Chile

Nicolás has more than six years of experience in the nonprofit sector, particularly in activities related to labor unions, social and legal empowerment of vulnerable workers, and community development. Nicolás is a lawyer and graduated with high distinction from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and also earned a master in Public Policy from the Central European University in Hungary. While studying at the Law School he worked as a monitor at the Center of Labor Studies Alberto Hurtado, a nonprofit organization dependent on the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, training union and social leaders in labor law, leadership, and communication skills. After graduating from Law School, Nicolás worked as a lawyer in Ernst & Young Chile, rendering consultancy services in labor law, employment taxes, social security and immigration. Before starting his masters’ studies in Hungary, he contributed as a labor law professor at the Institute of Popular Education and Training in Santiago, working with vulnerable workers in order to improve their employment conditions and self-empowerment. During his professional career, Nicolás focused on labor studies, vulnerable workers employment conditions, and the effects of labor unions and collective bargaining on income distribution and poverty.

Host Organization: Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)

Role at Host Organization: Nicolás will contribute as Job Developer for the Workforce Investment program. Nicolás work with the LAYC will focus on placing vulnerable youth in jobs, internships, and apprenticeship in order to achieve better employment conditions and self-empowerment. For this purpose creating employment networks and partnerships with private firms and public agencies will be crucial, coordinating with different actors of the job placement process.

Natalia has four years of experience in the public sector, and she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Management Control Engineering at Universidad de Chile and a Master’s degree in Accounting, Auditing and Control at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. While working as a national funds analyst at Superintendencia de Seguridad Social (SUSESO) in Chile, she evaluated maternity grants, audited the expense reports of nationally funded subsidies, and analyzed the data related with maternity grants reported by different entities as well as preparing information for the study of public policy in the field of social security. Additionally, she was a studies analyst at Servicio Nacional de la Discapacidad (SENADIS) in Chile, analyzing information about different areas of disability and defining indicators. She also was the academic director of the management control diploma at Universidad Mayor in Chile, responsible for designing the academic program, structuring the courses, and recruiting professors in addition to her teaching activities. Finally, Natalia has volunteered as an accounting teacher in a program called Creeme, which supports microentrepreneurs who did not have the opportunity to pay for business consulting, providing them with business tools to improve their smaller companies, teaching them how to apply for national funds, and giving lessons about taxes, accounting, finance, and computing. Through these experiences, she developed strong analytic skills and the ability to work in teams. Natalia enjoys focusing on the topics of maternal and child health, disability, business consultancy, and education. She has a strong passion for public service.

Host Organization: Open Road Alliance

Role at Host Organization: Natalia will support the expansion of Open Road’s recoverable grant portfolio. She will assist in the screening and development of the grant-making pipeline through sector mapping and outreach to appropriate professional networks, and she will be the primary driver on research projects.