About Us

We believe in a world where every person - even if they have grown up in an environment of extreme poverty - has the opportunity to unlock their highest potential, and become self-reliant through access to dignified and sustainable work.

Peruvian women weaving loom in grassy area

Join the fight against poverty

For over 37 years, CODESPA has focused on ending the cycle of extreme poverty in rural communities and promoting income equality around the world by supporting the growth of local entrepreneurs and social enterprises---creating dignified business and employment opportunities for the most vulnerable men and women---that has resulted in a ~20% increase in household income and uplifted the lives of over 5 million individuals and their families… now we are on a mission to elevate 10 million more people from poverty to prosperity, together!

Board of Directors

  • Chairman, Board of Directors

    Bill is an experienced and fully bicultural entrepreneurial leader in technology-intensive businesses, with a strong management background that includes high-tech start-ups as well as mature companies in the U.S. and Latin America. Currently, since 2005, Bill is President and CEO of Cobis Systems Corporation, Inc. (Cobiscorp), a 60+ year-old firm with 600+ employees that develops and markets mission-critical information processing solutions used by many financial institutions throughout the Americas.

  • Treasurer, Board of Directors

    Former professor of philosophy at Notre Dame University. Co -founder of Northridge Preparatory School for boys in Chicago. CO-founder of The South Bronx Education Foundation. Founder of The Apologetics Institute at the Pontifical University of The Holy Cross in Rome. Member of Board of The Formation Foundation. Worked for the Administrative directorate for Opus Dei in South Bend, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Pittsburg, Washington DC, and now in Reston VA.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Aaron Schuchart has over thirty years’ financial, strategy, and operational leadership roles in the life sciences and energy industries. He has successfully launched and built new ventures through the development of technologies spanning biomedical, agriculture, and energy applications. He is currently Chief Business Officer of Lumos Pharma, a publicly traded biotechnology company developing medicines to treat rare diseases. Mr. Schuchart has led or advised on over 30 strategic transactions totaling over $15 billion and has developed and executed portfolio strategies across a wide range of technologies and markets toward the achievement of strong operating and financial growth performance for biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and agricultural biotech businesses. Mr. Schuchart received a B.B.A. in Accounting from Texas Tech University and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is a Certified Licensing Professional and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Diana is the current International Innovation Vice President for the Clorox Co. Before that, she was the Asia Pacific Innovation Vice President for the Coca-Cola company in Shanghai/China where she lived 6 years. She previously worked 20 years at the Procter & Gamble co in Cincinnati/US across different brands and categories. She is originally from Venezuela and has extensively moved across cities and countries living in Venezuela, Spain, the UK, several cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai and HK) and Cincinnati and California in the US. She holds a degree in Chemical engineering and a specialization in business economics from UCAB University. Diana is married and has four kids.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Jennifer Bruch Hogan has been a civil appellate specialist for more than 30 years, handling a wide variety of complex cases in state and federal appellate and trial courts. Ms. Hogan has appeared frequently in the Texas Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit, and the Texas Courts of Appeals. She also often appeared in trial courts arguing complex motions and jury charges as well as post-verdict preservation of appellate complaints. Ms. Hogan is an elected member of the American Law Institute. She is a Greenhill Fellow and serves as a trustee of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society. Ms. Hogan presently serves on the Board of Directors of All Ears! Listening & Language Center in the Woodlands, a preschool and therapy center for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Ms. Hogan is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. She has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America every year since 2006 and a Texas Super Lawyer every year since that recognition began in 2003. Ms. Hogan and her husband Richard have three children, Colleen (Dartmouth ’12; Tuck ’18), Phillips (Duke ’14; M.I.T. Sloan ‘22), and Conor (Claremont McKenna ’19)

  • An innovative & entrepreneurial global business owner, Mario moved his family from Rio de Janeiro to Richmond, VA in 2016 because he wanted his global headquarters located in the U.S. Two years later, he purchased a company that had invented a game-changing waterproofing technology almost a half
    century earlier; and formed Alchemco to add to his growing portfolio of companies.


    Over the past several years Baggio has turned Alchemco into an acknowledged leader in the
    preservation of exposed concrete structures, including: highway & railroad bridges, dams,tunnel,
    water treatment plants, marinas, airports, stadiums, and parking structures. This well-proven
    technology, that’s been used to protect thousands of concrete structures around the world, is now
    being tested and implemented by highway departments in roughly half of the U.S.; including over twenty bridges in South Dakota, and about 5 million sq. ft. of existing highway bridges for the New Jersey D.O.T. over the past two years. It’s also being used to protect the newly constructed concrete
    railroad bridges that are part of the massive Tren Maya project in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico (1,000 miles of new railroad being built through the jungle).

    Baggio is a Co-Chair of the ITD Program (Innovative Technology Demonstraitions Program), which is a field demonstration program that uses an independent consultant to document results and is managed with TSP-2 oversight. The purpose of this program is to introduce new and innovative preservation materials and technologies to owners of the nation’s highway system.

    Before joining Alchemco, Mr. Baggio served 10+ years in the concrete protection and waterproofing industry in multiple countries. He holds Business Degrees from Université Catholique de Lyon, France and Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Headshot of William Moss
Headshot of Daryl Glick
Headshot of Aaron Schuchart
Headshot of Diana Escoda
Headshot of Jennifer Hogan
  • Member, Board of Directors

    Having worked as a senior executive on Wall Street as well as having served in senior government roles, Frank brings extensive global experience and insight into the public policy decision-making process and its impact on global markets. Frank is a Senior Advisor to The Scowcroft Group, a global business advisory firm with an emphasis on emerging markets. It supports clients at every business development stage, including political risk analysis, strategic planning, risk management, market development, and ongoing operations. The firm also supports clients in the investment community, providing leading-edge analysis of market impact events and trends. Frank is an adjunct professor at The Catholic University School of Business teaching coursework on Business Intelligence and Risk Assessment. He is also a Senior Associate with the Americas Program at the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) in Washington where he focuses on Latin American politics, economics, and trade. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation of America which is dedicated to advocating for people with Downs Syndrome. Frank is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the American Council on Germany, and the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. He resides outside Washington DC in Great Falls, Virginia with his wife, Maura, on their working farm, Open Door Farm.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Seema is the Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Disruptive.CEO and Creator of the U.N.I.Q.U.E MethodTM. With over two decades of experience as a business strategist and chief marketing officer, Seema partners with growth-stage founders/CEOS to accelerate their impact and profit through her proven “U.N.I.Q.U.E” Method framework that has resulted in enhanced business and brand authority, millions of dollars in revenue, and unmeasurable impact that her clients have made through scaling their businesses around the world. She is on a mission to serve the growth of 100,000 female entrepreneurs through her framework by 2025.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Since 2007, Carlos is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Stelac Advisory Services, LLC. He has over 28 years of experience in market analysis, investment banking and wealth management. Carlos joined Deutsche Bank in 1994 and since 2000 he was Managing Director of Private Wealth Management and the Latin American Market Head and Chief Executive Officer. He was also Deutsche Bank's New York International Office Head.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Roland has more than 30 years of professional experience in development, management and consulting in real estate, healthcare, the insurance industry and the energy sector. As a serial entrepreneur, he has had extensive experience with start-up companies in each of these industry sectors. Having founded FRN International Trading Partners Ltd. (FRN), Roland serves as the company’s Chairman. The company was created with the purpose of becoming a leading global organization in the oil and gas sector, and agriculture industry. Its mission is to provide viable solutions to issues nations face over food security and energy security concerns.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Charles Prow is an accomplished leader with more than 40 years of experience in the professional services industry, most recently serving as President and CEO of V2X. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated the ability to enhance the performance of multi-billion-dollar businesses, delivering consistent, above-market revenue and profit growth. He is recognized for creating market opportunities through innovative business strategy, process and technology transformation, and the implementation of complex, research-based solutions. His expertise includes leading global operations and attracting, developing, and leading top talent.

Headshot of Frank Kelly
Headshot of Seema Alexander
Headshot of Carlos Padula
Headshot of Roland Hawthorne

Meet the Team

  • Headshot of José I. Gonzalez-Aller

    José I. Gonzalez-Aller

    Chief Executive Officer, Spain

    Sole Member, USA

  • Headshot of Michelle Riestra

    Michelle Hnizda

    Executive Director, USA

  • Headshot of Elena Martínez García

    Elena Martínez García

    Global VP Projects & Development, Spain

  • Headshot of  Marcello Gandolfi

    Marcello Gandolfi

    Global Projects Director, Spain

  • Headshot of Mónica Gil-Casares

    Mónica Gil-Casares

    Research & Innovation Consultancy Director, Spain

  • Headshot of Miguel Villarroel Campero

    Miguel Villarroel Campero

    Country Director, Bolivia

  • Headshot of Andres Trujillo

    Andres Trujillo

    Country Director, Colombia

  • Headshot of Ferrán Gelis

    Ferrán Gelis

    Country Director, Ecuador

  • Headshot of Ignacio Zalbidea López

    Ignacio Zalbidea López

    Country Director, Guatemala

  • Headshot of Luis Cáceres Merma

    Luis Cáceres Merma

    Country Director, Perú

  • Headshot of Franck Mbemba Malembe

    Franck Mbemba Malembe

    Country Director, Congo

  • Headshot of Constantino Gajardo

    Constantino Gajardo

    Country Director, Philippines

Opportunities

Change the world with us

We’re looking for talent! Explore how your unique talents and gifts can serve the most vulnerable communities.

Internships

Email Us: hr@codespa-america.org

CODESPA Team posing on a building