Past Board Members

These have been LAM Board members in the past years

2019-2020

Second Year Executive Committee

Juan Camilo Mejía (Colombia)

President


Prior to Harris, Juan Camilo did an undergrad and master’s in economics in Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. He then worked as a research assistant in Fedesarrollo, went to Management Consulting at Advantis, and lately worked for more than 3 years at the National Planning Department (DNP for its name in spanish) as an Advisor to the Director of Digital development. After Harris, Juan would like to work for development in the intersection between private and public using technology as an ally. Running, triathlon, and outdoors lover. Technology wonk.

Victor Hugo Vasquez (Mexico)

Vice President


Víctor is a first-year MPP and holds a B.A in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He has more than 5 years of experience in the banking sector. He co-founded an NGO named LASO to fight poverty and inequality of income in Mexico. His areas of interest are financial inclusion and fiscal policy.

Cecilia Yarza (México)

Internal Relations, Media and Communications


Prior to studying the MPP at the University of Chicago, Cecilia Yarza did her undergraduate studies in Economics in Mexico City. She worked at the Central Bank of Mexico investing the International Reserves; there she was responsible of designing different strategies to create revenue for the country and doing macroeconomic research useful for monetary policy decisions. She choose Harris  as a turning point in her professional career in order to learn more about development and poverty alleviation strategies. In the future she hopes to combine her financial skills and Harris education to create a more equitable world.

Andrés Nigenda Zárate (Mexico)

Treasurer


Prior to starting the MSCAPP program at Harris, Andres did a BA in Economics at ITAM in Mexico City and worked at the Mexican Social Security Institute and Mexican Petroleum, finally joining the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy as Deputy Director of Data Analysis. After Harris, Andrés wants to work at the intersection of public policy and data science, using data to reduce inequities.

Eliana Yun (Brazil)

Internal Relationships


Eliana is an MPP candidate at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Prior to Harris, Eliana worked as a research analyst in an investment bank/brokerage firm, developing analytical reports on the US Economy and the Municipal Bond Market. Eliana holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she spent a great time doing research on Monetary Policy for a competition at the Federal Reserve Bank at Chicago. Her research topics and interests are Macroeconomics, Municipal Finance, Economic Development, Social Inequality, and Sustainability.

Elías Serranía (Mexico)

External Relations


Elias is a second year MSCAPP student at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He holds an Economics degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro. He has previously worked as a Research Assistant for the Center for Global Development and as a policy consultant in Mexico where he worked on the design of economic development plans for two state governments. He is interested in leveraging data science to improve the decision-making process in city governments.

2018-2019

Second Year Executive Committee

Jose Beltramino (Argentina)

President


Jose is a second year MPP, he holds an MBA from Fundacao Getulio Vargas, a B.A in Economics and a B.A. in International Relations. He has 6+ years of experience in Corporate Finance and M&A. He’s also a Founding Researcher at the Public Policy Observatory of the State of Parana (Brazil). His areas of concentration are Economic Policy and Finance. He is interested also in the intersection of Public and Private sectors and Impact Investing.

Arturo Joachin (Mexico)

Vice President


Arturo Joachin graduated from the M.P.P. at Harris. He holds a BA in Economics, a BA in Political Science from ITAM and an MA in Applied Economics also from ITAM. As for his professional experience, he worked as an advisor to Mexico’s Minister of Finance and later he worked at Mexico’s Infrastructure Development Bank. He’s interested in Macroeconomics and in Public and Private Finance.

Edgar Braham (Mexico)

Internal Relations, Media and Communications


Edgar finished his MPP at the Harris School of Public Policy and holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Instituto Técnológico Autónomo de Mexico (ITAM).  Prior to graduate school he worked as public finance, infrastructure and policy consultant for federal and subnational governments as well as public and private agencies in Mexico. He also advised the Majority Leader of the Mexican Congress and was Executive Vice-president of a national political think tank also in Mexico.

Estefanía Garavito (Colombia)

Deputy Officer of  Alumni Relations


Estefanía Garavito holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. Currently, she is a research economics assistant at the Becker Friedman Institute and has worked as a research assistant at the Behavioral and Insights Parenting Lab and as a consultant at the Polsky Small Business Growth Program.  Before Harris, Estefanía worked as a consultant in the Financial and Commodities Risk Consulting Division at Management Solutions in Colombia.

Rodrigo Merino (Mexico)

External Relationships


Rodrigo is an economist graduated with honors from ITAM, currently studying the second year of the M.P.P. at Harris School of Public Policy. He previously worked as public finance, budgeting and policy consultant to the federal government, local governments and to the Majority Leader of the Mexican Congress. He also participated in the elaboration of the Education Reform in Mexico.

Carolina Avello (Paraguay)

Treasurer


Carolina graduated from the MPP at Harris. She holds a B.A. in Economics (NUA) and a Master’s in Public Administration and Economic Law from ( the University of Salamanca). She worked in the Economic Research Area of the Central Bank of Paraguay and interned at the Headquarters of United Nations Development Programme. She is interested in economic policy, finance, development, and social entrepreneurship.

First Year Executive Committee

Rafael García Tinajero Morales (Mexico)

Vice President


Being passionate about finance during undergrad, Rafael joined the Central Bank of Mexico (Banxico) just after graduation. At Banxico, he led and delivered quantitative and qualitative analysis focused on domestic financial markets to provide key macroeconomic and financial insights to top economic and monetary officials. He came to Harris to enhance his analytical toolkit to provide data-driven policy advice. After graduation, Rafael would like to keep working on the financial sector to procure macro stability.

Juan Felipe Rodríguez (Colombia)

External Relations


Juan Felipe Rodriguez is a second- year M.P.P. Student. He has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and a B.A. in Economics, both from the Universidad de los Andes. He worked in the commodity sector for 7 years, specializing in coffee and its origin countries. He has worked through Latin America, including Colombia, Peru and Costa Rica. He is now focused in development, sustainability and anti-corruption initiatives.