Adelisa González
Senior Director of Development

Adelisa González is our Senior Director of Development. She works to create and build relations with those who support Sapientis, in order to expand our group of investors and ensure that the organization maximizes its financial resources and operates efficiently. As a member of our senior administrative team, Adelisa contributes to the strategic efforts that lead the organization to fulfill its purpose of improving the quality of the public education system in Puerto Rico on a long-term basis.

Before joining Sapientis, Adelisa worked for Mellon Financial Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts. As Associate Vice President and Corporate Donations  Manager at Mellon New England, she shouldered the responsibility of identifying and granting $2 million a year to community-oriented organizations that supported educational programs, as well as economic and community development.

Her work at Mellon won her several acknowledgements, including the 2003 and 2004 Mellon Premier Achievement Awards. In 2005, she was also among one of 30 employees selected to receive the prestigious Mellon Star Award.

Lilia M. Miletti
Senior Director of Finance and Administration

María Isabel Viscasillas
Senior Director Marketing & Communications

As Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, María Isabel is in charge of disseminating Sapientis’ purpose by developing a broad marketing and communications plan focused on implementing social marketing campaigns that will create awareness about the crisis in Puerto Rico’s public education system and the importance of the social movement the organization promotes in its efforts to convoke all sectors of society to become part of the solution. She also overseas the process of identifying and creating strategic alliances with diverse corporations, associations and individuals to become part of the organization’s social movement; and supports Sapientis development and program efforts. Ultimately, she procures the adequate use of Sapientis image and develops protocols for the internal and external usage of Sapientis communications. As part of the management group, María Isabel supports the development and implementation of organizational procedures and politics that promote professional growth and team work.

With over 14 years of experience, María Isabel has had a constant growth trajectory within the organizational structure in advertising agencies. She started her career in the media department at Young & Rubicam of Puerto Rico, and continued her professional diversification in the traffic and accounting departments at Martí, Flores, Prieto y Wachtel, today JWT; and on to the account management/client service and web development areas while at Young & Rubicam, Lopito, Ileana & Howie and PopuliCom respectively. María Isabel has a BA in Public Communications from the University of Puerto Rico with a concentration in advertising from the University of Texas at Arlington.

María de Lourdes Ortiz
Front-line Educators Manager

As program manager for "Front-Line Educators," María de Lourdes Ortiz trains teachers and school directors in leadership to help them as they work to improve academic performance and the classroom environment.

Prior to becoming Leadership Manager, Ms. Ortiz coordinated support and training for Sapientis' original program, which gave leadership training to outstanding college graduates who then went on to teach in the public schools for two-year periods.

She has also worked in the Education Faculty of the Universidad de Sagrado Corazón, implementing workshops that aimed at improving teachers' skills through innovative education techniques. Ms. Ortiz holds a B.B.A. in Tourism from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and an M.S. in Administration of Nonprofit Organizations from the same university.

Priscila Pumarada
Schools on the Move Manager

Leadership Manager Priscila Pumarada works alongside Sapientis staff to develop and implement the Youth Leadership and Schools on the Move programs and to help communities utilize the leadership model of Professor Ronald Heifetz of Harvard University. Her work aims to strengthen the teaching and the development of change agents that exercise leadership to transform public education.  Ms. Pumarada complements Sapientis with her experience as a teacher in Puerto Rico and elsewhere and with her knowledge in the area of community organization. 

For more than three years Ms. Pumarada worked as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, holding professional development conferences and workshops for teachers, and helping draft and implement an environmental curriculum in that country.  Ms. Pumarada has several years experience in advertising and market development as well. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Psychology with a concentration in Special Education and studies in plastic arts from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Yasmin Vélez Sánchez
Network Manager

As Network Manager, Yasmin Vélez Sánchez has the responsibility of developing, organizing and mobilizing the network of change agents that works toward improving the quality of Puerto Rico’s public education.  She develops the capacities of the network’s participants so they can practice leadership in the process of transforming the country’s educational system. She also makes sure that they are informed about topics related to education and provides them with the necessary tools to help educate the society regarding the crisis of the public education system. Vélez organizes our network’s activities, which are focused on calling society’s attention to education issues and getting them to commit themselves to improving the quality of Puerto Rico’s public education.

Yasmin also directs the project of updating and maintaining Sapientis website. She also researches other social networks on the Internet in order to include new and useful tools for our network members, champions and change agents in the website. Vélez also provides direct support to the Senior Marketing and Communications Director in the development of social marketing strategies.

Previously, Yasmin worked as Marketing and Public Relations Official for the Ponce Museum of Art. She was also Communications Director at the Puerto Rico Foundation for the Humanities, where she had the opportunity of creating the Communications Division. This allowed her to develop a new institutional image for the foundation. Vélez has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications with a concentration in Editing for Media Communications from the University of the Sacred Heart. She is currently undergoing her Master’s Degree in Public Relations at the same university.

Mildred V. Antuna Arroyo
Involúcrate Planner

As Involúcrate Planner,  Mildred Antuna a is responsible for all program aspects of Involúcrate, program to create long-term alliances and partnerships between the private sector and individuals as a strategy to build Sapientis’ network of change agents. 

Prior to joining Sapientis, Mrs. Antuna worked at Grey Puerto Rico in Traffic Department. Also, she worked as Director of Traffic and Production Department for Indigo Communications in Santurce.  Antuna holds a BA in Communications with a major in Advertising from the Universidad Del Sagrado Corazón. Currently, she is earning her master’s in Public Relations from Sagrado Corazón.

Maricarmen Ortiz Figueroa
Leadership Planner

As Leadership Planner of Jóvenes en Acción, Maricarmen Ortiz Figueroa is responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the program, which seeks the active participation of students in the efforts to improve the quality of education at their schools.

Previously, Maricarmen Ortiz worked for six years in the Municipality of Comerío where she held positions as Director of the Culture and Tourism Office, Mayor Assistant and City Administrator. Maricarmen has a Bachelors Degree in Social Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Phoenix.

José León
Network Coordinator

As Network Coordinator, José León is responsible for coordinating all activities of the network, update the database and website. Further more, he is responsible to keep informed all members of the network on all the work of the organization.

Before joining Sapientis,. Jose Leon worked on "Camera Mundi" as IT in the area of technology; he was responsible for providing technical support to all schools in the east area of Puerto Rico. Leon holds a BA in Information Systems with a mayor in Management from the Interamerican University and holds certifications in Comptia A+ and Microsoft MCP.

Michelle Vizcarrondo
Leadership Coordinator

As Leadership Coordinator, Michelle Vizcarrondo is responsible for organizing and carrying out training logistics as well as with undertaking administrative tasks associated with our Program.  Provides support to the Leadership Manager     
Previously Miss. Vizcarrondo worked as an assistant in the Department of Statistics at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. It also participate an internship with the company Jonhson & Jonhson Hemispheric in the Sales Department.
Michelle has a bachelor's degree in business administration with concentrations in Marketing and a second concentration in modern languages at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. Furthermore an exchange of summer in Urbino, Italy.

Ricardo Rodríguez
Development Administrator

As Development Administrator, Ricardo Rodríguez is responsible for creating and keeping up-to-date the systems Sapientis uses for fund-raising. He also researches and contacts potential investors to interest them in the work of Sapientis. He works with the Senior Director of Development to edit and disseminate proposals to prospective investors and keeps current investors informed about the work of the organization. He is responsible for documenting meetings of the development team and helping prepare materials for meetings of Sapientis’ Board of Directors. Also, he is in charge of keeping an updated data base for the Development Department and assuring that all information to investors is precise and correct.