Technical team and associated researchers
Our team
For the work that is developed in the institution there is a multidisciplinary team and professionals who have had a lot of experience with community bases on issues for the defense of human rights, with this being able to technically advise the REDCSALUD in the different axes, but there are also professionals who support and advise the CEGSS being them associated researchers.
A short biography of each of them is shared below.
Benilda Batzin
Executive Director
Benilda has over 14 years of professional experience working with marginalized communities and implementing development projects. This includes working to promote citizen participation in the right to health and working for women's rights and gender equity as a way to ensure equitable and non-discriminatory citizen participation.
She holds a degree in Social Work from Mariano Galvez University in Guatemala. In 2020, Benilda was appointed Executive Director of CEGSS, and is the first indigenous woman to be elected to that position.
Rosaura Medina
Deputy Director
Rosaura Medina has more than 14 years of experience working with indigenous populations, in which together with the communities she has worked on organizational issues, participation and citizen empowerment in public health policies, facilitating and coordinating teaching-learning processes in communities, community-based organizations and Ancestral Authorities Councils with emphasis on Human Rights. She has participated in projects of Food Security and Sovereignty and defense of the territory. Rosaura has a degree in Pedagogy and Human Rights from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala.
Carlos Quiñonez
Administrative/Financial Officer
Carlos has a degree in Business Administration specialized in financial administration and a master's degree in project formulation and evaluation from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. He joined CEGSS in 2010 and is currently in charge of the administrative and financial coordination of all projects implemented.
Elder Urbina
Accounting Area Coordinator
Elder has 25 years of experience in general accounting and auditing of technical execution of project development and financial control. He has collaborated in both private companies and non-profit organizations. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Public Accounting and Auditing at the University of San Carlos de Guatemala.
Lucía Cojtín
Health Citizenship Technician
Department of Sololá
Lucía Cojtín Yaxón, Mayan Kaqchikel, bilingual secretary by profession, has completed her Bachelor's Degree in Social Work at the Universidad Mariano Gálvez, Sololá. Her work experience has been with vulnerable groups in the most marginalized communities, on issues of organization, political participation, economic empowerment and facilitation in training processes in human rights. She is currently a tutor in citizenship for health at CEGSS.
Mariela Botzoc
Field Assistant
Mariela Botzoc has two years of experience working with communities in resistance territories, implementing projects in early childhood education. She graduated as a Teacher in Bilingual Intercultural Pre-school Education. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Legal and Social Sciences, Lawyer and Notary at the Regional University of Guatemala. She is currently a field assistant for CEGSS in Alta Verapaz.
Johanna Barrios
Monitoring, evaluation and learning
In the academic field, Johanna Barrios has conducted qualitative research, published articles on health, psychology and education in publicogt magazine and Civitas magazine, as well as coordinating a cultural observatory. In field experience, she has worked on issues of citizen organization, training processes aimed at leaders, community leaders and youth, mainly; but also with women's groups on issues of leadership, sexual and reproductive rights and local empowerment. In general, the main topics addressed have been: human rights, political participation, community organization, internal armed conflict, psychosocial accompaniment in disaster situations, generation of public policies with emphasis on human development. Regarding the history of Guatemala, she was responsible for promoting the exhibition of Jean Marie Simon throughout the Republic. In the academic field, she has taught the national reality course at the Rafael Landívar University in the nursing career. At the university level she has taught courses on anthropology of health, health in the cultures and ethnic groups of Guatemala, conflict transformation, national reality and thesis revision. At the university level she is a speech therapist and has a degree in psychology from the University of San Carlos.
María Láinez Pérez
Health Citizenship Technician
Department of Huehuetenango
María Láinez Pérez, a Mayan Mam woman, is a Bilingual Primary Education Teacher (Mam-Spanish), she also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work with emphasis in Development Management from the Rafael Landívar University, Huehuetenango Campus. She is a leader in her community. She has experience in community organization, training of leaders on issues of citizen participation, violence against women, human rights, gender equality, among others. She is a social activist on issues of Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Promoter of the creation of the Council of Maya Mam Weavers.
Jessica Raymundo
Health Citizenship Technician
Department of Quiché
Jessica Raymundo Ceto, is a PSE in Pedagogy and Social Sciences, has a bachelor's degree in Education from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, has complementary training in Public Policy, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Rights of Children and Adolescents and Human Right to Food, Gender, Organic Agriculture and Elaboration of Bioinputs, Ludopedagogy, Socioemotional Education. Her field work experience has been in Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Food and Nutritional Security, Political Empowerment of Women, Political Advocacy, Citizen Participation, Right to Water, Food Sovereignty. She has worked with community leaders, pregnant women, children under 5 and adolescents, as well as with women's committees and health committees in the Ixil Region and Santa Cruz del Quiché. Currently, she is a Technician in Citizenship for Health in the Department of Quiché for CEGSS.
Nina Lopéz
Nina López has a solid track record in the social field, standing out for her work with various groups in vulnerable situations, including women, youth and early childhood. Throughout her professional experience, she has participated in the design and implementation of projects aimed at responding to emerging issues in the social field.
Her practice has allowed her to consolidate knowledge and cross-cutting approaches in Human Rights, Women's Empowerment, Risk Management and Early Childhood Development. Through her professional intervention, she has promoted processes of change, development, social cohesion and community strengthening, reaffirming her ethical and professional commitment as a Social Worker.
It is characterized by its conviction in the responsible and transformative practice of Social Work, actively contributing to the well-being and empowerment of the people and communities with which it collaborates.
Jorge Coc
Jorge Coc is a member of the Q'eqchi’ Mayan community and has more than fourteen years of experience working with people and communities in vulnerable situations. Throughout his professional career, he has led and implemented several community development projects aimed at empowering people who face greater risks within their social environment.
He holds a degree in Social Work with emphasis in Development Management from the Universidad Rafael Landívar, Verapaz campus. His professional experience has been characterized by the implementation of initiatives that promote citizen participation, local capacity building and individual and collective empowerment.
Its work has contributed significantly to the construction of more just, participatory and resilient communities, with a focus on human development and social equity.
Patricia Pérez Morales
Patricia Pérez Morales is a Mayan Tz'utujil woman, originally from San Juan La Laguna, department of Sololá, Guatemala. She has more than 16 years of experience strengthening organizational processes and weaving relationships in communities in the department of Sololá, promoting citizen participation, dialogue and community development.
She graduated as a Certified Public Accountant, training that has allowed her to develop skills in administration and financial management. She also has a degree in Social Work with emphasis in Community Development from the Universidad Panamericana, Sololá, where she has consolidated knowledge aimed at contributing to the well-being and integral growth of the communities.
Her professional commitment is focused on service, community leadership and the promotion of the rights and participation of indigenous peoples, especially the Mayan people, contributing from a focus on identity, equity and social justice.
Mardoqueo Crispín Bulux Tzoc
Mardoqueo Crispín Bulux Tzoc is a Mayan professional who speaks K'iche’, with extensive experience in field work in community development processes. His career has been oriented towards strengthening the construction of a more just and equitable social fabric with greater opportunities for development, especially in vulnerable communities in the western region of the country.
He is a graduate of the Escuela Normal Regional de Occidente, Santa Lucía Utatlán, Sololá, where he obtained the degree of Intercultural Bilingual Primary Education Teacher (Mayan-Spanish). At the university level, she has a degree in General Psychology from the Rafael Landívar University, Quetzaltenango campus. She currently has a Master's degree in Neuroeducation and Information and Communication Technologies from the Centro Universitario de Occidente (CUNOC-USAC).
Its profile integrates pedagogical, psychological and community training, providing an intercultural and humanistic vision oriented to the integral development of individuals and communities.
Dominga Caal
Dominga was born in the community of La Unión, in the municipality of Chisec, Department of Alta Verapaz.
She holds a High School Teacher's Degree in Applied Linguistics and a Bachelor's Degree in Sociolinguistics from the Universidad Mariano Gálvez in Guatemala.
Dominga has had work experience as a Q'eqchi’ language facilitator, and has also been a trainer at the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala, among other work experiences specializing in the Q'eqchi’ Mayan language.
She is currently a Research Assistant at the Center for Equity and Governance Studies in Health Services -CEGSS-.
Alejandro Cerón
Research Associate
Alejandro Cerón is a researcher interested in understanding the relationship between public health practice and health as a human right. He graduated as a physician and surgeon in 2000 and master in public health in 2006 (both from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala), and a PhD in anthropology from the University of Washington in 2013. Between 2001 and 2006, he worked in rural Guatemala as a physician and coordinator of primary health projects. He is the author of Neocolonial Epidemiology: Public Health Practices and the Right to Health in Guatemala (AVANCSO, 2018). He has been an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Denver since 2013.
Walter Flores
Research Associate
Walter has more than 25 years of professional experience as a researcher, international consultant, professor in graduate programs and project manager in the areas of health systems, right to health and citizen participation. His professional work has been carried out in more than 30 countries in Latin America, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Europe. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from California State University (USA), a Masters in Community Health from the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, England and a PhD in Health Systems Development and Evaluation from the same school. Currently, Dr. Flores is a research professor at the Accountability Research Center, American University, Washington DC, USA. In addition, he is a research associate at CEGSS and an advisor to the office of the executive director.