Liz joined IYF in 2013 with more than fourteen years of experience in academia, the nonprofit, and private sectors facilitating multi-sector solutions to wicked problems in the fields of youth, economic and community development and well as community safety and justice. She leads IYF's Innovation Factory —a hub for developing solutions and operational models that work, grow, and create lasting change. Focused on meaningful impact, the Innovation Factory focuses on areas where IYF can drive scalable and sustainable change for young people worldwide. Prior to joining IYF, she built the organizational and technical capacity of Hispanic-led and serving nonprofits throughout the Americas with Hispanics in Philanthropy; developed and facilitated trainings for global artisan entrepreneurs on market-oriented product design with ByHand Consulting; worked with local organizations to design violence prevention initiatives with TetraTech’s Community Life and Citizenship Program; scaled Crea Comunidades de Emprendedores A.C.’s interventions to help marginalized women micro-entrepreneurs grow and consolidate their businesses in rural Mexico; and spearheaded systemic change initiatives related to education, recidivism, policing and housing with Urban Strategies Council in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Liz has a Master of Science in Development Management from the London School of Economics and holds bachelor’s degrees in development studies, geography, and education from the University of California Berkeley, where she taught in the Education Department after graduating. Outside of work you will find her in the mountains, on the dance floor, or with her nose in a book.