Melissa obtained her Bachelor of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design with a concentration in Sustainability and  her masters in Real Estate Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She was a member of the innovation lab at RISD that aimed to bridge design thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship to address issues of global poverty and social injustice.  Even though most of her work has been focused around sustainable and socially conscious real estate development projects, she is passionate about providing women the tools and infrastructure they need in order to become active agents of social and economic change in their communities. She is convinced design thinking and human centric design could serve as a powerful tool to enable partnerships focused on uplifting women around the world. Like this:Like Loading…

Maria Gabriela has 15 + of leadership experience across the U.S. and Latin America at the intersection of government, international development, and the nonprofit sector and has centered on designing, implementing, and leading social protection programs from the ground up, advising global consulting firms, and supporting community-based initiatives. She holds leadership roles in regional and international networks that allow her as a founder to connect, learn, contribute, and weave collaborations with mission-driven human beings around the world. In them, she has hosted global discussions that elevate the perspectives and experiences of women. In leading Uplifting Women by MGA she seeks to uplift women in all dimension of life and inspire others building socially conscious cultures.  She has a postgraduate degree in International Business from Universidad Americana, a certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from Cornell University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Culture, minor in Education, and Master’s in Public Administration from Clark University. Like this:Like Loading…