Cabarete community.

Charles Hendon graduated from the University of Chicago in 2025 with a degree in Romance Languages and Literatures and a minor in Education and Society. His academic work focused on the language, history, people, and culture of Spanish/Latin American/Caribbean geographies as well as the French/Francophone diaspora. As a 2026-2027 PiLA fellow, he will serve as an Elementary School Instructor at Antigua International School in Antigua, Guatemala. In this role, he will support and assist young scholars with learning differences and English language learners. Passionate about the intersection of language and education, Charles is eager for the opportunity to grow as a more culturally responsive and informed educator during his fellowship year.

Abigail Johnson graduated from Tufts University with majors in International Relations (Latin America track) and Spanish Cultural Studies alongside a minor in Music, Sound, and Culture. During her fellowship, Abby will be working as an Academic Student Pathways Fellow with the Colegio Privado Reinaldo Macchi & Team Tobatí in Tobatí, Paraguay. Abby is excited to empower youth through language education and looks forward to learning from both her students and the vibrant Tobatí community.

Grace Jones is a 2025 graduate of Vanderbilt University where she studied Engineering Science, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Entering the second year of her fellowship, Grace will continue working with Cova to support community-centered safe-water solutions throughout Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. She cannot wait to deepen her understanding of data-driven approaches to sustainable development and to continue working alongside the incredible Cova team this year.
 

Melissa Mar graduated from Rice University with a major in Statistics and a minor in Data Science. She recently completed a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant in Spain, where she worked in educational settings supporting language learning and cross-cultural exchange. Her interests lie at the intersection of statistics, education, and public health. She will be joining Mayanza and Puerta Abierta as a Community Health & Development Fellow, where she looks forward to working closely with communities in Santiago Atitlán. She is especially eager to learn directly from community members and to better understand how health and education initiatives can support community needs. She ultimately hopes to pursue a PhD in Public Health, with service and community engagement at the forefront of her academic and professional work.

Mia-Lane McPhee graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A in Economics and a minor in Business Administration, while also pursuing art on the side. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, she will contribute to the preservation of Artisanal traditions as a sustainable tourism coordinator for nonprofit social enterprise Awamaki whose mission is to collaborate with indigenous women in Peru to create sustainable economic opportunities and improve women’s financial independence. Mia is most excited to foster empowering friendships within each cooperative community and learn about all the details that go into crafting such symbolic, meticulous pieces of art.

Carolina Mendez graduated with honors with a B.A. in Public Policy and a Latina/o Studies minor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Global Health degree from Duke University. Her work has been dedicated to advancing immigrant labor justice in North Carolina, drawing on both lived and professional experience in state government, legal aid organizations, and community-based organizations. She will be working as an Operations and Development Fellow at Yspaniola in Batey Libertad, Dominican Republic, helping organize local community empowerment initiatives. She looks forward to working alongside community members, learning about the region's culture and history.

Nicole holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Pennsylvania and has worked on public health initiatives throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including in Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as with Latino communities in the United States. Her experience focuses on advancing health equity, strengthening community health programs, and expanding access to care for underserved populations. At Hospitalito Atitlán, she will leverage her public health expertise to support programs that address health disparities and promote equitable access to care for Maya Indigenous communities in rural Guatemala.

Brian Moore is a recent Yale University graduate who majored in Humanities and led public-service initiatives supporting English-language learners and New Haven residents. As a PiLA Fellow, he will serve as an Administrative and Documentation Analyst at Fundación Casa Ronald McDonald in Mexico City. Brian looks forward to living alongside the families the Casa serves, helping streamline its operations, and rolling up his sleeves wherever needed.

Amy Morales graduated from the University of Georgia with degrees in Management Information Systems and International Business, as well as minors in Portuguese and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, she will work at Honduras Independence Bilingual School (HIBS) in Quimistan, Honduras, where she will teach English Language Arts and support students through classroom instruction, extracurricular programming, and collaboration with fellow educators. Passionate about language education and cross-cultural engagement, Amy looks forward to contributing to student growth, immersing herself in the local community, and learning from both students and colleagues at HIBS.

Ines de la Morena recently graduated from Harvard College with a concentration in Government and a secondary field in Mind, Brain, and Behavior. She is joining EARTH University in Costa Rica as an Accreditation and Communications Liaison, assisting with improving their global standing and expanding their sphere of influence. Ines is most looking forward to advancing EARTH's mission as well as expanding her own understanding of agriculture and global food systems, knowing that the work being done there is vital to developing a more sustainable world.

Nolan Mulvaney-Genao graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, he will provide STEAM classroom instruction with Liceo Científico in the Dominican Republic.

Eoin O’Hearn graduated from the University of Alabama with a Master’s in Mathematics, a B.S. in Mathematics and Biology, and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies. As a 2026-2027 PiLA fellow, he will join Osa Conservation in Costa Rica to assist in the integration of passive acoustic monitoring techniques with existing camera trap infrastructure as well as developing and validating machine learning models to identify elusive bat and amphibian species. He is most excited to connect with conservation biologists and become part of the global community protecting biodiversity.

Paolo Harris Paz holds a B.A. in Political Economy and Sustainability from UC Berkeley and an M.Phil. in International Development and Development Economics from the University of Cambridge. Following his studies, he interned at the UN Environment Programme, worked as a Strategy Analyst at Accenture, and most recently served as a Programme Coordinator at the UN Global Compact (UNGC), where he helped lead the organization's Food Systems workstream and supported the Chief of Programmes in advancing UNGC's 2026-2030 strategy. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, Paolo will work with EARTH Ventures, the business division of EARTH University, supporting strategic decisions on the University's commercial activities and the development of new business opportunities. He is eager to deepen his commitment to sustainable agriculture across the Global South and to immerse himself in all that Costa Rica has to offer.

Grace Peña graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with Honors, where she studied urban systems, gentrification, and Latine suburbanization. Passionate about equitable community development, she has oriented much of her undergraduate research and service experiences towards community-based work rooted in relationship-building and a commitment to supporting local efforts in tangible ways, which ultimately led her to apply to PiLA. As a 2026-27 PiLA fellow, she will work with the Mariposa DR Foundation in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, advancing their goal of championing young girls through education and both physical and mental wellness programming. Grace will also support with administrative duties and program development. She is excited to build edifying relationships with the Mariposa girls and experience their beautiful community in Cabarete.

I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Economics and Global Studies and a minor in French. Originally from Colombia, I moved to the United States at age 14 and am now back in Bogotá, working fluently across both Spanish and English. My background in economics, along with my experiences during a semester at Sciences Po Paris, sparked my interest in international development and development economics. My prior experience includes work with the Council on Foreign Relations' Latin America Studies program and bilingual communications and grant-related work with the Institute for the Study of the Americas. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, I serve as an International Cooperation Analyst at Casa Ronald McDonald, working transversally across the foundation's People and Culture, Administration and Accounting, and International Cooperation/Project Development areas. I'm especially excited about international cooperation for development and about helping foster this approach within the foundation. I'm drawn to the idea of implementing projects with real social impact, and I bring a gender and intersectionality lens to my work, with a particular interest in peacebuilding and Latin American politics more broadly. I'm passionate about social issues, and outside of work I love reading, dancing, and traveling.

Camilla graduated from Bowdoin College with a double major in Government and Legal Studies and Hispanic Studies, where she cultivated her interests in Latin America, immigration, and education while volunteering with New Mainer communities and interning with Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, she will serve as an English teacher at Honduras Independence Bilingual School (HIBS) in Quimistan, Honduras. Camilla is excited to combine her passion for education and community engagement by working with students and looks forward to building meaningful relationships with the HIBS community and immersing herself in Honduran culture.

Nicole Rodriguez graduated from Princeton University with a degree from the School of Public and International Affairs with a minor in Latino Studies. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow, she will be working with The DREAM Project’s Luceros team in the Dominican Republic, supporting their human rights and documentation project. She is passionate about advocating for vulnerable populations and looks forward to deepening her understanding of human rights in the region while contributing to meaningful change for migrant and stateless communities.

Ashley Schlinger graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in International Affairs and minors in Environmental Science and Spanish. During her time there, she focused on global environmental challenges, geopolitics, Spanish language studies, and foreign affairs, particularly relations between the United States and Latin America. She is thrilled to join the 2026-2027 PiLA cohort as the Citizen Science Engagement and Outreach Fellow at Osa Conservation, where she will connect local communities with conservation initiatives and biodiversity research conducted on the Osa Peninsula. After spending a semester studying ecology and conservation in Ecuador, she is eager to return to Latin America and apply her environmental and language skills in a meaningful conservation setting. Ashley looks forward to speaking Spanish daily, advancing her understanding of tropical biodiversity, and immersing herself in Costa Rica’s vibrant culture, where the rainforest meets the Pacific coast.

Ethan Sims graduated from Tufts University with a major in Film and Media Studies and a minor in Spanish. In his time as an undergraduate, he served as a Teaching Assistant for multiple courses through TUPIT, a transformative college-in-prison and reentry program. The program fosters an environment that encourages bold critical thinking, higher levels of civic engagement, and a greater sense of community, values that Ethan instills into his own filmmaking. Most recently, he worked on Season 30 of the primetime PBS series, Antiques Roadshow, actively producing media that is both entertaining and educational, and directed a short documentary titled Immaculate Degeneration, which focuses on his grandmother’s loss of sight and the trials she faces due to her condition. Ethan is thrilled to be joining the 2026 - 2027 PiLA cohort as a fellow with Partners in Andean Community Health (PACH) in Riobamba, Ecuador. He will contribute to PACH’s marketing strategy by developing its media presence to amplify the organization's mission and values. He is particularly excited to document patient experience, compel volunteer/donor engagement, and uplift the narratives of the healthcare providers and communities in the region.

Jasel Steinmetz graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with triple majors in Political Science, Legal Studies, and Spanish, with a concentration in international affairs. Her work across peacebuilding, human rights, public policy, access to justice, and emerging technology has shaped her commitment to strengthening the institutions and cross-sector partnerships that expand access to education, support community development, and advance socioeconomic mobility. As a 2026-2027 PiLA Fellow with Team Tobatí and the Macchi School in Tobatí, Paraguay, she will support organizational development and community-centered storytelling, expand access to English-language learning, digital infrastructure, and postsecondary scholarship pathways, and strengthen the school’s long-term sustainability and impact. Jasel is beyond excited to serve and learn alongside the students, educators, and wider comunidad of Tobatí, help share their stories and aspirations, and begin learning Guaraní.

Rachel Tejeda earned a BA in Sociology with a minor in Public Health in 2021 and an MBA in Social Impact in 2025 from Boston University. As the 2026-2027 incoming Fund Development & Volunteer Programs Fellow with The DREAM Project, she is eager to gain firsthand experience in nonprofit operations and community engagement. Rachel is especially excited to speak Spanish every day, support volunteer and donor programs, and connect with people who are passionate about advancing DREAM's mission. She is committed to building a more equitable world by helping connect people and resources to create meaningful opportunities and amplify underrepresented voices. Outside of work, Rachel enjoys staying active, reading, exploring new places, and spending time with friends and family.