OUR TEAM

Founders & Directors

SembraMedia’s co-founders work closely with the board of directors to manage the organization’s diverse team. In addition to leading research, training, and initiatives, they have worked hard to build international alliances and a broad base of support that serves digital media throughout Latin America, the U.S., and Spain.

Mijal Iastrebner

Cofounder and Executive Director, SembraMedia

Mijal Iastrebner is the cofounder and executive director of SembraMedia. She also is a journalist, entrepreneur and teacher.

Janine Warner

Cofounder and Executive Director, SembraMedia

Janine Warner is the cofounder and executive director of SembraMedia. She also is journalist, author, and entrepreneur.

Content & Operations Team

The operational team is responsible for SembraMedia’s general operations, which includes developing and implementing our many initiatives.

María Eugenia Álvarez

General Manager

Maru is in charge of SembraMedia's general strategy. She works with SembraMedia’s management and their teams, optimizing processes and communication among SembraMedia’s various areas and initiatives.

Naimid María Cirelli Asef

Director of Communications

Naimid is the lead for SembraMedia’s internal and external communications. He coordinates SembraMedia’s communities by working with the organization’s ambassadors and communications team.

Daniela Fernández

Director of Innovation

Daniela is in charge of product and system design to further the growth of both SembraMedia and the wider digital media ecosystem.

Paulo Javier Baldessari

Organizational Development

Paulo consults with SembraMedia in human resources and organizational development. He also provides training for media organizations that participate in SembraMedia’s accelerator programs.

Florencia Aza

Director of Accelerator Programs and Mentorship

Flor leads programming initiatives for SembraMedia at a regional level. Her focus areas include the coordination and organization of the GNI Startups Lab Hispanoamérica and SembraMex media accelerator

Sofía Álvarez Barbeito

Education Director

Sofia is the coordinator for SembraMedia's Virtual Entrepreneurial Journalism School. She also manages SembraMedia initiatives focused on education.

Soledad Zavala

Coordinator of Institutional Development

Soledad coordinates SembraMedia's institutional development, overseeing the monitoring and evaluation of the organization's initiatives.

Miguel Loor

Ambassadors coordinator

Miguel coordinates the work of the team of ambassadors in their communities.

Micaela Fernández

Finance Director

Mica is in charge of budgeting, creating projections, and analyzing the financial reports of our organization and its various initiatives. She is also responsible for tax preparation.

Martina Deutsch

Institutional Administrator

Martina provides administrative support for SembraMedia. She manages benefits and payments for the operating team, and provides support to the finance area.

Ana Minini Venega

Communications Coordinator

Ana coordinates both external and internal communications for SembraMedia. She carries out operational tasks related to publishing and sharing information about SembraMedia’s initiatives.

Magalí is in charge of reviewing, maintaining and optimizing SembraMedia’s databases. She analyzes and supports the organization's research and digital media directories.

Daniela Ruiz Blanco

Education Coordinator

Daniela is part of SembraMedia’s education department. She manages education and training initiatives, working to coordinate these projects with different areas of SembraMedia.

Carolina Sotelo

Community Manager

Carol manages SembraMedia's social media, adapting the organization’s content for social networks and fostering conversation with SembraMedia virtual communities. She supports the communications team.

Chiara Finocchiaro

Project Manager

Chiara provides support for our various acceleration and mentoring programs for media and journalists.

Violeta Micheloni

Secretary to Executive Management

Violeta assists the Executive Board by coordinating its articulation with the operational team, the board of directors, allies and other key actors of the independent digital native media ecosystem.

Andrés Guevara Borges

Editorial Consultant

Andrés is in charge of reviewing, editing and optimizing SembraMedia's internal and external content in Spanish.

Katherine Stanley Obando

English Editor

Katherine is in charge of editing English-language texts for SembraMedia's communications.

Elena Ledda

Project Oasis Research Manager, Southern Europe

Elena is the regional research manager for Project Oasis in Southern Europe. She coordinates a group of 12 researchers contributing to the European SembraMedia directory and related study.

Sanne Breimer

Project Oasis Research Manager, Northern Europe

Sanne is the regional research manager for Project Oasis in Northern Europe. She coordinates a group of 15 researchers contributing to the European SembraMedia directory and related study.

Lela Vujanic

Project Oasis Research Manager, Central and Eastern Europe

Lela is the regional research manager for Project Oasis in Central and Eastern Europe. She coordinates a group of 15 researchers contributing to the European SembraMedia directory and related study.

SembraMedia's Ambassadors

SembraMedia’s diverse team of ambassadors represents a network of networks that includes more than a thousand digital media projects in 24 countries in Latin America, Spain, Canada and the United States. They are involved in an ongoing research project that involves mapping and studying the ever-changing independent digital media ecosystem. They are also responsible for creating and managing our comprehensive digital media directory. Their research, and the communities they have created together, form the foundation of all of our training programs and initiatives. In addition to working as consultants for SembraMedia, our ambassadors are journalists, professors, and entrepreneurs.

Ana Paula Valacco

Ambassador for Argentina

Ana Paula is a journalist and political scientist. She is the Development Manager at 8000, a hyperlocal media organization in Bahía Blanca.

Fabiola Gutiérrez

Ambassador for Bolivia

Fabiola has a Master’s degree in journalism and communication from the University Evangélica Boliviana. She is also a contributor to two experimental digital journalism projects.

Tomás Martínez

Ambassador for Chile

Tomás is a journalist who has spent 14 years covering politics for various Chilean media as La Tercera and La Segunda, both as a reporter and as an editor.

Sara Trejos

Ambassador for Colombia

Sara is the director and founder of Sillón Estudios, the podcast production company behind “Presunto Podcast”, “Expertos de Sillón” and the Latin American podcasting festival Podcastinación.

Luz Escobar

Ambassador for Cuba

Luz is a Cuban independent journalist and photographer. She lives in Havana and has been a reporter for the digital newspaper 14ymedio since its founding in 2014.

Laura Aguirre

Ambassador for El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala

Laura is a sociologist, journalist, and feminist who is also the director of Alharaca, a digital, independent media organization. She earned a PhD in sociology from the Free University of Berlin.

Ana María López

Ambassador for Ecuador

Ana María is a journalist with experience in political analysis, research, data verification, and fact-checking. She is also interested in digital communication.

José Antonio González Alba

Ambassador for Spain

José Antonio has a Master’s degree in Management and Innovation from the University of Cádiz.

Natalie Van Hoozer

Ambassador for the US

Natalie Van Hoozer is a bilingual journalist and translator in Reno, Nevada. She works for KUNR Public Radio, Northern Nevada’s NPR member station, and Noticiero Móvil.

Abraham Torres

Ambassador for Mexico

Abraham is a professor of Digital Journalism at the International School of Communication and Entertainment of the University Anáhuac in Cancún, Mexico.

María Lilly Delgado

Ambassador for Nicaragua

María Lilly Delgado is a correspondent for Univisión News based in Nicaragua, where she reports about politics and human rights.

Desirée Esquivel

Ambassador for Paraguay

Desirée is a journalist, photographer, and the co-founder of Ciencia del Sur.

Alejandra Garboza

Ambassador for Peru

Alejandra is a journalist with a master's degree in agency journalism from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and Agencia EFE.

José Hernández Falcón

Ambassador for Puerto Rico

José is a journalist, blogger and director of Puerto Rico BloggerCon, a convention that brings together digital content creators from throughout the Island.

Indhira Suero

Ambassador for the Dominican Republic

Indhira is a professor at the Instituto Tecnológico in Santo Domingo, D.R. She is an experienced cultural journalist and broadcaster, and a Fulbright Scholar.

Sebastián Auyanet

Ambassador for Uruguay

In addition to serving as SembraMedia’s ambassador in Uruguay, Sebastian Auyanet is a strategic media consultant for SembraMedia’s Velocidad Accelerator and SembraMex sustainability program.

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