Team

Evan Markiewicz
Executive director, Co-founder

Evan is the executive director of ViviendasLeón and is responsible for overseeing partnerships, communications, and financial management. Until 2003, Mr. Markiewicz worked under the auspices of the New Haven/León Sister City Project, an internationally recognized non-governmental organization, where he developed ViviendasLeón and other programs targeting the multiple needs of rural communities.

Brenda Acosta
Director, Nicaragua

Brenda Acosta is from León. She holds a degree in Accounting, Finance and Computing. She has fifteen years of accounting experience. Her career includes work at AMOCSA, an insurance company, as an accounting and administrative assistant from 1998-1999, Reencaushadora Moderna as an accounting assistant from 1999-2000, Penelas y Sireras as a general accountant 2000-2004, and Sucesión Mantica Berio, S. A. as general accountant from 2005-2013. Brenda was hired as an accounting assistant in July 2013 and is responsible for our small business projects.

Norma Baján
Director, Guatemala

Originally from San Lucas Tolimán, Sololá, a Maya Kakchiquel community, Norma has a degree in Business Administration and Auditing from the Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala City. She graduated from the Guatemalan Leadership Association and was selected as a fellow for Central America.

She has 25 years of experience working for non-governmental organizations in education and microcredit programs, focusing on the empowerment of women.

In 2022 Norma founded KOWIN , an initiative that seeks to connect talent with opportunity, focused on training young diversified graduates to connect them with job opportunities through strategic alliances with organizations and companies.

Between 2010 and 2022, Norma was the Executive Director and co-founder of the Impacto School of MAIA.  MAIA is the first secondary school in Central America designed specifically for Mayan girls from rural Guatemala and an internationally recognized and award-winning school. During that time she was responsible for developing international partnerships with organizations focusing on women’s education and empowerment.

She was previously director of Friendship Bridge from 2008-10, an organization focusing on small business development for rural women, engaging more than 17,000 women in 8 departments in Guatemala.

Norma is fluent in Spanish, English and her mother language, Kakchiquel.

Cristhian Rojas
Capacity Training, Nicaragua

Cristhian is from Malpaisillo, near León. He holds a degree in Social Work and Development Management from the Faculty of Education Sciences and Humanities, at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-León). He has participated in psychosocial articulation and intervention from UNAN-LEON, specifically in the ‘’Walter Ferreti’’ neighborhood in the city of León, and carrying out a diagnosis of Community Community public health for the prevention of diseases. In 2015 he completed two diplomas, one with the Spanish Red Cross focused on the promotion of human rights with gender equality and social inclusion, the other with the León-Zaragoza Sister City, on ludic methodologies applied to organizational development.

Maybeline Chavajay
Capacity Training, Guatemala

Maybeline Chavajay is from San Pedro la Laguna, Sololá.  She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala in Quetzaltenango and is working toward obtaining her license as a social worker.  In her previous position with Vision Guatemala, she facilitated a health program in 2019 focusing on training women and adolescents in the department of Sololá on comprehensive health issues including reproductive education, health and nutrition. From 2020-21she was the coordinator of the program developing new programming, assuming administrative responsibilities and developing alliances with medical clinics.

“I enjoy collaborating with women and adolescents from other communities to learn more about other cultures around me (Sololá has at least 3 major indigenous language groups) and talk about important topics such as comprehensive health, sexual education and mental health. I consider these important topics for women, ensuring that little by little we can break with various taboos we have grown up with. I want to be an agent of change and contribute my knowledge in the different spaces where I am involved.”

Maybeline is fluent in Spanish, English and her native language, tz'utujill.

Jorge Blanco
Agroecology program, Nicaragua

Jorge is from León. He is trained as a Civil Engineer and Agronomist.  He holds a degree as an Agronomist Technician from the University of Commercial Sciences (UCC León), with a post graduate internship and field work as a technician on a local commercial farm.  In addition, he holds a degree in Civil Engineering from UCC León, with additional coursework in occupational risks and safety. He received training from ViviendaLeón in honey based cosmetics and in technical supervision of bee communities.

Camilo Melendez Guido
Agronomist, Nicaragua

Camilo is from Quezalguaque, in the department of León. His father, Nicolas, was an agricultural technician.  Camilo attended a boarding school in Quezalguaque, specializing in Agronomy.  After completing his studies he began work, gaining experiences as an agronomist at the El Tronco farm.

As part of his professional development, Camilo attended a permaculture course at UNAN in Leon, co-sponsored by a US NGO, NHL SCP, and taught by UNAN professors from the Integrated Pest Management department, and from ALTERTEC, Guatemala.

Camilo currently works as an agronomist for ViviendasLeon, assisting our Agroforestry Program Officer in the training and pest management of our farms.

Molly Molander
Project director, Guatemala

Molly is an architect and has been living and working in Panajachel, Guatemala since 1998. She manages Tierra Linda Architects and is responsible for numerous private and community design projects. Molly has been a friend of ViviendasLeón since 2005 and is responsible for planning and managing the community construction projects we work on with rural communities.

Brenda Maribel Sahón Mátzar
Accountant

Brenda Maribel is from Panajachél. She holds a degree in business administration from Mariano Gálvez University in Guatemala City, and a certificate in computer based accounting from San Francisco College in Panajachél, Sololá. She is our accounting administrator in Guatemala.

Annie Longsworth
Board member

Annie Longsworth is a brand and communications leader committed to positive change through business. She launched The Siren Agency in January 2015 after three years as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S. Through a combination of ongoing insight collection, strategic discovery, and social storytelling, Siren is devoted to helping tomorrow’s brands solve their hardest problems and build relationships with their most important customers. Annie has a BA from the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio and earned an executive MBA certificate in Sustainability from the Presidio Graduate School in the spring of 2010.

Rob Lawrence
Board member

Rob has extensive experience in non-profit organizations and board affiliations. He holds degrees from Harvard University and Pepperdine University. He has worked as a non-profit consultant, and for organizations with an environmental focus.

MIke Hower
Board member

Mike is the Managing Director of Sustainability & Social Impact, leading partnership development in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, and providing strategic counsel for thinkPARALLAX clients. He also leads the thinkPARALLAX Perspectives speaker series in San Francisco, which brings together business and nonprofit leaders to discuss sustainability issues around communication, technology, food, and more. Mike also is a regulator contributor to GreenBiz where he writes about the latest trends in sustainable business and policy.

Alexandra Rosas
Board member

Alexandra Rosas is the Associate Director of Communications at sustainability insights technology company Higg. Throughout her career in communications and public relations, she has helped mission-driven businesses dedicated to sustainable development amplify their brand stories and convey the positive impact they’re making. She has also worked for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Volunteers of America, and the Inter-American Foundation. Alexandra has a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is based in Miami, Florida.