Who are we?

Governance and Transparency

Governance and transparency

SUMMA’s governance structure is made up of two entities: the Board of Directors and the Educational Policy Advisory Council. Under its guidelines is SUMMA’s Executive Directorate, based in Santiago, Chile.

The Board of Directors is made up of distinguished experts, former ministers of education and academics from ten countries in the region. The Advisory Council for Educational Policies (CAPE) is made up of Ministers, Vice Ministers and/or senior representatives of the Ministries of Education and National Institutes of Educational Evaluation of SUMMA member countries. The CAPE is the body in charge of ensuring the representativeness, impact, relevance, and political legitimacy of SUMMA’s work agenda.

SUMMA Board

Cristián Cox - President (Chile)

Teacher at the Faculty of Education and Director of the Centre for Comparative Education Policies, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago.

Cristián Cox

President (Chile)

About Cristian Cox

Sociologist from the Universidad Católica de Chile, and Ph.D. from the University of London (1984). Teacher at the Faculty of Education and director of the Centre for Comparative Education Policies, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago.

During the 1990s, he directed the MECE programmes for the Chilean Ministry of Education, and from 1998 to 2006, he constituted and directed the Curriculum and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry of Education in that country, responsible for the curriculum reform that decade, and the system for measuring the quality of education (SIMCE). He established and directed the Centre for Policy and Practice Studies (CEPPE) of the Universidad Católica (2008-2011) and was Dean of the Faculty of Education at this university (2012-2015).

He has been visiting professor at the Universities of Stanford (USA) and Leiden (Netherlands), consultant for UNESCO, OECD, World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank. Between 2010 and 2018 he directed the Technical Secretariat of the UNESCO-OREALC Teaching Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean and currently participates in the Project Advisory Committee, for the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2022, for the IEA.

Miguel Brechner - Director (Uruguay)

Plan Ceibal President.

Director (Uruguay)

Plan Ceibal President.

About Miguel Brechner

He is Plan Ceibal President, an inclusion and equal opportunities project created in 2007 to support Uruguayan educational policies with technology.

Telecommunications Engineer, graduated from Imperial College London.

For more than twenty-five years he was involved in the search for and application of new technologies. He was responsible for the introduction of Digital Equipment Corp. -later Compaq- and Acer in Uruguay, as well as Sonda and Newbridge technologies in the areas of systems and telecommunications.

In 2005 he was appointed president of LATU (Technological Laboratory of Uruguay), a governmental institution that promotes the sustainable development of the country through innovation and transfer of solutions, a position he held until 2018.

Nivia Castrellón - Director (Panama)

United for Education Foundation Vice President

Nivia Castrellón

Director (Panama)

About Nivia Castrellón

United for Education Foundation Vice President since 2012 and Co-Chair of the Central American Commission for Educational Reform of PREAL, since 2002. Former member of the Board of Directors at the Panamenean Cultural Institute. She was president for sixteen years of the National Union of Private Educational centres. In addition, she served as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Panamenean Government from 2003-2004.

She was Ambassador-at-Large of the Presidential Council for the achievement of the permanent seat of the FTAA from 2001-2004 and President of the National Council of Private Enterprise from 1998-1999.

Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Central American Institute of Business Administration and Master of Law (LLM) from Harvard University. She holds a law and political science degree from the Universidad de Panama, with a subsequent specialization in international trade from the same university.

Enrique Chaux - Director (Colombia)

Teacher, Psychology Department, Universidad de los Andes.
Enrique Chaux

Director (Colombia)

About Enrique Chaux

Full-time teacher- Psychology Teacher, Universidad de los Andes. PhD in Education from Harvard University, master’s in risk and prevention from Harvard and master’s in Neural Systems from Boston University. He is also a physicist and industrial Engineer from the Universidad de los Andes.

He was the coordinator of the team that built the Citizenship Competency Standards for Colombia. He has led several investigations related to aggression, bullying, cyberbullying, conflicts, school violence, citizenship competencies, education for coexistence and education for peace. He led the design and evaluation of the Aulas en Paz programme for the prevention of school aggression and promotion of coexistence. He has advised on the design of public policies on school coexistence, citizenship skills and peace education.

Santiago Cueto - Director (Peru)

Degree in Educational Psychology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Santiago Cueto

Director (Perú)

About Santiago Cueto

Santiago Cueto has a degree in Educational Psychology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and a PhD in Educational Psychology from Indiana University, USA.

He has been a visiting researcher at the University of California at Davis and at the University of Oxford. He is currently Executive Director and Main Researcher for GRADE, where he is the Peruvian representative of the international study Niños del Milenio. In addition, he is a senior lecturer in the Psychology Department at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. He was a member of the Peruvian National Education Council, of the Mexican Technical Council of the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE), President of the Peruvian Society for Educational Research (SIEP) and Member of the UNESCO Advisory Board of the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report).

He has been a consultant to international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Monserrat Creamer Guillén - Director (Ecuador)

PhD in Education and former Ecuadorian Minister of Education.
Monserrat Creamer Guillén

Director (Ecuador)

About Monserrat Creamer Guillén

Monserrat Creamer Guillén, was Minister of Education from June 2019 to May 2021, a period during which she represented the country in regional and global forums organized by Unesco, Unicef, Microsoft, Harvard Graduate School of Education, IIPE, World Bank, IDB, Brookings Institution, OECD, Reduca, among others; in order to ensure continuity of learning during the pandemic and share educational transformations.

She holds a PhD in Education from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a master’s degree in Teaching and Educommunication from Alabama University (USA) and the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana respectively, a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from PUCE (Ecuador) and a Diploma in Formation of Learning Communities, from the Universidad Adolfo Ibañez (Chile) – Universidad de Barcelona (Spain).

Monserrat has a long professional career in the field of education and teaching. She was Education Director at Grupo FARO, where she implemented the Learning Communities programme, endorsed by CREA -Research centre at the Universidad de Barcelona (2017-2019). She was Academic Excellence Director at the Universidad de las Américas-UDLA and advisor to CES for the redesign of university degrees according to the 2011 Academic Regulations (2014-2016); Education Coordinator at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (2002-2010) and university teacher in undergraduate and graduate programmes in Education and Communication.

She has authored texts and has been a Reading Writing Critical Thinking (RWCT) accredited trainer on Developing Critical Thinking in the classroom and other education articles. She has experience in educational project management and public policy analysis. She was Undersecretary of Educational Professional Development, and Educational Foundations and advisor to the Ministry of Education for the project to create the UNAE-National University of Education (2010-2013).

She also has experience in coordinating academic areas and teaching language, literature, philosophy, and social studies at the Colegio Menor (1996-2002).

In the field of communication, she studied at the Universidad Católica Andres Bello. UCAB- Vzla and worked as Coordinator of the Press Unit of the National Art Gallery-GAN in Caracas-Vzla (1978-79). Later in Ecuador she worked as a news reporter with Diego Oquendo and Polo Barriga. She developed national TV coverage of the Monseñor Leonidas Proaño Literacy Campaign (1981-89).

Javier González - Director and Secretary (Chile)

SUMMA director and affiliate professor at Cambridge University.
Javier González

Director and Secretary (Chile)

About Javier Gonzalez

Economist specialized in education, inequality, social mobility, innovation, and social development. He is SUMMA director and affiliated professor at the Centre of Development Studies, Cambridge University, where he teaches Institutional Economics and Political Economy of Development. He is also a researcher at the Millennium Science Nucleus in Social Sciences "Higher Education in Chile", hosted by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and funded by the Chilean Ministry of Economy.

He is a member of the Think 20 research groups associated with the G20, a member of the UNESCO Advisory Board for the Global Education Monitoring Report and Co-Editor of the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (2020) for Latin America focused on Inclusion.

He has been a consultant for UNESCO, the World Bank and the IDB, advisor on Education and Innovation Policies for the Ministry of Finance of Chile, executive secretary of the Council of Ministers for the Formation of Advanced Human Capital, Director of Studies for the Chilean National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, and researcher for the Chilean Ministry of Education.

He was also appointed member of the Board of Directors of Fundación Chile, president of the Cambridge Society for Social and Economic Development, delegate of the Working Group on Innovation Policy of the OECD, associate researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and academic at the Instituto de Economía, Universidad Católica de Chile.

He holds a PhD and MPhil in Economic and Social Development from Cambridge University, and a BA and MA in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Darlyn Meza - Director (El Salvador)

Former Minister of Education of El Salvador.
Darlyn Meza

Director (El Salvador)

About Darlyn Meza

She has a master's degree in education, specializing in education management and administration with extensive international experience. She was Education Minister in El Salvador from 2004 to 2009; Vice Minister of Education, General Director and EDUCO Programme Director for the Ministry of Education between 1994 and 1999. For more than seven years, Darlyn Meza oversaw international loans for the Ministry of Education, where she specialized in financing from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). In addition to being recognized in El Salvador for her extensive experience in academic training, she is an entrepreneurial woman.

In 1999 she started her first business with the company Soporte Técnico, Materiales y Recursos Internacionales, dedicated to providing international consulting services. She is founder and CEO of Estrategias y Soluciones, whose specialty is editorial production and under which she founded Nosotros Ediciones. She was also President of Canal 33.

She is currently an international consultant in the areas of education, women's programmes, and social protection. She supports the implementation of projects financed by multilateral banks (IDB and World Bank). In addition, she has been a consultant for United Nations agencies such as UNICEF and UNDP.

She is part of the Early Childhood Council of UNICEF in El Salvador and of the Advisory Senate of the Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador.

Leda Muñoz - Director (Costa Rica)

Omar Dengo Foundation Executive Director
Leda Muñoz

Director (Costa Rica)

About Leda Muñoz

Omar Dengo Foundation Executive Director since 2010. She has a broad academic background, combined with vast experience in administrative and relevant project management.

She has a PhD in Human Nutrition from the University of California and a Post doctorate in Nutritional Epidemiology from Cornell University. She has worked as a professor at the School of Nutrition at the Universidad de Costa Rica and was its director from 1993 to 1996.

She was also Vice Rector of Social Action at the Universidad de Costa Rica (1996-2004), and between 2006 and 2009, she served as Coordinator of the State for the Nation Report on Sustainable Human Development for the National Council of Rectors (CONARE) and the Ombudsman's Office. She is still currently an Associate Researcher.

Between 2000 and 2006, Muñoz was General Coordinator of the V Report on the State of the Rights of Children and Teenagers in Costa Rica (EDNA), developed under an agreement between the Universidad de Costa Rica and UNICEF. She has a total of more than thirty-five scientific and academic publications, as well as several books.

Sylvia Schmelkes - Director (Mexico)

Academic Vice Chancellor at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
Sylvia Schmelkes

Director (México)

About Sylvia Schmelkes

Academic Vice Rector at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. She is a sociologist and educational researcher with a master's degree in Educational Research and Development from the Universidad Iberoamericana. She is known for her work in intercultural education and for her book "Towards better quality of our schools".

She has conducted exploratory studies on good practices in support programmes for indigenous people in higher education. She has published more than 150 works, including books and articles, on the topics of the quality of education, adult education, values formation, and intercultural education.

She worked as a professor-researcher at the Department of Educational Research at the National Polytechnic Institute. She has been a consultant for UNESCO, UNICEF, and the OECD. She served as director of the Research Institute for the Development of Education (INIDE) at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

Schmelkes' work has been published in five languages by institutions such as the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, and the Organization of American States.

In May 2013, she was appointed president of the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE), undertaking such position for four years. She founded and was General Coordinator of Intercultural and Bilingual Education at the Ministry of Public Education (2001-2007). She served as president of the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (2002-2004). She received the Joan Amos Comenius Medal, awarded by the Czech Republic and UNESCO, in 2008.

Agustín Wolff - Director and Treasurer (Chile)

Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director
Agustín Wolff

Director and Treasurer (Chile)

About Agustín Wolff

Corporate Affairs and Sustainability of SUMMA Director

A large part of his professional career was spent at TECHO, an NGO where he held various positions mainly related to the direction and management of community projects, institutional strategic development, and fundraising.

His experience as general manager and implementer of TECHO - Guatemala stands out, as well as his last years in the institution, where he oversaw Social Direction (community intervention, volunteer management, social research, among others) for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He was a volunteer teacher at INFOCAP for the training of women entrepreneurs as part of the entrepreneurship programme.

He holds a degree in Business Studies with a major in Economics from the Universidad de Chile and a master's degree in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Education Policy Advisory Council

It is made up of ministers, vice-ministers, and senior representatives of ten ministries of education in the region.

Transparent financing

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through the Regional Public Goods Initiative, financed a significant part of the budget for the first four years of SUMMA’S work.

Complementarily, since 2018, SUMMA has financed its operation through strategic alliances with ministries, NGOs, donor governments, international agencies, among others, for the implementation of national and regional projects. By doing this, SUMMA has managed to consolidate a transparent financing model that allows it to guarantee its financial sustainability and autonomy, to adequately fulfil its mission.

Institutional Policies and Transparency

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SOCIAL FECU

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SUMMA-CPEIP AGREEMENT

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SUMMA POLICIES

Strategic partners

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