OUR TEAMS

Betsy Jaffe, Board President (2018-Present) is a public affairs executive dedicated to serving foundations and non-profit trade associations. She is currently Director of Marketing & Communications for Nacha, the organization governing the ACH Network, the payment system driving direct deposits and direct payments to banks and credit unions. Previously she was President and CEO of Amplitude Strategies, a strategic communications firm. Her work has been featured in publications including the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the New York Times, USA Today and numerous business journals and trade publications. Ms. Jaffe holds a bachelor’s degree from American University and a master’s degree from George Washington University. This is Ms. Jaffe’s second term on the board.

Jeanne Balcom, Board Vice President (2018-Present) has over 20 years of experience in international securities market regulation and financial services. She is currently an Executive Director of Regulatory Policy at the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). At OCC she is also a Member of the Diversify, Equity and Inclusion Council and on the leadership team of the Hispanic/Latino OCC Leaders and Allies (HOLA), an employee network group. Prior to this role, she served as a Senior Director for International at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, where she spearheaded the founding of the Americas Chapter of the International Forum for Investor Education to share best practices across Latin America and represented FINRA on the Council of Securities Regulators of the Americas. Ms. Balcom holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese. This is her second term on the Board and her first term as President of the Board.

Chris Falcon, Board Secretary (2018-Present) is the Civil Division Supervisor, Legal Counsel, and Deputy Clerk of the Arlington Circuit Court. He is also the founding attorney and owner of The Falcon Firm PLLC, focusing his practice on business consulting and estate planning. Mr. Falcon serves on the Fairfax County Human Services Council and the James Madison University Board of Visitors. He was previously appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to the Virginia Latino Advisory Board, which he served on from 2014-2018. Mr. Falcon received his J.D. from the Widener University Law School and B.B.A. from James Madison University. This is his second term on the board.

Richard Dangay, Board Treasurer (2022-Present), is an Operations executive with 30 years of experience in international development consulting in over 25 countries. He is currently Vice President, Strategic Initiatives at DT Global, an international development firm consulting. Previously, he was Vice President, Operations at Cardno Emerging Markets USA where he had direct oversight of the Finance, Contracts, Pricing and Compliance, HR, IT, and Recruitment groups. His experience includes leading corporate operations, project management, change management, and business and corporate development in both commercial and public sectors. Originally from France, Richard holds an MBA from The American University. This is Richard’s first term on the Edu-Futuro Board.

Ligia M. Perez Reyes (2022-present) has over 15 years of experience in international development including management of projects/contracts, monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning, oversight of financial operations, and design of projects and activities to improve the social conditions of citizens around the world. She has also worked in urban planning and planning of public infrastructure to guide sustainable development of vulnerable regions. Ms. Perez Reyes holds a Master’s degree in Urban Studies and Community Planning from the University of Maryland, a Master’s in Business Administration from ISEADE/El Salvador, and a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Studies from the Florida International University.

Tonia Waetjen (2020-2023) is a strategic communication professional with 20 years of experience in international affairs. As a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, she has directed communication and outreach in multiple countries and regions throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. Also a former English as a Second Language teacher, Ms. Waetjen is a leader in developing strategies for communicating across cultures. She currently advises on foreign policy at the Department of Defense. This is her first board term.

Hugh Pace (2021-2024) is the Director of Human Resources for United Income, Capital One’s wealth management technology business. Previously he was responsible for the strategy, design, and delivery of a program that produced thousands of technology hires. Prior to joining Capital One, Hugh held roles at McKinsey & Company and Korn Ferry. Hugh holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in Economics. While he was born in Lima, Peru he considers home Mexico City, Mexico where he grew up. Hugh currently resides in Reston, Virginia. This is his first term on the board.

Dr. Marjorie L. Myers (2021-2024) joined our Board of Directors in February of 2021. During her 46-year career in education, she taught Kindergarten through-Higher Education and worked as a Spanish teacher, an ESOL teacher, a bilingual counselor, central office program manager for ELL students, an adjunct professor, an assistant principal, and a principal. She taught and worked as a school administrator in Florida, Georgia, Venezuela, DC, and Virginia. She holds a BA in Secondary Spanish Education from the University of Florida (1972), an MA in bilingual and multicultural education from George Mason University (1985) in Fairfax, VA; has 33 hours of post-graduate coursework in computational and applied linguistics and a Doctorate of Education in Bilingual Special Education from The George Washington University (2009) in Washington, D.C. From 1995 to 2018 Dr. Myers was the principal of Francis Scott Key Elementary in Arlington, Virginia. In September of 2012, that School was recognized by the Ministry of Education of Spain as the International Spanish Academy (ISA) “School of the Year 2011.” Dr. Myers is a contributing author in the 2014 Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas book, Creating Dual Language Schools for a Transformed World: Administrators Speak. She is published in other articles and books. In January of 2018, Dr. Myers was awarded La Cruz de Isabel la Católica by King Felipe VI of Spain for a lifetime of promoting Spanish language and culture in the Americas. She retired from APS in July of 2018. The Key School PTA established the Dr. Marjorie L. Myers Scholarship Fund with Edu-Futuro as a legacy fund at her retirement, and to help first-generation college students with educational expenses. The Rotary Club of Arlington awarded her the Lifetime Achievement Award. In October 2018 Edu-Futuro presented a plaque to Dr. Marjorie L. Myers Principal Emerita Francis Scott Key Immersion: The Edu-Futuro Arlington County Community Partner of the Year Award, in grateful recognition of her outstanding efforts and proven success in educating students and others to understand the benefits of communication in more than one language in the context of their diverse cultures, as members of the community and citizens of the world. Dr. Marjorie L. Myers is honored to join our Board of Directors.

Dr. Padmanabhan "Padhu" Seshaiyer (2021-2024) is a tenured Full Professor at George Mason University and a bold visionary leader who combines a strong administrative experience with a successful background in academic research, education, and outreach. He has held several leadership positions including serving as the Associate Dean for the College of Science, Director of STEM Accelerator Program, Director for the Center for Outreach in Mathematics Professional Learning and Educational Technology at GMU, Program Director at the National Science Foundation and most recently being sworn in as one of the STEM advisors to the Governor of Virginia for a newly established VA STEM Advisory Board. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master’s degree in Mathematics from India and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a Post-Doctoral Research Associateship from Texas A&M University. During the last two decades, Dr. Seshaiyer has directed a variety of educational and outreach programs to prepare the next-generation workforce through facilitated pathways, graduate and undergraduate research, K-12 outreach, teacher professional development, and enrichment programs to foster the interest of students and teachers in STEM at all levels. This is his first term on the Board.

Former Board Members & Officers

Celina Penovi recently retired from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, where she served as Senior Legal Counsel. At MIGA she handled international transactions in countries around the world and interfaces with government authorities on issues relating to foreign investment. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked in law firms in Argentina and San Francisco, California where she received a service award for her pro bono immigration work with Hispanic clients.  She is a strong advocate of bilingual education and has published several bilingual children’s books. Ms. Penovi received her J.D. from the University of Buenos Aires and a Masters of Law in International Transactions (LL.M.) from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She served two terms as Board President from 2012 to 2018.

Robert Panfil has over 30 years of experience working with transportation and infrastructure projects throughout Latin America, South Asia, and the South Pacific regions. During his 25-year career at the World Bank, he undertook sector and program lending and project procurement and supervision. As infrastructure manager in India, he was responsible for the development of one of the World Bank’s largest highway sector lending programs. He also served as senior advisor to the Australian Foreign Aid Agency. Mr. Panfil has a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania in Finance and an M.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin. He has served 3 non-consecutive terms on the Board and has been Treasurer.

Dr. Katharine Panfil has worked in education for over 30 years in the US and abroad, including Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador, Argentina, and Tanzania. During her career with Arlington Public Schools (APS) where she began as an ESOL teacher, she was Foreign Language Supervisor, Principal of Key Elementary School where she led the development of APS Spanish language immersion program, and Principal of Randolph Elementary School at the time it became the first Primary Years Program of the International Baccalaureate in a public school in the DC metro area. Dr. Panfil holds a Ph.D. in Education from George Mason University. She has served 4 non-consecutive terms on the Board and has been the President and Vice-President.

Dr. Phillip Church is a Senior Economist at DevTech Systems, Inc. where he provides technical advisory and training assistance on the strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation of USG international development assistance projects and programs. Most recently in Central America, he supervised and trained staff in the monitoring and evaluation of USG grants to organizations working to get child laborers out of work and back into school.  Before joining DevTech, Dr. Church served for 25 years as a Foreign Service Economic Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). His international development career has led him to work and live in several Latin American and Asian countries. Dr. Church holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oregon, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, and an A.B. in Economics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Church is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French. He has served two terms on the Board, as Vice-President.

Connie Church was the Director of Finance and Administration for the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) until her retirement in 2009. At APTR she was responsible for all accounting, financial reporting to the board and government partners, human resources, and office administration. She is currently a tax accountant for private clients. Ms. Church grew up in Mexico and lived and worked abroad for several years; in Bangladesh, she served as Vice President of the American International School Board; in Guatemala, she was the co-founder and treasurer of an adoption agency. Ms. Church holds a B.A. in History from Stanford University and an M.A. in Accounting from George Washington University. She has served two terms on the Board, part of that time as Board Treasurer.

Cara Santos Pianesi has helped organizations communicate clearly to garner attention for issues of international development for more than 20 years. She is currently a Communications Lead at the World Bank Group. She previously worked at the United Nations Development Program, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Amnesty International. She moved to Alexandria, VA from Miami where she concentrated on private-sector communications vis-à-vis Latin America with Foote, Cone, and Belding. Cara has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. in International Studies and Economics from the University of Miami. She has served two terms on the Board.