Board of Directors
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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).
Angela Carrillo
Director of Administration and Operations
Angela is an economist with an MBA and a master in finance from Universidad de los Andes, she has extensive experience designing and implementing educational and social programs in the public and private sectors in Colombia.
Angela has worked with international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross -ICRC, the Norwegian Council for Refugees, World Food Program and Chemonics International. She worked at the Universidad de los Andes for more than 5 years.
Angela firmly believes in the power of education to transform lives and in the need to create opportunities to help others grow, so we are confident that she will be a wonderful part of our team.
MILENA RUEDA
Communications and Projects Manager
Milena joined Bastion in April 2022, supporting communications and project areas with the idea of significantly improving our social media channels and other digital assets that allows Bastion to deliver its mission.
She is a Colombian journalist with a master’s degree in Communications and Education. Before joining Bastion, she was a communications officer at Save the Children Colombia.
Her volunteer work includes several nonprofits in the education and communications field.
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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