Washington, D.C. (December 14, 2021) – The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) is pleased to welcome five new members to its Board of Trustees. The seasoned executives join a diverse group of individuals who provide strategic leadership to achieve the organization’s mission of investing resources in Latin America and the Caribbean to create opportunities for all.
Ms. Alonzo, Ms. Hanson-Muse, Ambassador Parsan, Mr. Ferré Rangel, and Ms. Valderrama join the PADF Board at a pivotal time as PADF starts the implementation of a new strategic plan and prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Their diverse talents and expertise will strengthen our efforts to advocate for continued support for Latin America and the Caribbean. The new Trustees will add their voice to the pursuit of PADF’s critical mission.”
These five remarkable individuals bring an impressive wealth of expertise and perspectives on sustainable finance, corporate relations, public and government affairs, and communications and marketing to our Board of Trustees. They will play an important role in shaping PADF’s strategic direction as we strive to remain competitive in the ever-changing international development field.”
Ms. Alonzo is an Independent Corporate Board Director of PotlatchDeltic, a leading timber and wood products corporation focused on sustainable forest practices. She also serves as Senior Advisor to Pollination, a global climate change and investment advisory firm as well as Advisor to TrailHead Capital a social impact capital investment firm specializing in land and regenerative agriculture investments.
Ms. Alonzo most recently served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer at Corteva Agriscience, a global publicly traded agricultural chemical and seed company. Ms. Alonzo also served as President & CEO of the American Egg Board, Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Vice President of Global Public Policy at Kraft Foods as well as other senior leadership roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Ms. Alonzo brings a myriad of knowledge and experience in ESG, agricultural sustainability, marketing, regulatory, public affairs and environmental matters. Ms. Alonzo holds both an MBA and a J.D. Ms. Alonzo has extensive international experience including having lived and worked in Mexico City as a U.S. diplomat. She is a Latina fluent in Spanish.
Ms. Hanson-Muse is an active member of WCD, the world’s largest organization and community of Women Corporate Board Directors. She sits on WCD’s Family Business and Governance Committees and has been recognized with the Susan B. Stautberg Leadership Award for launching five international chapters.
Ms. Hanson-Muse previously was a senior U.S. Department of Commerce diplomat whose assignments included Mexico, Cote d’Ivoire, India, Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, and Singapore/ASEAN. Her global network comprises government and private sector leaders dedicated to change management in their respective countries. A continuous learner, her interests include governance, impact investing, fintech, blockchain, and standards/IPR. The Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of State, the Colombian Government, and the private sector have recognized her achievements with numerous awards.
Recently, Ms. Hanson-Muse was the Faculty Chair for the Department of Commerce at the Eisenhower School (ES) of the National Defense University (NDU). As an Assistant Professor of Practice of Strategic Leadership, she taught Strategic Leadership, Scenario Planning for Conflict Management, Design Thinking, Industry Analysis, Global Agility, Biotech and other National Security Resourcing related courses to rising military, interagency, and international military officers in traditional and virtual environments. She was a founding member of the Women in National Security and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) chapters for ES.
Ms. Hanson-Muse’s private sector career included management positions for Allstate Insurance, General Electric, and Sprint. She graduated cum laude from Brandeis University with a B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies, an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and earned an Executive Certificate in Impact Investing for “Financing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals” from the IIX Institute of Singapore. She is fluent in Spanish and French and is a mentor to immigrant college students.
Ambassador Parsan is a diplomat, medically trained global health policy consultant, energy advisor and management consultant. He is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Parsan Cross, a Washington DC-based global strategic advisory firm and presently serves as Senior Advisor at Dentons, the world ’s largest law firm. He previously served as Special Advisor to The World Bank Group and is the Founder and Chairman of Your247Doc a Telehealth Company, bringing digital health care to those most in need.
Ambassador Parsan has many years of international business experience executing many projects globally with a focus in the Caribbean and Latin America. He was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, Ambassador to Mexico, and Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the Organization of American States (OAS), where he also held the Cabinet position of Executive Secretary for Integral Development.
Ambassador Parsan earned his undergraduate medical degree at the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, where he graduated with distinction. After spending eight years as a Lecturer/Tutor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, he pursued a Master of Business Administration, graduating as top student with distinction.
He also holds a Registered Financial Consultant Degree, a CACM from Harvard University School of Public Health, and a World Trade Professional Degree from ITM Worldwide in Sweden. Dr. Parsan was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate for Education, Culture, and Humanitarian work from the Americana University, registered with Cambridge University and the Congress of Mexico.
Ambassador Parsan is the Chairman of the Board or the Global Alliance for Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma, and Anesthetic Care (The G4 Alliance based in Chicago), Chairman of the Global Gas Council, Chairman of the International Gas Union Global Ambassadors Network, Director of the Young Americas Business Trust, and Director of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business Alumni Board. He previously served as Chair of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development and Chair of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of HealthNet Limited.
He has also been given the following recognition: Conferred the title of Colonel Honorable Neil Parsan by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, U.S.A.; Award for Leadership by the City of Philadelphia and the Africa and Caribbean Business Council; Proclamation of Ambassador Dr. Neil Parsan Day in the Cities of Boston, Hartford, Doral, and Miami; Statesman Award from Memorial of Congressman Payne; and the key to the City of Broward County, Florida.
Ambassador Parsan is an Honorary Member of the International Committee on HIV/AIDS on Capitol Hill, the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, the American Association of People with Disabilities, and the Americas Society. He is also on the Board of Advisors of the National Student Leadership Foundation of the USA.
Mr. Ferré Rangel is Chief Social Innovation Officer of the Grupo Ferré Rangel (GFR) and Chief Editorial Advisor of GFR Media, where he oversees the group’s social innovation strategy, applying entrepreneurial solutions to pressing social issues in Puerto Rico.
Among other social empowerment initiatives, Mr. Ferré Rangel is the founding president of Agenda Ciudadana, a nonprofit organization that trains citizens to be more engaged in public issues and facilitates dialogue between citizens and the body politic to strengthen the democratic life of Puerto Rico. He also presides over the board of Centros Sor Isolina Ferré in Puerto Rico, a youth services organization founded by Puerto Rican missionary nun and aunt, Isolina Ferré, M.B.S.T. In addition, Mr. Ferré Rangel was editor of Puerto Rico’s GFR media news operations for over 20 years.
Mr. Ferré Rangel serves on the board of the Washington-based Sustained Dialogue Institute, which helps people to transform conflictual relationships and design change processes around the world. With close to 30 years of newsroom experience and engagement in the continued pursuit of journalistic integrity and innovation, he also serves as Chief Editorial Advisor to GFR Media.
He is a member of the faculty of the school of communications of Sacred Heart University in Puerto Rico, where he teaches journalism, international affairs, and media management. Mr. Ferré Rangel is passionate about the transformational power of journalism, public policy, and citizen engagement through deep listening, dialogue, and action.
Ms. Valderrama serves as Secretary of the PADF Board of Trustees. She is Senior Director of International Government Affairs at Chevron, where she has spent the past 17 years serving in various roles from the business and operational side of the energy industry as well as, policy, government affairs, public relations, and marketing roles. She was Policy, Government, and Public Affairs Manager (Upstream and Downstream) for the Americas; Policy, Government, and Public Affairs Regional Manager; Area Marketing Manager for the U.S East and Latin America; and Global Brand Marketing Manager for the Texaco Brand.
Prior to Chevron, Ms. Valderrama was Consumer Research Manager at ExxonMobil and held various field positions of increasing responsibilities over more than 12 years with Mobil Oil. She has had the opportunity of relocating several times throughout her career enriching her knowledge of the energy business as well the cultural similarities and differences throughout the hemisphere.
She is an expert in energy, government, and the energy sector, fluent in Spanish, and proficient in Portuguese. Ms. Valderrama sits on the Interamerican Dialogue’s Leadership Council, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute Advisory Board, and on the Institute of the Americas and the Interamerican Dialogue Energy Steering Committees. Her passion in mentoring is reflected in her role as Board member of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Initiative (CHLI) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Initiative (CHCI).
PADF believes in creating a hemisphere of opportunity, for all. We work across Latin America and the Caribbean to make our region stronger—more healthy, peaceful, just, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable for current and future generations. For nearly 60 years, we have served the most vulnerable communities, investing resources throughout the hemisphere. We partner with and enable civil society, governments, and the private sector for the greater good of the region.
