Finances and Operations Director
Claudia is the Finance and Communications Director at Prospera. Prior to joining the team at Prospera she graduated from the program “Explora tu Cooperativa” in 2018 and was a volunteer at the Prospera’s 2nd Summit for Latina Entrepreneurs. She brings to Prospera over 12 years of administrative, finance and operations experience working with International nonprofits in Colombia and the US. Her previous job was with The HALO Trust, the world’s largest humanitarian mine clearance organization. During her tenure at HALO, Claudia supported the ED, DD, finance and program teams making sure the daily operations were running in a timely and effective manner. Claudia started her career in the non-profit sector working for Mercy Corps Colombia, an organization that provides humanitarian aid mainly for IDP’s of the Colombian conflict. Her main roles were to assist the Finance and Administrative teams as well as be the logistics coordinator for travel, workshop and events.
Claudia is an immigrant Latina with a passion for serving her community and getting involved in social justice. She lives with her husband and toddler, Gabriela, in a cohousing project and is also a member of her daughter cooperative pre-school. Before moving to the US, Claudia attended Business and Law Schools in her native country Colombia. She enjoys traveling, dancing, meeting people from other cultures, hosting gatherings around food for her community and friends and visiting her family any time she can.
“I am a woman, Latina, mother of two young women, wife, sister, friend, sister in struggle; I am a cooperative member. Despite having grown up in Latin American culture, where cooperating is part of daily life, it was just a few years ago that I discovered the cooperative world. First through a preschool cooperative, then through a housing cooperative and finally through my work as Financial and Operations Director at Prospera where I am able to set an example each day and practice what I have learned through my experience with the entrepreneurs who join the Prospera programs as well as with my colleagues and co-workers.
In addition to having developed a passion for the effective use of resources and ways of living healthily and harmoniously with our surroundings, I love to dance, host meetings around good food, travel and explore new cultures and experiences. I want to limit my carbon footprint on the planet and at the same time increase the loving footprint in the hearts and memories of everyone who knows me.“