Erika María Arango is the interim executive director of FAVLA. Previously, she was the deputy chief of party of the Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombian Empowerment (IPACE) Activity (also called Juntanza Étnica) in Colombia, where she supported the design and management of this participatory and sustainable program aimed at closing social gaps for Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations. Erika brings years of experience forming strategic partnerships with the public and private sector. Prior to joining ACDI/VOCA in 2009, she supported partnerships with USAID and other development donors for the Colombian government’s Program Against Illicit Cultivation. She also served the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission in Colombia. Erika holds a BS in environmental engineering from the University of Medellín (Colombia) and studied at both the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture (Egypt) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). She holds an MA in international cooperation and sustainable development from the Instituto de Alto Estudios Europeos (Colombia). Erika is fluent in English and Spanish.
