María del Carmen Cortés Arce

A native of Santiago, Maricarmen Cortés Arce has over 30 years of experience in local development, working with government agencies and non-profit organizations across Chile and the United States. Since 2006, she has served as the Santiago Center Director, drawing on a career that includes roles such as Facilitator and Trainer with Franklin Covey Chile, Associate Peace Corps Director for Small Business Development and Municipal Management in Santiago, and Executive Director of FINAM, a Women’s World Banking NGO. She has also worked with the Wilder Center for Communities (part of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation), the United States Peace Corps, and the Miguel Kast Foundation. Maricarmen holds a B.A. and M.A. in Architecture from the Universidad de Chile and was a Fulbright Scholar through the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program at the University of Minnesota.