FP Virtual Dialogue: Fostering Resilience in Northern Central America

Allison oversees all global research and analysis. She counsels clients on current and prospective market, policy, and security developments with a focus on emerging trends, scenario planning, strategic foresight. Prior to this role, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for over a decade. Prior to FP Analytics (formerly Garten Rothkopf), Carlson led the Latin America program for an international consulting firm assisting European companies investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. She received her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in international relations and international economics.

João Helder Diniz (Brazil) is the Regional Leader of World Vision International for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He has worked for World Vision International as Global Director for Strategic, Operational and Financial Affairs, living in Nairobi, Kenya. He also served as Regional Strategy Director for World Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in San José, Costa Rica and in World Vision Brazil as Director of Economic Development, Director of Marketing and Fundraising.

He holds a degree in Agronomy with a postgraduate degree in Tropical Agriculture and a Master's degree in Business Administration from UFPE (Federal University of Pernambuco) with a specialization in financial management.

Mileydi Guilarte serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator within USAID's Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Before joining the LAC Bureau, Guilarte was the Country Representative for a U.S.-based non-profit in El Salvador, where she executed a human rights project and led strategic planning to strengthen the role of civil society and regional human rights systems. Before that, Guilarte held several positions in the Obama-Biden Administration, including Director at the National Security Council in the White House and as a senior policy advisor and International Cooperation Specialist at USAID. Guilarte also worked as Special Assistant for the Assistant to the Administrator in USAID's Bureau for Democracy Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. In 2014, Guilarte was nominated by President Obama as the United States Alternative Executive Director at the Inter-American Development Bank.

With nearly twenty years of development experience and focusing on the promotion of democracy and human rights, Guilarte brings experience from working in multilateral organizations, including the World Bank, United Nations, and the International Monetary Fund. She has a Master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Florida.

Mr. Ricardo Pareja is currently the Head of Sales & Market Development for the Humanitarian & Development group, a social enterprise within Mastercard, focused on driving human impact and commercial results. Our team innovates across a number of dimensions – technology, product, partnerships, and business model – to serve marginalized communities and those living in remote, disconnected environments all over the world. We focus on a digital infrastructure that connects individuals to critical services – such as healthcare, education, humanitarian aid, agricultural marketplaces, and micro-commerce as part of the goal of reaching and connecting the next billion people to the formal economy.

He joined MasterCard in 2008 as a Regional Product Director for Digital Products in Brazil responsible to deploy the first commercial implementation of the MasterCard Mobile strategy. He them held a regional role expanding the Mastercard Mobile Money and Financial inclusion offering in Latin America. He then held different global digital products roles in the Mastercard global office in New York before joining the Humanitarian and Development team in 2016. Before joining MasterCard, he spent most of his time working with innovation supporting Financial Institutions and Mobile Network Operators promoting different products and services, from EMV cards, Mobile Banking to Contactless Payment and lately Mobile Financial Services. His main objective has been to promote cooperative ways between industries to find the right business and operation models to serve different segments of the population, from banked to underserved, with a compelling value proposition. He holds a MBA from Ibmec São Paulo and Electronic Engineering degree from Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTF-PR, former CEFET-PR) in Curitiba, Brazil

Born in Los Angeles, Sandoval grew up in Central and South America, where he first witnessed poverty. His own experience with hardship came at age 18, when he returned alone to the U.S. with only $50 in his pocket. He worked minimum-wage jobs while studying English as a second language, later earning bachelor’s degrees in industrial engineering and sociology from Rutgers University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Edgar was recruited by General Electric and later by Procter & Gamble, where over a 20-year career he made significant contributions to the corporation’s growth and reputation. As P&G’s senior vice president and general manager of global feminine care, he directed the creation and launch of the internationally acclaimed #LikeAGirl campaign.

Edgar came to World Vision in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer for three years, he directed fundraising programs that generated over $1 billion in donations and strengthened financial and organizational health. As World Vision president and CEO since Oct. 1, 2018, Edgar has placed a strong emphasis on World Vision’s faith identity, evidence of impact, and transformational journey of staff, donors, and program participants.

He serves on the board of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. In recent years Edgar has been quoted in national media; spoken at events such as the Q Conference and Christian Leadership Alliance Outcomes Conference; appeared in National Geographic’s “Activate” TV series; and launched Chosen^®, a new invitation to child sponsorship.

Edgar cherishes faith and family above all. He has been married 29 years to Leiza, a former teacher who was born and raised in Puerto Rico and graduated from Xavier University. Edgar and Leiza live near Seattle, Washington, and they have four children, including two daughters with special needs. Edgar’s understanding of the unlimited potential of every child, instilled in him while raising his daughters, is an asset to World Vision’s mission to reach and empower the world’s most vulnerable children.

Since 2018, Luis Fernando Suazo serves as the General Coordinator of the Government, with the rank of Minister, for Prevention, Security and Defense. He oversaw the national strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation of security and defense which he has coordinated since 2013, year he designed the first plan of the National Defense and Security Council. Throughout these years, Honduras reduced its homicide rates by more than 50%. Among his special assignments are the reform and development of the National Penitentiary system, and leading 1.000 men (police, military, Intel agents and civilians) assigned to four National Forces in the areas of Anti-Maras and Gangs, security in urban transportation, control of penitentiary centers and antinarcotics efforts. He also authorizes the strategic planning and budget of 22 institutions focused on security. Since 2016, he has also served as Vice Minister of Security for Inter-institutional Affairs, responsible for promoting security plans in municipalities as well as producing the national data of homicides through a transparent process. Ambassador Luis Suazo oversees the Center for the Analysis of Citizen Security from which investigations are carried out as information for decision-making. He has previously held various positions in the public sector, such as Vice Minister of the Interior and Justice, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Honduras to the United States, and Presidential Director of Management for Results. On September 2020, Luis Fernando Suazo was appointed by President Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado, as the Ambassador of Honduras to the United States. He presented his letters of credentials to President Donald J. Trump on September 17, 2020. 

Ambassador Suazo is a lawyer with a focus on administrative law; he has a master’s degree in business administration from INCAE and a certificate in senior project management obtained in Sweden. He is married and the proud father of two children. 

Ricardo Zúñiga is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service and the Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle. Until March 15, 2021, he was the Interim Director of the Brazil Institute and a Senior Diplomatic Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center Latin America Program, on detail from the U.S. Department of State. Ricardo arrived at the Wilson Center after completing a tour as the Director of the International Student Management Office at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. Previous assignments include service as U.S. Consul General in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 2015 to 2018, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council from 2012 to 2015, and Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil from 2010 to 2012. Ricardo also worked in the State Department's Office of Cuban Affairs, the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and as the Desk Officer for Uganda and Tanzania. He served overseas at U.S. missions in Matamoros, Mexico, Lisbon, Havana, and Madrid. Ricardo was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and has a B.A. in Foreign Affairs and Latin American Studies from the University of Virginia. He and his wife Christina have two daughters, Caroline and Sarah.