Brenda Maldonado joined IYF in March 2021 as a Award Manager for the Award Management Unit (AMU). Prior to joining IYF, she was a program officer for Latin America & the Caribbean at the American Bar Association, Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) where she worked in the justice sector strengthening projects primarily in Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Panama. In addition, Brenda was also a program officer for sub-Saharan Africa at Heartland Alliance International (HAI), where she worked on projects related to HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), women’s empowerment, and mental health in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. She has worked and studied in Senegal, Switzerland, and Spain. Brenda holds a B.A. in French with a focus on political science from Nebraska Wesleyan University and an M.A. in bilingual and multicultural education from the University of Alcala.