I serve on the Project Talent Acquisition team as a Senior Associate in DAI's USG People division. My primary purpose is to contribute to and facilitate the recruitment process to identify candidates for DAI's USG Projects, mainly in Spanish-speaking countries.Some of my role's primary responsibilities are:-Source appropriate candidates through internal and external networks, industry events, DAI's internal recruitment database, and online electronic resources.-Manage complex recruitment assignments that require creative application of social media, networking, and referrals to address specific recruitment challenges.-Screen and short-list priority candidates, ensuring compliance with all governmental and client employment specifications.-Support hiring managers' decision-making to meet hiring deadlines.-Negotiate candidate salaries, benefits, and allowances within proposal/project budget constraints and client regulations.-Ensure that all staffing documentation submitted complies with donor specifications (including letters of commitment, references, due diligence, and other proposal/project documents)-Contributing writer for personnel sections of proposals; tailor candidate's CVs to address qualifications required for roles specified in proposals; provide other writing inputs to proposals, as needed-Track progress with teams and ensure recruitment quality and compliance standards are met-Assist the Project Talent Acquisition team with project startups as the startup recruiter, as needed.In addition to this role and in a volunteering capacity, I've been leading and coordinating La Familia, DAI's Hispanic Employee Resource Group, since August 2023. My role as Chairwoman is to ensure that DAI fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment for Hispanic and Latinx employees by managing a series of events and initiatives inside and outside the company.

As a Senior Project Associate, I support the USAID INVEST project's home office management and financial and contractual oversight. Additionally, I work closely with the INVEST project team and provide day-to-day problem-solving and operational support in project coordination, contract management, and financial management. As a Senior Associate, I am responsible for helping the project achieve quality programming and development outcomes and supporting DAI business development as needed.

As a Project Associate in DAI's Global Delivery Unit, I assist at INVEST, DAI's second-largest project. INVEST is a flexible, efficient buy-in mechanism that helps the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mobilize private capital. It has built a network of approximately 250 partners that provide the niche technical expertise USAID needs on demand. INVEST has supported enterprise development, infrastructure, and financing instruments or funds transactions. INVEST has worked in over 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Ghana, Haiti, India, Kenya, and Tunisia.

Tasks and Achievements: • Assisted Kaizen's Business Development team with proposal development and capture activities, mainly for opportunities at USAID and other clients like the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). • Served as Proposal Manager to capture and team efforts for upcoming opportunities in regions like Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. Assisted and collaborated in negotiating partnership arrangements and coordinated teaming agreements and other institutional agreements with partners. • Led and collaborated in several phases of major proposals for USAID, including recruitment, compliance management, and technical project design, ensuring that proposals met the specifications and deadlines required by Kaizen's quality standards. • Developed various Regional Competitive Analyses in International Development focused on Private Sector for South Asia, West and South Africa, and Latin America. • Identified and started building relationships with potential partners for future proposals and other Kaizen projects in Latin America. • Participated as an active member of the Gender and Inclusion Strategic Objective, working to improve inclusivity at Kaizen and within our project designs, and assisted in reviewing the Capacity Development Plan for the USAID/Mozambique Local Empowerment to Advance Development (LEAD).

As the Washington, D.C., campus of The University of Texas System, the Archer Center provides talented undergraduate and graduate students from across the UT System with the opportunity to live, learn, and intern in the nation's capital. Graduate Archer Fellows live, learn and work in the heart of Washington, D.C., during the summer. Selection is based on a competitive process, bringing together a cohort of highly motivated graduate and medical students from all campuses of The University of Texas System.Tasks and Achievements:• Selected as the only Hispanic business student from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for the Summer 2020 Graduate Archer Fellowship, Cristina participated in the Global Affairs Policy working group with other fellows from other UT campuses. • Aligned with her internship experience, she developed a policy recommendation paper entitled: "USAID Funding and Partnering in Latin America."• Served as Ambassador for the Graduate Archer Fellows for Summer 2021.

Tasks and Achievements:• Served as a representative of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Graduate College with the highest integrity. • Assisted applicants and enrolled graduate students, maintaining high customer satisfaction.• Maximized graduate enrollment by 12% since Spring 2019, especially in Hispanic-oriented graduate programs• Created market research projects and organized on-campus events for graduate programs in Spanish.• Developed regional recruiting campaigns that improved graduate enrollment by 19%.

Bionegocios Mexico was launched in January 2015 to provide consulting services to startups and non-profit organizations in the Agriculture and Food Industry. Bionegocios Mexico developed several strategic management services to expand the organization's market share and value. The primary services provided are the following: • Business Model Development• Global Project Management• Strategic Digital MarketingAligned with consultancy services and a broad market of women entrepreneurs as customers, we founded the first community of young woman entrepreneurs in STEM in Monterrey in the Summer of 2017. Some of the most significant tasks and achievements of this community are:• Participation and organization of INC Monterrey, the largest entrepreneurship festival in LATAM, from 2016-2017. This participation increased women's attendance at the conference, with a 24% women registration increase from 2016 to 2017. • Development of several gender-based platforms in Monterrey within universities like Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. • Organization of more than 15 workshops and networking events for women entrepreneurs in Monterrey.Cristina placed a hold on this business to earn an MBA in the U.S. in the Fall of 2018.

Instituto Anglo Britanico is part of the Madison Group of Schools in Mexico and the International Baccalaureate program. Tasks and Achievements: • Formulated the degree plan for the High School Science department.• Created and developed weekly and monthly activities to foster research and critical thinking skills for students. Student's grading increased by 35% in science-related courses this year.• Launched the first Science and Business Exhibition and Competition between Junior High School students.

Assisted as Research & Product Developer Trainee in the R&D department for my Bachelor's Degree Capstone Project. Tasks and Achievements: • Market research and analysis of emerging food technologies and ingredients for implementation in the current and future products.• Explored industrial methods for product improvement, such as chemical composition,flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.• Elaborated an executive market report for Sigma about the top three ingredients that could be added to current products to add nutritional value and increase overall profits.

LifeTech Venture Clinic is a program where students enrolled and engaged with entrepreneurship and research can develop commercial and business research projects with small and medium biotechnology companies.Tasks and Achievements: • Market research and analysis of pharmaceutical technologies for implementation in several industries. • Elaborated market reports and presentations about biotechnological insights on different products for several small companies.