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Team Members

Mabel Pajares Policarpio

Administrative CoordinatorNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Mabel holds a bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering. She has extensive knowledge in office automation, administration and accounting, and has more than 7 years of experience dealing with administrative, accounting, logistical and human resource issues.  In the past, she has worked for private companies, as well as both local and international NGO’s, through projects funded by USAID, The Big Lottery Fund of the United Kingdom, and the Canadian Embassy. Mabel is an optimistic, responsible, humble, goal-oriented team player.

Alex Zambrano Ramirez

GIS Specialist for Investments in Natural InfrastructureNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Alex is an Environmental Engineer from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal with a specialization in Business Intelligence from ESAN University, with more than 15 years of experience in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing applied in processes of Ecological and Economic Zoning, investment projects related to ecosystems, ecosystem services, disaster risk management, and environmental diagnostics and assessments. He is also knowledgeable with Integrated Management Systems (ISO 9001, 14001 and OSHAS 18001) and Environmental Legislation, and is experienced in public management for the design and implementation of public and sectoral policies with a territorial approach, elaboration of sectoral planning instruments (environment sector), management of budget by results, management of public projects, sustainable economic development, environmental and forestry financing mechanism.

Willy Espinoza

Blended Finance LeaderNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Willy has a background working in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors in Peru and the USA. He was a coordinator in Peru’s Delivery Unit at the Presidency of Council of Ministers, where he was in charge of two government priorities: water & sanitation and “reconstruction with changes.” Willy has experience designing, managing, and executing innovative mechanisms linking the private and public sectors for social impact, including “obras por impuestos” and others related to results-based financing such as impact bonds or pay-for-success. Earlier in his career he worked at PWC in transfer pricing issues, as well as analyzing capital markets. Willy has a Bachelor’s and licentiate in Economics from Universidad de Lima. He also holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy & Management from Carnegie Mellon University and post-graduate studies in Sustainable Development Management at Universidad ESAN.

Angel Soto

Operations and Finance AdministratorNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Angel has over 20 years of experience in finance and operations with international nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining Forest Trends, he held the position of Senior Manager, Global Administration at Rainforest Alliance, where he led all operational aspects of the organization in the Latin America region. Before Rainforest Alliance, Angel worked at Conservation International (CI) as the Operations Director for Mexico and Central America, where he led efforts implement financial and operational strategies for the region. He also worked at Save the Children Guatemala, leading financial and operational functions for USAID funded projects.

Agustin Nervi

Private Sector Engagement and Value Chains SpecialistNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Agustin holds a BSc in Economics from Universidad de Buenos Aires-Argentina and a MA in Agribusiness & International Rural Development from Lincoln University-New Zealand. At the NIWS Project, he leads relationships with private companies investing in watershed ecosystems to secure long-term access to water, while providing guidance on sustainable value chain development. He also liaises with government and civil society stakeholders to leverage project financing, increase value for communities, corporations, and responsible buyers, and develops business models working at the intersection of hydrological and economic analyses.

David Torres

Watershed Services AnalystNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

David holds a BS and a PE in Forest Engineering from Peru’s National Agrarian University, La Molina and a MS in Coastal Management from the University of California, Santa Cruz. At the NIWS Project, he is in charge of synthesizing technical information to justify new investments aimed at ensuring water supply in key Peruvian watersheds. Since the beginning of his career, David’s focus has been the practice of Payments for Ecosystem Services. Previously, he was part of Lumina Decision Systems, where he was involved in the application of Analytica (a software for decision-support) in the integration of greenhouse gas modeling processes to support decarbonization efforts in cities in the United States.

Yessica Armas

Senior Public Investment SpecialistNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Yessica is a civil engineer with more than 13 years of experience in programming, formulation, evaluation and management of public investment programs and projects on environmental issues with national financing, public debt, and international technical cooperations. She has led technical teams from the Ministry of Environment of Peru for the development of regulatory, methodological, and technical instruments related to public investment in Natural Infrastructure in Peru. She studied Pollution and Environmental Management at the Private University of Moquegua and has a master’s in Investment Projects and Environmental Technologies. She also has a Post Degree in Project Management (PMBOK) and Climate Change.

Liseth Asto

Natural Infrastructure Investments SpecialistNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Liseth is a professional in Economics from UNMSM, where she specialized in investment projects and public policies. She has more than 5 years of experience in the sanitation sector in Peru – she supported SEDAPAL’s Operational-Financial Planning team. She was part of the Rural Fiscalization team of SUNASS and initiated the implementation of  monitoring rural and small town providers at the national level, as well as the workshops and reports on Benchmarking of Community Organizations in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Guisella Infantes Bracamonte

Training Programs CoordinatorNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Guisella studied Education for Development at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and, in recent years, has specialized in e-learning. She is an instructional designer and e-learning content developer. Her training and knowledge come from her work as a project assistant, virtual tutor, course coordinator, instructional designer, and e-learning consultant for different institutions, such as NGOs, universities, and public entities. Her goal and motivation is to design learning experiences that respond to the needs of users.

Mia Smith

Program ManagerGlobal Water Initiative

Mia completed a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at MIT, where her thesis evaluated green infrastructure alternatives for stormwater management in urbanized watersheds. She has worked as an engineering consultant designing a variety of water treatment and reuse plants, including wastewater to drinking water, recycled urban stormwater, groundwater remediation, and industrial treatment. She is passionate about community-driven environmental projects and has traveled across Latin America working on projects in Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador.

Patricia Olinda Carillo Montenegro

Senior Gender SpecialistNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Patricia is a lawyer and feminist. She has served in the Ministry of Women (Promudeh and MIMP) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Peru and has consulted for MINAM, MIDIS, NGOs, international cooperation organizations, and international organizations. As General Director of Mainstreaming of the Gender Approach of the MIMP, she was responsible for the process of preparing the Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change. She graduated from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and has a master’s degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

Fernando Momiy Hada

Chief of PartyNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Fernando Momiy is an internationally-recognized champion of natural infrastructure in Peru and is the Chief of Party (COP) of Forest Trends’ Natural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project. Fernando holds an MBA and MA in Regulation of Public Services and Infrastructure Management. He has held numerous leadership positions in his nearly 25 years of government service at Peruvian infrastructure and sanitation agencies. Most recently, Fernando has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Latin American Association of National Water and Sanitation Regulators (ADERASA), the President of the Board of Directors of Peru’s National Superintendence of Sanitation Services (SUNASS), and Director of Investment Promotion at the Agency for Promotion of Private Investment. In these roles, he has promoted more than 100 public-private investment projects in the infrastructure sector, created a regional Green Infrastructure Working Group in Latin America, and led Peru’s water sector tariff and regulatory reforms.

Abel Aucasime

Senior Coordinator for Integrated Solutions for Water SecurityNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Abel directs coordination of integral solutions for water security for the NIWS Project. He has 18 years of experience in issues that link environmental management and strategic development of natural resources.

Notably, he has promoted and participated in the design and implementation of public and sectoral policies aligned with territorial policies and developed sectoral planning and technical instruments within the framework of the National Environmental Management System (SNGA) in Peru. He has also provided technical advice on the following topics: governance and implementation of public institutional management, results-based budget management, management of public and private projects in biodiversity and environmental conservation, environmental financing, environmental information management, evaluation and valuation of ecosystem services, and others. Abel has a degree in Biology with a specialty in Natural Resources and Ecology from the National University of San Cristóbal de Huamanga.

Óscar Angulo

Senior Coordinator for Sanitation Sector Investments in Natural InfraestructureNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Óscar is a biologist with an MSc in Integrated Water Management from University of Queensland, Monash University, Griffith University, and Western Australia University. He is a senior lecturer at Catholic University (PUCP) and Scientific University of the South (UCSUR) in Peru and has more than ten years experience working in public and private institutions. His main areas of research are natural resource management, integrated water resource management in both rural and urban areas, community development, green infrastructure public investment, and drinking water & sanitation programs.

His work with Forest Trends, to date, has focused on the development of environmentally sustainable socio-economic strategies, integrating socio-economic and hydrological monitoring, and evaluating natural infrastructure investment.

Doris Mejía

Communication DirectorNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Doris is a communication specialist from Lima University, with a master’s in Social Management from the Catholic University of Peru. She has more than 20 years of experience creating and delivering development communication strategies and products.

As a communication manager for Practical Action Latin America, she worked closely with international teams, other NGOs, cooperatives, authorities, and communities on a variety of significant issues such as climate change, renewable energy, risk management, environment, agriculture, ICTs, etc.

In the last 5 years she created and lead important strategies and campaigns for the Andean Community, WWF, IDB, Belgium Embassy, European Union, among others. Doris is the creator and administrator of Comunicambio-Communication and development, an active network for 12,500 development specialists from all over the country.

María Canchari

Senior Administrative and Financial SpecialistNatural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

María has over 25 years of experience managing general operations for development projects  by nongovernmental organizations and/or international cooperation (e.g. USAID, Canadian Cooperation). She has broad experience in everything from finance and human resources to IT, supervising employees, and managing contract budgets. She is also skilled in preparing financial projections and reports in compliance with Peruvian regulations, and with planning, accounting, and auditing.

Her protocol knowledge makes María excellent at project implementation from start to finish. Collaboration and sound judgement allow her to work well within defined procedures and policies, and she oversees her teams with efficiency and teamwork.

Mercy Sandoval

Capacity Development Specialist, Natural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) ProjectWater Initiative

Mercy has a Master’s Degree in Social Management (PUCP), Municipal Management (ESAN), and Corporate Social Responsibility (PUCP. She has twenty years of experience in the design, implementation and monitoring of development projects, focused on public policy, building capacity and citizen participation areas. Mercy is an expert in designing training programs, particularly in the areas of gender and multicultural training.

Gabriel Rojas

Communications Analyst Natural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) Project

Gabriel is a communicator for the NIWS Project. He has more than five years of experience developing and implementing communication strategies with a gender and intercultural approach for international development projects and the public sector. He has a communication degree from the University of Lima and is currently completing his master’s in Human Development Approaches and Policies at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).