Lourdes is a seasoned international development expert with over 20 years of experience advancing sustainable and inclusive solutions across Africa, Central America, Central Asia, and the U.S. Her career has focused on enterprise development, food systems, climate resilience, and market access—managing large-scale, donor-funded portfolios, including over $100M in U.S. government funding. She has supported more than 40 SMEs, reaching over 300,000 people and mobilizing $80M in private investment. Lourdes prioritizes locally driven, community-empowered models and collaborative problem-solving, having worked closely with informal markets, smallholders, and women-led organizations. She specializes in grant management, knowledge systems, capacity building, and south-south exchange, bringing deep expertise in inclusive program design, stakeholder engagement, and resilient systems transformation.