Our People

Ann Mitchell

Executive Director

Founder and Executive Director of LENS, with more than thirty years of experience in research, policy and practice related to poverty and inequality. She is a Full Professor and Researcher at the Universidad Católica Argentina, where her work focuses on poverty measurement and the design and evaluation of social policies. Her extensive fieldwork in informal settlements and long-standing collaboration with civil society organizations has reinforced her conviction that effective social interventions must be grounded in local knowledge and informed by the perspectives of the communities they intend to serve. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland.

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Board of Directors

Advisory Committee

María Noel Vaeza

International development leader with extensive experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment within the United Nations. She serves as Senior Advisor to the CEO of the PATH Foundation and previously served as Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean at UN Women (2019–2025). She holds a PhD in Law and Social Sciences from the University of the Republic, Uruguay and a Master of Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Carolina Trivelli

Economist and expert in development and social inclusion policies in Latin America. She serves as Principal Researcher at the Peruvian Institute of Economic Studies and advises international organizations and public, private, and civil society institutions. She served as Peru’s Minister of Development and Social Inclusion (2011–2013). She holds a Master’s in Agricultural Economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Severine Deneulin

Researcher on global development and sustainability, focusing on the intersection of faith and the social sciences and on social and environmental justice in Latin America. She serves as Director of Integral Human Development at the Laudato Si’ Research Institute and Associate Fellow at the Oxford Department of International Development. She holds a DPhil in International Development from the University of Oxford.

Liesbeth Carballo-Jans

Professional with extensive experience in multilateral and corporate finance in Latin America, including prior roles at the World Bank, IFC, IDB, and ING Barings. She currently serves on the Strategic Foundation Partnerships team at Save the Children. She holds an MBA from the University of Groningen.