LASA: Latin American Students Association

Name	Position	Email
Diana Rodriguez	President	dcr2135@columbia.edu
Darcie D'Augusta	Vice President	dld2127@columbia.edu
Sarah Bishop	Treasurer	smb2194@columbia.edu
Elen De Paula	Secretary	epp2107@columbia.edu
Christa Silva-Jones	Cultural Co-Chair	cls2158@columbia.edu
Arianne Ortiz	Academic Co-Chair	ao2271@columbia.edu
Alana Tummino	Academic Co-Chair	art2128@columbia.edu
Gwyneth Fries	Communications Chair	gbf2102@columbia.edu
Maritza Gonzalez	Cultural Co-Chair	mdg2141@columbia.edu
Inti Montenegro De Wit	Events & Logistics Coordinator	irm2105@columbia.edu
NaTasha Taylor	Events and Logistics Coordinator	nmt2108@columbia.edu
Erin Kang	Marketing Officer	ek2521@columbia.edu
Karin Bennett	Marketing Co-Chair	kcb2120@columbia.edu
Kate Brick	Conference Committee	keb2150@columbia.edu
Pablo Espinel	Conference Committee	pae2108@columbia.edu

	Diana Rodriguez Diana Rodriguez is currently pursuing a Master in International Affairs at Columbia University. Prior to coming to Columbia she worked for the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where she organized conferences and congressional delegations focusing on U.S.-Mexico relations, trade, energy and immigration. She previously served as the Assistant Director of the Group of Fifty, an association of Latin American business leaders, which is sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. During her time with the G-50 she organized local and international forums in conjunction with Foreign Policy Magazine and the World Economic Forum. Diana has also worked for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and for the Center for US-Mexican Studies. As an undergraduate she interned for the Office of Binational Affairs, City of San Diego and La Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores—Dirección Para la Frontera Norte in Mexico City. She received her BA in Political Science and Latin American Studies from the University ofCalifornia, San Diego and has studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad de La Habana and the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.
	Ariane Ortiz Marrufo Ariane Ortiz Marrufo was born in Mexico City. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) in Monterrey, Mexico and is now pursuing a Master of Public Administration at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), concentrating in Advanced Policy and Economic Analysis. Before coming to SIPA, Ariane worked for Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank in Monterrey. She is interested in Migration, Finance, and Development, seeking to better understand the impact of liberalizing financial markets in emerging economies and search for ways to expand financial services in developing countries. Ariane enjoys tennis, baseball and yoga. She likes reading, traveling and cult movies. She still needs to learn how to cook, but she enjoys eating well.
	Alana Tummino Alana Tummino is a Master of International Affairs candidate concentrating in Economic and Political Development with a professional focus in Microfinance and Microenterprise Development. She will be applying these skills this summer in Veracruz, Mexico working for a microfinance investment company, MicroCred. Prior to joining Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), she worked for three years at a US-Latin American think tank, Council of the Americas, with frequent travel to the region analyzing economic and political trends and investment opportunities. Prior to the Council, Alana lived in Argentina working for a small environmental NGO, and traveled extensively throughout all of Latin America. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Spanish from the George Washington University.
	Erin Kang Erin Kang is pursuing a Master of International Affairs concentrating in Economic and Political Development with a regional focus on Latin America. Before coming to SIPA, Erin earned a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley and also studied international politics at Complutense University in Madrid for a year. Erin has worked for Amnesty International USA in DC for the media relations department as well as the Children and Familes Commission of California.
	Gwyneth B. Fries Gwyneth B. Fries is originally from Washington D.C. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Development Studies from Brown University. At SIPA, Gwyneth is in her first year of the Master of International Affairs Program with a concentration in Urban Policy. Before coming to SIPA, Gwyneth spent three years working in Guatemala. For two years, she working in fundraising and sponsorship for Common Hope, a non-profit organization that seeks to break the cycle of poverty by providing access to education and health. Prior to her work at Common Hope, she taught Middle School English and Social Studies at a local school. Gwyneth is most interested in public policy solutions to provide adequate security, housing, water and santitation services for the urban poor in Latin America.
	Karin Bennett Karin Bennett is originally from Summit, NJ. She attended Lafayette College for undergrad and spent a semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain. Prior to coming to Columbia Univeristy to pursue a degree in International Affairs, she worked and lived in New York City. At Columbia, she is focusing on renewable energy and climate change in Latin America. This summer she will be working on sustainable energy projects in Colombia. In her leisure time, she enjoys traveling, running, yoga, hiking, tennis and sailing.
	Pablo Espinel Pablo Espinel is from Ecuador. He earned an Engineering Degree in Forestry and Environmental Sciences from the ESPOCH University and is now pursuing a Master of International Affairs concentrating in Economic and Political Development and International Media and Communication at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Before coming to SIPA, Pablo worked for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Mexico,DF and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Country Office in Ecuador, mainly in the political development sector. He also worked as a freelance journalist and editor for politics of the Los Andes Newspaper in Ecuador. Previous to his experience at the FAO, he worked at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito as a Researcher. Pablo speaks 5 languages and lived in Switzerland, Germany and Mexico. He is the elected SIPA Class’10 Senator.
	Kate Brick Kate Brick is a master's candidate at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Her concentration is in Social Policy and Human Rights with a focus on international migration and immigrant integration. She is Co-Chair of SIPA's Migration Working Group and is currently working with the Open Society Institute's Migration Taskforce. Prior to arriving at Columbia, Kate was the Program Associate for the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute in Washington, DC. Kate was one of the national coordinators for the Mexico Institute’s initiative on Latin American immigrant civic and political participation. In this capacity she organized and led the study of Latino immigrants in the Washington Metropolitan Area and edited the report Local Goes National: Challenges and Opportunities for Latino Immigrants in the Nation's Capital. She received a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in 2005.

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