Our Team
Every member of our team contributes to the Institute’s mission to improve the economic and social well-being of the people of the Americas.
HOME | Our Team
Richard Kiy
Sherry White
Jeremy Martin
Tania Miranda
Francesca Carrillo Diaz
Christian Chavez
Ernesto Grijalva
Catalina López-Sagástegui
Rita Oliveira
Diana Rodríguez
Sherry White
La Jolla, California, USA
Ms. White has been an integral member of the staff of the Institute of the Americas having served in a number of capacities; STEAM Director, Community Program Director, Board Secretary, Director Special Projects and Development, Innovation Program Director (Biotech, Health and Science), Senior Advisor, Strategic Initiatives and now Vice President, Public Programs & Institutional Advancement. In her time with the Institute, she has organized and implemented a plethora of events and programs including small, private gatherings and board meetings throughout the hemisphere, seminars, workshops, and large-scale events such as fundraising events, Institute anniversary events, and black-tie award galas for current and former Latin American heads of state.
Jeremy Martin
La Jolla, California, USA
Jeremy M. Martin is Vice President, Energy & Sustainability at the Institute of the Americas, an inter-American public policy think-tank located at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The Institute of the Americas Energy & Sustainability Program works to foster a deeper understanding of the most critical energy issues facing the Western Hemisphere. Jeremy spends his time delving into the geopolitics of energy and closely following energy industry trends and policy issues across the Americas, and is a frequent commentator and writer on Latin American and energy issues.
Jeremy has testified before the US Congress on energy issues in Latin America, teaches a graduate course in Latin American Energy Policy at UCSD and the University of San Diego (USD) and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Inter-American Dialogue’s Energy Advisor newsletter. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Diplomacy Council and is a member of the host committee for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation San Diego Chapter annual Bet on Cures event. Thanks to his upbringing, he is a diehard Red Sox fan, Civil War buff, and news junkie. Jeremy graduated with honors in History from The Citadel in Charleston, SC and a Masters in International Affairs/International Development from the American University in Washington, DC. He has yet to achieve his lifelong dream of being a Stand-Up Comic.
Tania Miranda
La Jolla, California, USA
Tania Miranda is the Director of the Institute of the Americas’ Environment & Climate Change Program. This initiative strives to catalyze climate leadership amongst the private sector and sub-national governments in Latin America, to promote sustainable growth, tackle climate change and minimize environmental impacts in the region.
She has over 6 years of experience with multiple Mexican government agencies at the federal level, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ProMexico, and the Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C. Prior to the Institute, Tania worked as an Investment and Economic Analyst at the Consulate of Mexico in New York, focusing on the promotion of the U.S. – Mexico – Canada Trade Agreement as well as energy, infrastructure, and tourism-related projects. She also has experience working as an energy liaison for the Kuwaiti government in Mexico.
Tania studied a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a Minor in International Relations at the University of Southern California, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, and a Master’s of Science in Energy Policy & Climate from the Johns Hopkins University. She has published an array of research and opinion pieces on the energy sector in Mexico, and co-authored a published book titled We Are North America. She was born and raised in Mexico City, loves to scuba-dive, and is a Dallas Cowboys fan.
Francesca Carrillo Diaz
La Jolla, California, USA
Francesca Carrillo-Díaz is the Assistant Director of Public Programs at the Institute of the Americas. Through virtual, hybrid, and in-person events, IOA’s Public Programming aims to increase our visibility, engagement, and reach in various communities including UC San Diego, the greater binational region of San Diego/Baja California, Southern California, and Latin America.
In 2019, Francesca joined the Institute of the Americas (IOA) as a STEAM Program Associate. She helped organize various in-person and virtual events for local and international Latin American students such as the annual residential summer Science Camp and nonresidential day camps called STEAM Labs. She has also worked with the STEAM Team to coordinate professional development workshops for Latin American STEAM teachers at the IOA headquarters in La Jolla, California, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and through virtual platforms.
Francesca graduated from the University of San Diego in 2017 with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Spanish with a minor in Latin American studies.
Christian Chavez
La Jolla, California, USA
Christian Chavez is Systems Administrator at the Institute of the Americas. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego. His passion for computers from a very young age drew him to work in the field since 2003. His experience ranges from computer sales and repair, to network and telecomm cabling installation, to systems and network administration and security. After trying out a partnership for a couple of years, he decided to start his own company in 2011 providing a wide range of IT services to businesses throughout San Diego.
Ernesto Grijalva
Solana Beach, CA, USA
Jesus Ernesto Grijalva has been a student of U.S.-Latin American legal and political interactions for over 30 years. A U.C.S.D graduate with a B.A. in Political Science and with a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, his entire professional career has been focused on U.S.-Latin America business interactions.
The Law Offices of J. Ernesto Grijalva served clients with U.S.-Mexico cross-border business transactions and litigation. In the early 1990’s he became the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce’s principal spokesperson on NAFTA and International trade issues. In the mid-1990’s he joined the Chamber as VP Legal/International Trade.
In 1998, Ernie was invited to join PriceSmart, Inc., a progeny of Price-Costco. As Sr. VP Legal Affairs Latin America/Caribbean and Chief FCPA Compliance Officer, he was charged with shepherding the legal aspects of PriceSmart’s expansion throughout Central America and then supervising legal matters throughout the Latin America/Caribbean region. In his 20 years with PriceSmart, it grew from operations in 1 country to 13, about 300 employees to 9,000 and about $60 million in annual revenues to over $3 billion. He personally trained thousands of employees on a variety of legal compliance related matters. He served as the Legal Representative of over 30 corporations, serving as President of over 20 PriceSmart subsidiaries and as Secretary or General Manager of a dozen more. He was regularly responsible for subsidiaries corporate/government relations. His work led to being recognized as a GC Powerlist – The Legal 500 – Most Influential Corporate Counsel in Central America. He is also rated Pre-eminent attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and a certified a Corporate Ethics and Compliance Professional – International.
Catalina López-Sagástegui
La Jolla, California, USA
Catalina López-Sagástegui is a Marine Biologist from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (2001) in La Paz, Mexico, and obtained a Masters degree on marine biodiversity and conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (2006). Although her initial interests focused on marine mammal ecology, her focused shifted to understanding how coastal communities adapt to changes in their socio-economic realities when public policies aimed at protecting and managing species are implemented.
From 2006-2010 she worked at NOS Noroeste Sustentable A.C., where she coordinated an effort to create a common vision for the Upper Gulf of California with scientists, conservationists, and the fishing sector. Catalina joined UCMEXUS at the University of California Riverside in 2010 as a scholar in residence where she began to develop multidisciplinary research programs that incorporate resource users’ participation in collaboration with the Gulf of California Marine Program (GCMP). Together with the Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A.C., she developed a fisheries monitoring program that has generated data for the last 11 years, contributing to fisheries management on both, local and regional scales throughout the Gulf of California and Mexican Pacific.
Catalina’s experience with conflict resolution helps her create opportunities for multistakeholder collaborations and has reinforced the importance of access to information to build trust and empower communities. In 2014, Catalina helped launch dataMares, GCMP’s initiative to promote transparency in scientific research and provide a space where access to scientific data is possible.
In 2017, Catalina became the GCMP’s director and, while she continues to do research related to small-scale fisheries in Mexico, she dedicates a significant portion of her time to promote binational research collaborations.
Rita Oliveira
La Jolla, California, USA
Rita Oliveira is a Program Associate for the Energy and Sustainability Program. She is also the Office and HR Manager as well as Assistant to the President. Rita holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Portugal and MBA from National University, in San Diego. Prior to joining the Institute, she worked as a collector at Chase Home Finance in San Diego and as an Assistant Manager for F. Abecassis in Portugal.
