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.