Debra Cooper is the Chief Financial Officer at Partners of the Americas. Over the course of Debra’s 26 years as a CPA, her path has included public accounting, several not for profit organizations, and construction. Her focus throughout has been on driving business forward by undertaking transformational initiatives, navigating complexity and ambiguity, embracing disruption, and ultimately removing obstacles.   As a champion of innovation and improvement initiatives in process, reporting, and workflow, she creates a sustainable and reliable environment. As an adept change management expert, she leads system implementations and process standardizations, assessing impacts enterprise-wide.

Penelope Kim is the Director for the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund. She has a background in international affairs and international development with a regional focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Her work and studies abroad have taken her to nearly 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.   One of these overseas opportunities was through the Peace Corps, where she served in Costa Rica in 2009-2011 as a Rural Community Development Volunteer working in youth development. Ms. Kim holds a Global Master’s of Arts in International Relations from Webster University through their global program, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with a European and Asian Concentration, and a Minor in Spanish from Hawai’i Pacific University.

Danielle Martin is Director of Grants and Contract Compliance at Partners of the Americas. She started with Partners as part of the President’s Internship Program in May 2014 working with the Professional Leadership Exchanges team. She now has joined the staff at Partners in October 2014. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Professions and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management with a focus on International Business from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. During her studies in Wisconsin, Ms. Martin has had the opportunity to study abroad twice, once in Costa Rica and another time in Italy. In Costa Rica, she studied at a local school to obtain fluency and better understanding of Spanish. In addition, she spent two weeks living with the BriBri tribe in Costa Rica, whom are an indigenous tribal group located in the southern half of the country near Buenos Aires. During her study abroad in Italy, Ms. Martin had a great introduction to the arts, history, language and foods of the region. She is deeply passionate about international development and volunteerism abroad, and hopes to continue to help others in the Americas throughout her work at Partners.

Maia Moore is a Senior Program Officer within the Education Unit at Partners of the Americas. Since February 2021, she has supported U.S. Department of State-funded programs that promote professional and personal growth among people in the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean including project funding, peer-to-peer learning, and international exchange.   As an exchange alum herself, Maia grew through the power of cross-cultural engagement. Maia’s youth exchange in Mexico propelled a life-long pursuit of Latin American studies and Spanish language learning. She received her BA in Psychology & Spanish and MA in Teaching from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. In college, she studied abroad in Argentina, and after graduating returned for two years as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and Coordinator.   Committed to a whole-person approach, Maia values the right to an education and sees international education as a huge asset to an individual’s (and in turn community) growth. She enjoys working with Partners on youth development and exchange programming to engage global citizens in harnessing their passion and potential to make positive change.

Michael Moscarelli serves as the Senior Vice President for Organizational Advancement at Partners of the Americas. Before this, he was the Chief Operating Officer as well as the Vice President of the Economic Development & Health Unit (now the Agriculture & Food Security Unit). His primary responsibilities included leading strategic planning and business development efforts in the unit, establishing and maintaining relationships with donors and partners, and supporting the implementation of current programs. Prior to his work at Partners, Michael worked on the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems team at International Relief and Development, where he managed food security and value chain programs in West Africa and helped develop USAID, USDA, and DFID proposals. He also spent three years working in Ecuador’s highlands and the Amazonian region as a Sustainable Agriculture Volunteer in the Peace Corps. Michael has expertise in agronomy, horticulture, and farmer-centered research and extension. He holds a master’s degree in international agriculture and rural development from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mary Washington.

Carmen S. Peña serves as the Senior Vice President of Programs at Partners of the Americas, steering strategic direction and oversight for programs focused on technical quality and program performance.   With a keen focus on delivering effective and efficient programming, Carmen collaborates closely with implementing teams, incorporating lessons learned and best practices, piloting, and scaling approaches, and widely disseminating findings. Currently, Carmen oversees the Education, Labor, Agriculture, and Food Security units, along with key country operations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. Previously, Carmen held the role of Vice President of the Child Protection Unit, now the Labor Unit, where she managed Partners’ efforts to uphold labor rights, including combatting child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking, as well as enhancing education quality and access.   Her extensive programming experience includes implementing impactful solutions targeting marginalized and at-risk populations, such as Afro-descendant, indigenous, internally displaced, migrants, and refugees. Carmen’s leadership extends to overseeing the implementation of complex projects funded by agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), U.S. Department of State (USDOS), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).   She has also conducted short-term technical assessments and championed successful proposals. Carmen earned her master’s degree in Latin American studies with a concentration in development from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, complementing her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in management from Kennesaw State University. As a former Georgia Rotary Scholar, Carmen brings a wealth of experience and dedication to her work in advancing global development initiatives.

Javiera Salinas is an Associate Director for the Agriculture & Food Security (AFS) Unit at Partners of the Americas. She previously served as the Senior Program Officer for the AFS Unit. Her primary role is to support the USDA-funded Food For Progress program Cacao for Development (C4D) in Colombia aimed at strengthening the cacao value chain and improving living incomes for smallholder farmers through crop diversification. Prior to joining the AFS Unit, Javiera worked under Partners’ Child Protection Unit (now known as the Labor Unit), supporting U.S. Department of Labor-funded projects in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Paraguay. Javiera holds a B.A. in Global Affairs with a concentration in global governance and a minor in Latin American studies from George Mason University. Javiera is originally from Santiago, Chile, and is passionate about sustainable and environmentally-conscious international development.

Stephanie Verganza is an Associate Director for the Agriculture & Food Security (AFS) Unit at Partners of the Americas. She previously served as the Senior Officer of the AFS Unit. Her primary role is in assisting with the implementation of the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer program in Latin America & the Caribbean. Prior to joining Partners, Stephanie spent a year in Brazil as a Boren Scholar studying Portuguese and Brazilian culture. Her previous professional experiences include working at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, the US National Committee on UN Women-Los Angeles, and the Pacific Council on International Affairs. Stephanie graduated from the University of California, Irvine with bachelor’s degrees in economics and international studies. As an undergraduate, she participated in the public policy and international affairs fellowship at Princeton University and spent two years studying security and development in Central America. As the daughter of Guatemalan parents, Stephanie is very passionate about economic development and social issues in Latin America.