Yadira Bayona, Mexico
Before joining Ashoka, Yadira worked in implementing cross-sector alliances, which allowed companies, public institutions and civil society organizations to share knowledge and experiences in order to reach their social and profitability goals. Her work included development projects with organizations such as the World Bank, PACT, CEMEFI, TNC, and companies as CEMEX, GAMESA, UPS and others. Yadira designed, implemented and evaluated programs for more than 1000 leading citizen organizations focused on organization development, social marketing and fundraising, finance and project management, social partnering and community empowerment in 16 countries in Latin America. She has an MBA with a specialization in Strategies and Corporative Politics from the TEC of Monterrey's Graduate Business School EGADE.

Chris Heald, Canada
After more than fifteen years of providing technical advice and support to a wide range of citizen sector organizations, I find myself continually impressed by the people I meet and by how open they are to change, and how willing they are to adopt (and adapt!) new technologies to advance their goals. Having made a lifelong occupation of being the person who helps develop and deploy new technology in organizations, that's what I have come to do at Ashoka. And as a trend-setting organization with globe-spanning and wide-ranging impact, I look forward to the unique opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Armando Laborde, Mexico
Armando Laborde brings a wealth of social entrepreneurship experience to Ashoka Mexico. Most recently, in his three years as Executive Director of Promujer Mexico, Armando integrated 11,000 women in the micro-credit movement, opened 14 branches, and managed 60 full time staff. Armando’s biggest accomplishment: 99.7% of Promujer members were on time with their payments and actively participating in different workshops, building an economically self-sustainable organization. Before Promujer, Armando took up several roles in advancing the fair trade movement, including designing and implementing a triple bottom line program to commercialize coffee from the El Triunfo Biosphere in Chiapas, Mexico. He convinced 1,000 farmers to participate and connected them with important coffee distributors including Starbucks. Armando received the Humphrey Fellowship in 1999 and spent one year in the U.S. studying social enterprises, including EcoLogic Enterprise Ventures and Ten Thousand Villages. In 1994, Armando was part of the team that created FinComun, one of Mexico’s pioneering microfinance groups. Armando has a BS in Biochemistry and a MBA from Instituto Panamericano en Alta Dirección de Empresas in Mexico.

Roberto Wohlgemuth, Canada
Roberto is an Ecuadorian lawyer with an extensive background in the field of human rights. He holds a Master degree in International Law and has diverse work experience ranging from serving in the citizen sector, with governmental institutions as well as with the United Nations in Geneva. His passion for social justice and desire to work with a vibrant civil society led Roberto to South Africa where he worked with CIVICUS and led projects related to promoting and protecting civic rights in countries such as Zimbabwe, Belarus and Bangladesh. After two years working with CIVICUS, Roberto moved to Canada with his wife where he worked with the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS) as coordinator for the Charities and Democracy Project. In light of the citizen’s sector need to engage more effectively with the media and utilize innovative web tools for social change, Roberto recently co-founded the Vancouver-based Institute for Citizen Journalism.
Roberto joined the Changemakers team as consultant in May 2007. From entrepreneuring peace to sports for social change, Roberto has developed strategies to spread the word about the collaborative competitions and attracted social innovators from all over the world. He is now responsible for the implementation of Ashoka’s Changemakers Partnership and Media Relations Program.