She felt compelled to come and volunteer in Haiti following the tragic events of the earthquake in January 2010. Although she initially thought that volunteering in Haiti would be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, it turned into a life-altering event. Seeing the incredible spirit and passion of the Haitian people in spite of the hardships and injustices they endure ignited a desire in Sandra to make a long-term commitment to HavServe and help the organization continue to make a positive impact on the daily lives of the people of Lebrun. Although she felt that volunteering in Haiti was important, she also understood that in order to achieve lasting change for the Haitian people, it will take much more than a few hours a year of well-intentioned labor.

Since her return, Sandra has already conducted additional fundraising efforts, gathered technology donations for improving education, and is working on securing corporate sponsors and identifying sustainable job and revenue opportunities to continue to support the people of Lebrun and the work of HavServe.

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Previously, she served as Chief of the Competitiveness Division, and under her leadership, the OAS launched the Inter-American Competitiveness Network. From 1999 to 2009, she served as Senior Trade Specialist coordinating programs to increase the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade and to strengthen trade-related institutional and human capacities in Latin American and Caribbean countries, leveraging competitive advantages of both the public and the private sectors. As coordinator of the OAS Private Sector Forum, she worked with governments and corporate leadership to promote public-private partnerships for enhancing innovation, productivity and competitiveness in the Western Hemisphere. From 1993 to 1997, she served as the Business Editor of La Prensa newspaper in Panama.

Gisela Vergara obtained a Master´s degree in International Trade and Commercial Diplomacy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (California) and an Executive Master´s in Business Administration from Georgetown University.

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