CEO, IMPAQTO
Social entrepreneur and human rights lawyer. Currently, Michelle is the CEO of IMPAQTO, the first social innovation accelerator and network of coworking spaces in Ecuador, supporting a broader ecosystem of social entrepreneurs from the Andean region. IMPAQTO serves over 550 entrepreneurs every month in its 4 coworking branches, has accelerated the growth of 152 impact start-ups through its Labs program and reaches over 10k change agents annually through its network events and workshops.
Earlier in her career, Michelle was the founding Country Director of Asylum Access Ecuador, a rights clinic for refugees in developing countries now reaching more than 9,000 refugees in Asia, Africa and Latin America. As a consultant, has focused on paths to scaling impact for grassroots organizations, including an association of families of disappeared children in El Salvador, and communities at risk of development-induced displacement in Thailand, Cambodia and India.
She is the former General Manager, TECHO Ecuador and Latin America lead for HURIDOCS, a human rights and technology NGO and launched GreenCrowds, Ecuador's first crowdfunding platform to support SGP-UNDP grassroots projects. She holds an Mst in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford and a Master's in Public Policy, UC Berkeley.
Economic Opportunity • Human Rights • Livelihoods • Peace and Human Rights • Responsible Supply Chains • Smallholder Productivity • Sustainable Markets • Women's and Girls' Education • Youth Job Skills
North America, South America, Central America
