Board of Directors
![Manuel Contreras Manuel Contreras](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/manuel-Passport-223x300.jpg)
Manuel Contreras
Board Member
Chairman and President
Manuel is a civil engineer with 20 years of international experience covering a vast arrangement of civil engineer works: bridges, tunnels, buildings, highways and dams. He is the founder and Managing Partner of micp engineering, an independent consultant firm.
He completed the Social Entrepreneurship Program at INSEAD in 2019 and the Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program at the Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University in 2019. Currently, he is a member of the Technical Advisory Board of the NGO Bridges to Prosperity.
![Eli Eli](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Eli3-300x300.png)
Eli Bravo
Board Member
Secretary
Eli holds a degree in media with a major in journalism. He is an author, a speaker, and a certified mindfulness teacher with an M.S in Psychology MFT.
Before dedicating himself to the study and teaching of Mindfulness, Eli developed a successful career in international media.
He is a former member of the advisory board of the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, and a former Friend of UNICEF.
![Vicky Azpurua2 Vicky Azpurua2](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Vicky-Azpurua2-1.png)
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Victoria Azpúrua
Board Member
Victoria is a lawyer with studies in financial management from New York University.
She has a successful career as wealth manager in renowned institutions like Raymond James and Morgan Stanley. She currently holds the position of Vice President of Investments and Wealth Management at Raymond James.
She supports many local organizations in Miami Dade where she lives.
![Eljuri 2 Eljuri 2](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Eljuri-2.png)
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Elisabeth Eljuri
Board Member
Elisabeth Eljuri is an energy executive and an independent arbitrator. Ms. Eljuri was with private-equity-backed Sierra Oil & Gas until 2019 where she was the Vice President, Chief Negotiator, and Chief Legal Counsel. Before venturing into private equity, she spent nearly three decades in legal practice at two of the world’s largest law firms. Ms. Eljuri was Head of Latin America of Norton Rose Fulbright where she was a senior partner of the Firm focusing on the areas of international arbitration, energy and natural resources, and projects/infrastructure. She is currently the Chief Negotiator and CLC at Westlawn Américas Offshore.
Ms. Eljuri graduated from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello and then attended Harvard Law School. She sits on multiple industry and academic boards and is also a Guardian Ad Litem for foster children in Florida.
![Alex-Montoya2 Alex-Montoya2](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Alex-Montoya2-240x300.png)
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Alexander montoya
Board Member
Alexander is a businessman with a long career in the insurance sector in Colombia, Venezuela and the USA.
Alex had a short but successful stint as an entrepreneur fresh from college, before he moved to the insurance world. Since then, he had a successful career, first at AIG and then at Liberty Mutual.
Alex has returned to his entrepreneurial passion and is currently CEO for Risk to Capital (R2K), the new international reinsurer and investment fund for private wealth.
José Gonzalo Muci
Board Member
José Gonzalo is a lawyer with a career in the Financial Services industry.
He has been Director or President of several Investment & Retail Banking Institutions, as well as Trade Organizations representing those sectors in Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay & the United States of America.
He is currently CEO of bbo Capital Partners LLC
Executive Team
![Cecilia Neher Cecilia Neher](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Cecilia-Neher_web-small_Martin-Holtmann-300x300.jpg)
Cecilia Neher
Managing Director
Cecilia is a professional in the field of media and public relations with 25 years of experience in both corporate and nonprofit environments in Latin America, USA and Europe.
She has completed an MBA, a Master in Nonprofit Management and a Master in Publishing.
Cecilia helped Manuel develop the concept and the structure of Bastion when she started working with him in his company.
Cecilia is a member of the Board of the Cambodia Community Dream Organization (CCDO).
![Foto MEG Foto MEG](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Foto-MEG.png)
MARÍA EMILIA GONZÁLEZ
Senior Project Manager
Maria Emilia González holds a specialist degree in International Cooperation and Project Management for Development from Universidad Externado de Colombia, and a Master's degree in Population and Development from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
Maria Emilia brings 10 years of experience in formulating and managing social projects, as well as in fostering partnerships among NGOs, international organizations, the private sector, and the public sector.
Her experience includes roles in corporate and family foundations such as Fundación Corona, Fundación Juan Felipe Gómez Escobar, Asociación de Fundaciones Familiares y Empresariales de Colombia, as well as involvement with the Global Opportunity Youth Network - Bogotá and the Regional Philanthropy Group GRF Latam.
Maria Emilia has managed projects with international donors such as the Inter-American Development Bank, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, USAID, among others.
![Natalia Iriarte Natalia Iriarte](https://6f4492.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Natalia-Iriarte-scaled-e1724162037702.jpeg)
NATALIA IRIARTE
Operations and Impact Coordinator
Natalia has experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating social initiatives in areas such as education, early childhood development, gender inequality, and poverty reduction.
Before joining Bastion, she led monitoring and evaluation efforts at the Blum Foundation in Spain and played a key role at the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) in Colombia, where she contributed to the development of evidence-based strategies.
Natalia has a strong background in research, government, and nonprofit sectors, with a particular focus on generating evidence through a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) approach to support decision-making in social projects.
She holds a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Nebrija and a dual BA in Economics and Government and Public Affairs from the University of Los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia
What is Bastion
Bastion Life is a nonprofit corporation established under the laws of the State of Florida as a (501(c)(3).
Bastion provides comprehensive support for education as the keystone of social development and personal growth.
We partner with nonprofits and philanthropists around the world to support projects that provide access to education and a suitable environment for learning.
How do we accomplish our mission?
We work to increase the impact and effectiveness of social investments and programs without charging any fee to donors or nonprofits.
We evaluate and vet the most impactful, effective, and transparent charities in foreign regions working in Bastion’s area of focus.
We provide operational and grant management support to these selected charities at no cost.
We connect these selected charities to grantors and donors
What do we do?
We invest time and skills. We work with each organization on their individual needs and get involved in the development and implementation of the project.
Continued care. We require close project monitoring and long term follow up.
Close and recurring funding management. We tie recurring funding to the success of the project and timely reporting.
Administrative services. We offer donors the administrative and logistics support when making the donation. We do the paperwork and the donors send the grant directly to the selected organization. No money goes through us.
More details in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page
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