Who are we?
SUMMA team
We are driven by better and fairer education
SUMMA works across the region and has a permanent presence in Chile (head office), Argentina, Honduras, and Canada.
Our professional team is made up of 8 nationalities. It is multidisciplinary (economists, sociologists, teachers, political scientists, lawyers, engineers, communicators, among others), highly qualified (80% have master’s degrees and approximately one third have PhDs) and experienced (from governments, academia, NGOs, and international organizations), which allows us to promote cutting-edge initiatives with a diverse and multicultural perspective.
Our team
Javier González
About Javier González
He is an economist (PhD. and MPhil from the U. of Cambridge) specialized in development, inequality, social mobility, education and innovation. For 20 years, he has focused on the comparative study, design and development of public policies and institutional changes, from academia, government and various international organizations.
He is Director and Co-founder of SUMMA, the Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (created by the IDB in 2016), from where he advises and works collaboratively with the authorities of the ministries of education of 14 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting research and educational policies that promote greater social justice.
At the international level, he is part of the advisory group of the OECD's Schools+ network, he has been a senior advisor to various organizations, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), UNESCO, the World Bank, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), Oxford Policy Management (OPM) and ASEAN. In turn, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Fundación Chile, and advisory boards of UNESCO (GEM), CORFO, the National Innovation Council for Competitiveness, the Brookings Institution and the OECD.
Academically, between 2014 and 2022 he was affiliated with the University of Cambridge, as a professor of political economy and development. He has also taught at SciencePo (Paris-France), Brown University (USA), Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), ECLAC, and the University of Chile, where he is also a researcher at the Center for the Study of Conflict and Social Cohesion ( COES). His research has been published by different publishers, such as University Oxford Press, Routledge, Policy Press, UNESCO Press and Catalonia.
In the State, he has held positions of responsibility in Chile in the governments of Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet, mainly as: Education and Innovation Policies Advisor in the cabinet of the Ministry of Finance; Executive Secretary of the Committee of Ministers for the Formation of Advanced Human Capital and Chile Scholarships; Director of Studies and Strategic Planning of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT); and Researcher at the Ministry of Education. From these roles, he contributed to the design of laws, programs and reforms in the educational, tax and innovation fields.
Rafael Carrasco
About Rafael Carrasco
Rafael Carrasco is deputy director of SUMMA. With extensive experience in education policy, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Agency for the Quality of Education for the Chilean Government. He worked for eight years in the Chilean Ministry of Education in various positions, as head of Development of the Education Quality Measurement System, and then as head of the Technical Team of the Minister and Undersecretary overseeing the design and development of educational policies, mainly the Preferential School Subsidy Law, which benefits the most vulnerable students in the country.
He has been a professor at Stanford University and Universidad Alberto Hurtado. He was part of the 2014 National Commission for the reform of the National Accountability System. He was also co-founder of the NGO San Pablo, which provides free preschool education to low-income girls and boys.
He holds a master’s degree in Economics from the Universidad de Chile, a Master's degree in Comparative International Education and a PhD in Education from Stanford University.
Karla Fernandini
About Karla Fernandini
Karla Fernandini is Strategic Development and Advocacy Director at SUMMA. She has fifteen years of experience in the management and leadership of social projects with impact in the areas of poverty, economic inclusion, housing, and education. Her professional career is linked to institutional strategic development, project management and monitoring, and the implementation of fundraising strategies and collaborative alliances both at home and abroad.
She was TECHO General Manager in Peru, an international foundation where she later took on the position of General Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. She was also NGO Acción Emprendedora Regional Director and Consultant in several development projects for public entities and NGOs. She is currently Vice President of the Board of Directors of TECHO International.
She holds a degree in Journalism from the Universidad Católica del Perú and a diploma in Strategic Management from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Dante Castillo
About Dante Castillo
Dante Castillo-Canales is Policy and Innovative Practices Director at SUMMA. He has worked in social research in both the public and private sectors. At the Universidad de Chile he worked on issues of education, work, and citizenship, at Cambridge University, as a researcher in higher education policies and the use of contextual information in admission processes to tertiary education. He has worked in market research, research in new information technologies and innovation processes.
He is a sociologist from the Universidad de Chile, holds a master's degree in Culture and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a diploma in marketing from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.
María José Sepúlveda
About María José Sepúlveda
María José Sepúlveda leads the Evaluation Direction at SUMMA. She has worked mainly in the field of education policy. She worked for four years at the Centre of Studies at the Ministry of Education of Chile, in the coordination of the Statistics and Cabinet Support Unit, with the main focus on the generation and systematization of evidence for informed decision making at different ministerial levels. Previously, she worked in the research area at the Elige Educar Foundation.
She is a business studies graduate with a major in economics and holds a master's degree in Public Policy from the Universidad de Chile.
Raúl Chacón-Zuloaga
Regional Centre for Knowledge Exchange and Innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean Director (KIX LAC)
About Raúl Chacón-Zuloaga
Raúl Chacón-Zuloaga is the Regional Centre for Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Director (KIX), developed by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). With twenty years of experience in the field of education, he focuses his work on the development and improvement of the Chilean system, through research and evaluation of different policies and initiatives. He has led and collaborated in the processes of design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of educational policies in Chile, especially in the installation of the National System for Quality Assurance in Education in recent years.
He has also participated in relevant regional and international initiatives, such as the Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study of the Latin American Laboratory for the Evaluation of the Quality of Education (LLECE - UNESCO) and the School Resource Review (OECD), as part of the National Experts Group. From 2015 to 2018, he has been a professor in the master’s degree in Educational Policies at the Alberto Hurtado Universidad de Chile. A sociologist from P. Universidad Católica de Chile, he holds a master’s degree in Educational Studies from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Marcelo Fontecilla
About Marcelo Fontecilla
Marcelo Fontecilla is Director of School Transformation at SUMMA. He has developed an experience of more than twenty years in education and educational policy, specializing in the topics of managerial leadership, counselling and educational change, inclusion and interculturality. At the Ministry of Education, he served as Priority Schools National Coordinator, and later as Inclusion and Diversity National Coordinator. Furthermore, he has gained extensive experience in consulting and educational improvement in institutions such as the Teaching Research Interdisciplinary Programme (PIIE), Fundación Chile and the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano.
He is a psychology graduate from the Universidad de Chile and holds a master’s degree (c) in Anthropology from the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano.
Soledad Ytuarte
About Soledad Ytuarte
Soledad Ytuarte is SUMMA's Director of Communications. She worked for more than 20 years in print and digital media in Argentina, and in Communication and Public Relations agencies. She developed a large part of her professional career as a writer for newspapers in Spanish and English, developing projects and leading teams of journalists.
For the last five years she has worked as a communication specialist and consultant in civil society organizations, and as a psychosocial consultant she has worked on learning, change and development issues advising individual consultants and organizations.
Focused on issues related to education, inclusion and equality, Soledad is part of the International Network of Promoters of the Sustainable Development Goals, after training and receiving a certification from the Senate of the Province of Buenos Aires.
She studied Journalism at the University of Belgrano, with an international exchange at the University of Fairfield, United States; she has a technical degree in Social Psychology and a Postgraduate degree in "Management and Direction of Non-Profit Organizations" from the University of San Andrés, Argentina.
Rosa María Moncada
About Rosa María Moncada
Rosa María Moncada is coordinator of the KIX Honduras project. She has worked in education in diverse sectors such as government, external cooperation, and civil society. She served as the technical coordinator of the National Education Council in Honduras. She has led and collaborated with Central America Peace scholarships, teacher training for standards projects and standardized tests, shadow report of the 2030 agenda, index of the right to education, and with processes of elaboration of educational public policies and sectorial plans.
Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia.
Católica de Honduras. She has worked as a professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras and as president of Intercultural Exchange Programmes AFS.
Andrea Lagos Mancilla
About Andrea Lagos Mancilla
Andrea Lagos Mancilla is SUMMA's Teacher Training Coordinator.
Andrea is a professional with more than ten years of experience in qualitative and quantitative research in school education; conducting studies on public policy, educational management, school improvement, leadership, and teacher collaboration. She also has experience in the areas of management and coordination of projects that promote the improvement of educational practices.
She has worked in educational technical assistance organizations, university units and research centres in charge of supporting educational public policies. In recent years, she has undergone graduate studies addressing the management and organization of educational improvement in schools. In 2018 and 2019 she was part of the professional team of Líderes Educativos, Centre of Leadership for School Improvement (PUCV).
She is a currently a teacher on the bachelor’s degree in Education at the Universidad Miguel de Cervantes (Santiago) and Socializar Conocimientos Magazine Director, a collective and open access project of a network of researchers abroad.
Andrea Lagos Mancilla is a sociologist from the Universidad de Valparaíso, Master’s in Sociological Research and PhD in Sociology from the Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Mar Botero
About Mar Botero
She has more than eight years of experience in civil society and private sector, in the development of training and educommunication programmes from a Human Rights based approach.
Over the last few years, she was overseen the implementation of the training and citizen participation programme for the NGO TECHO in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has been a consultant for the development of communication and education campaigns for social change, promotion, and defence of human rights.
She holds a master’s degree in Communication and Education from the Universidad Católica de Chile and has complementary studies in Human Rights Education and Educational Communication.
Maciel Morales
Researcher at the Regional Centre for Knowledge Exchange and Innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean (KIX LAC)
About Maciel Morales
Maciel Morales Aceiton is a researcher at the Regional Centre for Knowledge Exchange and Innovation. She has extensive experience in education and research. She has worked as an art teacher in schools both in Chile and in France. She participated in the Chile Califica programme, Contigo Aprendo Campaign of the Chilean Ministry of Education and in several educational projects: school guidance accompaniment (F93), scientific intervention for children (CRI) and artistic workshops in France.
Among his articles are : Le système éducatif chilienien et ses transformations au cours des quarante dernières années. Un regard porté sur les arts visuels dans trois contextes éducatifs (soumis). (The Chilean education system and its transformations over the last forty years. A look at the visual arts in three educational contexts (submitted). Neoliberalism in education: The case of Chile and social transformations over the past 40 years (2019) Educación artística en las escuelas chilenas: Currículum de artes visuales y su implementación en el aula (2017). (Art education in Chilean schools: Visual arts curriculum and its implementation in the classroom (2017)). Her research topics focus on arts education, primary education, socio-didactics, social inequalities, segregation, and vulnerability in different socio-educational contexts.
She holds a PhD in Educational Sciences from the University of Paris V, Descartes-Sorbonne, a Master’s in Educational Sciences and in Aesthetics and History of the Arts from the University of Paris VIII Vincennes Saint-Denis. Bachelor of Arts from the Universidad de Chile.
Carolina Osorio
About Carolina Osorio
Carolina Osorio is part of SUMMA's Communications area. She has worked for more than twenty years in various public-private organizations in Colombia and Argentina. In recent years, she has led communications teams in the government of the City of Buenos Aires, the AHT and is a consultant for several non-profit organizations that promote environmental care.
She studied Audiovisual Communication in Colombia, with a postgraduate degree in Strategic Communications Management from the Universidad de Belgrano. She also holds a degree in Psychology from UCES University in Buenos Aires. She is currently studying a specialization in corporate communication and social media at the Universidad de Valencia.
Elisa de Padua
About Elisa de Padua
Elisa de Padua Nájera is Teaching Improvement Coordinator in Chaka Programme. As a specialist in education and evaluation, she has worked in institutions such as the Ministry of Education in Chile, the National Education Council and the Pontificia Universidad Católica. She has also worked as a consultant for UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank.
She is a psychologist with a master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the Universidad Católica de Chile. She also holds a master's degree in Educational Leadership and Improvement and a PhD in Education from Cambridge University.
Magdalena Flores-Ferrés
About Magdalena Flores-Ferrés
Magdalena Flores-Ferrés is SUMMA's School Transformation Contents Coordinator. She is a teacher with experience in school and university classrooms and a researcher in educational sciences. From the University of Amsterdam, she was a member of Professor Gert Rijlaarsdam's Laboratory for Innovation in Educational Research and participated in multiple international conferences, as a presenter and organizer of symposia. She worked in public policy implementation at the Ministry of Education, where she was coordinator of School Text Language and expert trainer of the Learning Resources Centre (CRA).
She is a high school teacher from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, she holds a Master in Linguistics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and has a PhDr in Education from the University of Amsterdam.
Gabriela Acevedo
About Gabriela Acevedo
She is a Graphic Advertising Designer from Universidad Santo Tomás, with a bachelor’s degree in Design from the same institution. She has extensive experience in editorial design, corporate design, communication strategies and advertising information design, marketing, and innovation.
She has worked for several publishing houses, including school textbooks for the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC).
She is currently at SUMMA developing corporate graphic pieces, educational materials and institutional presentations.
Paula Salas
About Paula Salas
Paula Salas is Coordinator of Evaluation Projects at SUMMA. Her main experience is in educational research and development of assessment instruments. She worked as an analyst at the Measurement Center of the Catholic University (MIDE UC) and for four years at the Department of Psychology of the University of Chile in various research projects, aimed at the development of psychoeducational assessment instruments to support high school students. High School Humanist Scientist and Professional Technician in the process of transition to higher education.
She is a psychologist from the University of Chile and has a master's degree in Social Research Methods from University College London (UCL).
Yennifer Alejandra Sepúlveda Cotiart
About Yennifer Alejandra Sepúlveda Cotiart
Yennifer Alejandra Sepúlveda Cotiart is SUMMA's Administration and Finance Coordinator. She has developed professionally in different NGOs, both in financial, management and project areas. Her beginnings were in the foundation Junto al barrio, implementing and systematizing processes. She was a board member and co-founder of Microtia and Hypoacusis Chile Foundation, aimed at social actions, participation, and visibility of the pathology. She was also a volunteer in Technovation Girls as a mentor, an international programme that promotes the approach of girls and young women to STEM areas, with the purpose of promoting their interest in the development of new technologies and digital innovation.
She is an Executive Engineer in Administration, from the Instituto Profesional Santo Tomas. She is currently studying business studies with a degree in Economics and Administration from the Universidad San Sebastián.
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