Grecia is an international development specialist from Mexico who has worked and volunteered in various international organizations, nonprofits, and educational programs in the U.S. and the Latin American region. Currently, she is the Lead Analyst for Mexico and Central America at Southern Pulse and a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank. Early in her career, Grecia spoke at the United Nations’ headquarters and shared a message about youth inclusion in high-level decision-making positions. As a Mexican woman, a passionate economist, and a Sustainable Development Goals advocate, she has shared her experiences and expertise with young people in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Recently she was awarded with the 2019 Youth Leadership Award for the Promotion of international policy and political culture in Mexico, given by the State Government of Guerrero, as well as she has been a speaker and facilitator in numerous training programs for the 2030 Agenda. Grecia holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's degree in International Policy and Development.

Juan Gómez is Vice President of Lending and Investments at Madison Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable workforce housing and attainable business loans to the residents and businesses of Dane County. He assumed that role earlier this year after two years as capital finance officer for the State of Wisconsin and five years as technology investment manager for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. He has extensive experience in economic development, public finance, and real estate. Juan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and MBA, both from UW-Whitewater. He is fluent in Spanish and can also speak Russian. Juan is an avid runner and enjoys travel.

Layla is the President of the WCCN Board of Directors. She was raised in Madison, WI and spent 12 years living overseas in Palestine working in various fields of international development. She has extensive experience working in fair trade and is a World Fair Trade Organization certified Fair Trade Auditor. Layla currently serves as the Executive Director of a small non-profit, Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy, whose mission is to promote the ongoing development of a vibrant and sustainable economy in Palestine by building bridges and supporting the indigenous business community. Layla is fluent in spoken Arabic and loves to read and spend time with her children. She is passionate about racial and social justice and believes firmly in walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Layla now lives in Houston, Texas with her husband, Mohammed, and her two children, Nishan and Zayna. 

Anna is passionate about economic justice and believes that access to capital is one of the most important aspects to disrupting generational and intergenerational poverty. At age 16 she went to Nicaragua on a Spanish Instruction and Cultural Immersion trip and fell in love with Latin America. She went on to earn a degree in International Affairs, with a focus on Latin America, from Northeastern University in Boston. Anna has over a decade of experience working in nonprofits and in 2018 was recruited to work for CUNA Mutual Group’s Horizon 3 Innovation Center as a Customer Experiences and Product Innovation Manager where she is designing financial products to help people achieve economic security. Anna lives in Madison, Wisconsin where, in addition to her work, she fills her time volunteering for New Leaders Council and spending time with her niece and nephew.

Javier is a sustainable finance and international development specialist. Currently an Investment Associate at CapShift’s Research and Advisory team, he is responsible for sourcing, qualifying, and conducting due diligence on impact investing opportunities. Javier previously served as Senior Project Officer at The Trust for the Americas – Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., where he led development programs and supported implementations in Argentina, Peru, Jamaica, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, and Chile. Additional experience includes The Migrant Peacebuilding Project, OAS DECO - Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, the Embassy of Guatemala in France, NDI – National Democratic Institute, and the Congress of Guatemala. A United World Colleges Alumnus from Guatemala, Javier holds a BA in Government and a minor in Economics from Colby College, a Certificate in International Development and Social Change from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and an MPA from Columbia University.

Frank is the Treasurer of the WCCN Board of Directors. As President of Madison Development Corp, Frank directed all business lending, business assistance, real estate development and housing management programs, providing service to over 400 small businesses with financing and/or financial management assistance. He also serves on the City of Madison Economic Development Committee, and Board of Directors of Independent Living Inc., a Dane County provider of housing and services for the elderly.  Formerly served on the Boards of a local employment & training organization and a technology business incubator. Frank received his B.A. from The Ohio State University and received his M.A. and post graduate study in Public Administration at the University of Texas.

Jordan is Senior Economist for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and Associate Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin- Madison's department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He has 10 years of experience in international development, microfinance, and economic research in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Prior to joining CUNA, Jordan worked as a Senior Loan Officer for Accion New Mexico, a non-profit microcredit organization. Before that, he worked as a Project Associate for ideas42, where he utilized insights from behavioral economics to improve microcredit services in Colombia. Jordan holds a PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics from UW-Madison and is a Fellow at UW-Madison's Center for Financial Security. He also holds a master's degree in International Development and Economics from UC-San Diego and a BA in International Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. 

Megan is the Vice President of the WCCN Board of Directors. She works at Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin managing the FoodShare Outreach team. In this role Megan spends time in the community assisting clients as well as building partnerships with community organizations to better serve clients and tackle food insecurity in our local community. Prior to working at Second Harvest, Megan worked at a wholesale artisan fair trade company where she supported operations at the Wisconsin based warehouse, communicated frequently with South American staff and artisan groups, and assisted with the planning of educational tours in South America. Megan speaks Spanish and has spent time studying, living, and volunteering in Central and South America.

Leilani is the Secretary of the WCCN Board of Directors. She is the Founder of Naturally Smart Travel, a tour coordination company partnering impact investors and social entrepreneurs in the developing world through immersive travel. Earlier in her career she gained experience in the Los Angeles startup industry, growing small domestic teams into international success. Leilani has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Master's degree in Business Management. 

David Diggs is a Leader of Product Strategy and Operations for Search Platforms at Google.  David provides trusted, independent insight, and drives strategic alignment to enable Search Platforms to deliver at full potential.  David's work is a natural extension of the 9 years he spent as a divisional leader and management consulting working at American Management Systems, Cambridge Technology Partners, and various start-ups; 7 years working in Financial Services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the World Economic Forum, and E*Trade; and, 5 years in Non-Profit / Volunteer work leading Stanford Alumni in Chicago as President and Board Chairman.  For the last 12+ years, David has been focused on Organizational Performance...improving processes, increasing accountability, and finding ways to direct teams to partner on shared outcomes.  David addresses the “people” issues, the “numbers” issues, and the “strategic execution” issues with practical experience coupled with degrees in each discipline: B.A. in Organizational Behavior, Sociology (Stanford University), M.S. Financial Analysis & Investment Management (Saint Mary’s College), and a MBA in Strategy (University of Chicago, Booth School of Business).  David chose to pursue a Board role at WCCN to "empower entrepreneurs" to help themselves and their communities by investing in people.

Guerra is the founder of the Altus, a platform that enables healthcare professionals to track and meet annual compliance and education requirements. His immigrant father’s bumpy healthcare journey fuels his passion for innovations for patients and the dedicated workers in clinics, hospitals, and other facilities.

As a young entrepreneur, Guerra chose to give back to his community as chairperson of the board of directors Madison’s Community Development Authority from 2011 to 2019. This agency champions redevelopment efforts for the city and oversees the Section 8 federal housing program and the city’s public housing program that serves 1,800 people. Guerra has participated in national Hispanic efforts including a program at Stanford University. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Latino Professional Association of Greater Madison, Inc.

Prior to starting Altus, Guerra worked in the web technologies and software development industry.

Ligia (Ligi) Vado has over 20 years of experience leveraging economics and finance policy research.  She joined the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) in 2022 – the largest and most influential national trade association advocating for America's credit unions. There are over 5,000 credit unions nationwide, with a total of more than 130 million memberships and over $2 trillion in assets.

Ligi serves as a Senior Economist in CUNA’s Policy Analysis department.  In that role, she conducts economic research and supports CUNA’s public relations and advocacy efforts.  Her work centers on data analysis and effective data visualization and she also contributes to the department’s forecasting function.  Her views and analyses appear in trade publications such as Credit Union Magazine. 

Vado has extensive experience developing data science solutions, machine learning models, as well as quantitative analysis.  Before joining CUNA, she was an Adjunct Professor of Business Analytics at Thomas More University. 

She knows credit unions – having served as an Insights and Analytical Services analyst for CUNA Mutual Group. Prior to that she was a Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance Specialist at the World Bank where she focused on policy research and supporting risk financing and international housing finance initiatives.

Ms. Vado earned a Ph.D. in Economics from North Carolina State University.  She also has a master’s degree in Economics from N.C. State and an M.Sc. in Agricultural & Applied Economics from Texas Tech University.  Her bachelor’s degree - in Economics & Finance - was earned from Thomas More University – Managua, Nicaragua. She holds dual American and Italian citizenships.

Martin Kokholm Nielsen is from Denmark, grew up in Tanzania and Botswana and has worked two years in Eswatini (previous known as Swaziland). Just out of Business School Martin and his family joined “Green Families of Denmark” who’s mission was selfsustained living, with focus on energy and waste consumption. Martin’s interest, in supporting Oikocredit US, comes from his many years living in Africa and experiencing how microfinancing can support family business. Martin is an experienced Chief Financial Officer, has worked many years in Denmark, USA and Chile. Salt Lake City, Utah is Martin’s home and where he works as Vice President, regional CFO for FLSmidth, a global Danish Mining and Cement Equipment group. Previous to joining FLSmidth, Martin held difference finance and CFO roles in larger Danish companies, one being Denmark’s largest green energy group. He comes with 12 years auditing experience, from Deloitte, PwC and RSM. Martin holds a Master Degree in Auditing and Accounting, from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

Antoinette Kenmuir-Evans was inspired to join the board of WCCN to support and promote its mission of improving the lives of those living in underserved communities. Based in New York City, Antoinette is Vice-President, Private Client Advisor in JP Morgan’s Wealth Management division for high net worth individuals, families, and small institutions. Prior to her 16-year tenure in finance, she worked at IDEXX Laboratories in the Environmental Division where she held various roles, most recently as Regional Sales Manager of the Asia-Pacific region. While at IDEXX, she travelled extensively and learned firsthand about the importance of clean and safe water in developed and non-developed communities. Antoinette is a graduate of Bates College in her native state of Maine where she received a B.A. in Biology. She is passionate about making a positive impact whether it be for her clients or the nonprofits that she works with in her free time.