Sixta is Portfolio Director at Global Partnerships, evaluating MFIs and cooperatives for investment. Her experience includes roles as Program Officer for ICCO, Deputy Director at Microfinanza Rating, and General Manager of UCADE, with a focus on impact finance in Latin America. She holds degrees in Accounting and an MBA from UNAN, with certifications in microfinance.
Gilles is a human rights and justice expert with over 10 years of international development experience in Africa and Asia. Currently a Program Manager at LuxDev in Burkina Faso, he has managed justice programs and evaluated governance initiatives. Gilles holds a Master’s in Law from Université catholique de Louvain and a certificate in Luxembourg law.
Currently focused on independent advisory, investment committee and non-executive director roles, from 2019 to 2021 Farrington was Head of Portfolio Management for a USD 600 million global structured fund that provides debt finance for social impact initiatives. During the previous 10 years, he built and ran the Latin American regional office of a regulated Swiss multi-fund manager in Mexico City, running a USD 750 million fixed income impact finance portfolio with 82 companies in 13 countries in the region. Prior to this, he was engaged with equity and credit enhancement transactions as Director in the Global Investments group of a leading US micro and small enterprise facilitator, and the startup and management of an innovative emerging market debt rating agency focused on Latin American MSME banks and nonbank finance companies. He started his career in Washington DC specializing in microfinance and social investment at the Inter-American Development Bank, and as a grant maker with the Inter-American Foundation in the Andean region. He holds a BA in Languages and Literature from Amherst College and an MA in Economics and Business through a combined program from The Fletcher School and Harvard Business School.
Jessica Villanueva is Senior Manager, Sustainable Finance Americas at WWF International. Jessica has more than 20 years of management experience with emphasis on agri-food systems, financial inclusion programs and gender and climate lens investment in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Leadership roles include 2X Global Forum, and Board advisory roles in impact investment funds. Her experience includes designing and structuring blended finance transactions that utilize different asset classes and technical assistance to achieve inclusive development outcomes, and providing management, financing and technical assistance to agribusinesses and financial intermediaries. Prior to WWF, Jessica worked at MEDA leading technical areas of practice globally (gender, environment and climate change, market systems, and innovative finance). Prior to MEDA, Jessica was working for WWF Peru as Conservation Finance Director. In this position, she was supporting green finance in the Amazon region. Prior to joining WWF, she worked in responsAbility, structuring investment opportunities in agribusiness, with positive social and environmental impacts. Prior to joining responsAbility, she worked in the Inter American Development Bank (IADB Lab), leading and supporting project teams in designing loan and technical cooperation projects to finance rural businesses in Latin America.
Andrea Mazariegos is a professional with extensive experience in ecosystem facilitation, project coordination, and economic growth promotion in Guatemala. She has led initiatives to enhance collaboration within the business ecosystem, improve access to technical training for youth, and drive sustainable development policies. Andrea’s diverse background spans academia, media management, and finance, supported by certifications from the London School of Economics and MIT. She is also a member of the investor committee at Delta Fund and a board member of CREAMOS, a foundation focused on eradicating gender-based violence in communities near the Guatemala City dump.