Our Team | Nuestro Equipo

Founders & Board of Directors

Christine MacDonald

Executive Director & Co-Founder

Christine is an investigative reporter, who has had a long career writing for top-ranked newspapers, such as the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, and Washington Post. As Executive Director, she leads the organization’s Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning (SPEL), a weekly story lab that brings together high school and college interns and young adult fellows to produce articles and special research projects published on the Hola Cultura’s website. She mentors and edits the work of SPEL participants and other English-language contributors and oversees the day-to-day operations of the organization.

Christine has held several investigative reporting and writing fellowships and authored the book, “Green, Inc.” She started her career as a freelance foreign correspondent for the Dallas Morning News in Mexico and wrote for her hometown newspaper, the Boston Globe, before moving to Washington, D.C., in the mid-2000s.

Alberto Roblest

Co-Founder & Board President

Alberto is an accomplished writer, multimedia artist and educator. A prolific poet, essayist and reviewer, Alberto not only leads the organization; he serves as its Spanish-language editor, working with several volunteer contributors to produce new high quality Spanish-language content for Hola Cultura every week.

His visual poetry, digital still art, experimental videos and video installations have been widely exhibited in museums, galleries and art spaces. While his poetry, short stories, and essays have been published in literary journals and anthologies in the United States and Latin America. His latest books include: “Against the Wall: short stories” (Arte Publico Press 2022) and “Silent Tenants: poetry” (Day 8 Press 2023). 

Gloria Valdez

Board Member

Gloria “Tarasca” Valdés is a self-taught visual artist originally from Michoacán, México. She produces vibrant canvases using oil paint on cotton fabric. For the last several years, she has produced a series of portraits of personalities who inspire her, ranging from famous artists and actors to historic figures. The aim of her work is to recognize those who do good work and inspire, inform and entertain her audiences. Gloria also contributes articles in Spanish to Hola Cultura’s online magazine, writing reviews and interviews on a range of topics of interest to Hola Cultura’s diverse community.

Thomas Devine

Board Member

Since 1979, Tom Devine has been the Government Accountability Project’s legal director, where he has assisted over 8,000 whistleblowers and has not lost a case since 2006. He has been on the front lines for the passage and oversight of 37 whistleblower laws, including nearly all U.S. federal laws and internationally from Serbia to the UN and World Bank, most recently the EU Whistleblower Directive and Ukraine. Tom is an adjunct professor at the DC Law School, has been recognized annually since 2012 by the Metropolitan Washington Lawyer’s Association as one of Washington DC’s top employment lawyers, has authored numerous books and law journals. He appears regularly as a media expert and has spoken in over a dozen nations as the State Department’s informal “Ambassador of Whistleblowing.” Tom also co-founded Whistleblowing International Network, where he serves on the Board.

Senior Advisors

Moira Rudich

SPEL Advisor

Moira advises on professional development activities for Hola Cultura’s SPEL program. She is Assistant Director of the Office of Global Health Education at the University of Chapel Hill, NC, and has significant experience in academic, NGO and consulting environments. Her broad teaching experience includes courses on human rights, migration/ immigration, cross-cultural understanding, and language and cultures. Moira is passionate about developing and nurturing partnerships between the Global North and the Global South, fostering narratives owned by local communities, and collaborating with diverse stakeholders. As a first generation, Latina professional, she is committed to supporting all those she works with, and particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to thrive in their pursuits of their personal and professional growth, and in creating sustainable and resilient communities.

Belén Fernandez

Senior Advisor

Belen Fernandez grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she worked as an attorney in the private and public sector for more than 5 years. She immigrated to the United States in 2012 to pursue a Master of Laws (L.L.M.) at Fordham Law School in New York City. After being admitted to practice law in New York State in 2013, she worked as a pro bono attorney in different nonprofits such as The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Legal Services, and The Spanish Benevolent Society (La Nacional). Since she moved to Washington D.C. in 2017, she has been involved with Hola Cultura as a volunteer and consultant. Belen has a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from University of Maryland. She works as a Human Resources Coordinator at Identity, Inc.

HC Team

Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe

Assistant Editor

Marcelo is a journalist and video producer. As an editorial fellow in 2021, he led a youth reporting group and co-wrote an investigative series on D.C.’s heat islands. The story mapped temperature differences across the city and examined the disproportionate effects extreme heat can have on D.C.’s residents. He is the host of Hola Cultura’s podcast “The Climate Divide,” which examines D.C.’s heat islands and related health disparities along racial, ethnic and class lines.

Claudia Peralta Torres

Podcast Producer

Claudia (she/her) is a Peruvian American storyteller and video editor based in the northern Virginia area. She graduated with honors from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robert T. Robertson School of Media and Culture in Richmond, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications with a concentration in broadcast journalism and a minor in psychology. Throughout her life, she has had a love for film. Claudia hopes to share people’s stories and experiences either professionally or as passion projects. As a senior in college, she and two classmates filmed and edited the documentary, “Lost in the Daze of Candy.” The documentary follows the Virginia band Backroom Portrait on their journey as artists, sharing how music became a lifeline to help the band members overcome various events in their lives. The film was included in three film festivals and chosen as a finalist at the Mountain Shadow Film Society’s festival in the short film competition in Walnut Creek, California. In her free time, Claudia enjoys watching films and television shows, playing guitar, and traveling.

Paige Holman

Grant Writer

Paige (she/her) is a dedicated writer and storyteller. Her work experience lies in nonprofit grant writing, social media management and graphic design. In 2022, she graduated as the Outstanding Graduate in Human Services at Western Washington University. Growing up a quiet soul, she quickly learned to harness her passion for writing as a form of expression and started contributing her skills to organizations and causes she cares about. During her college years, she interned at FuturesNW, where she helped students fill out their financial aid applications for college and co-led work-readiness workshops for students with learning disabilities. Working with Spanish-speaking youth sparked her passion for immigrant rights and Latinx culture, prompting her to start learning Spanish midway through college. After completing her studies, Paige moved to Mexico City, where she has since established her post-grad life working for nonprofits. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry, collaging and cooking new foods.

Shanna Kelly

Online Analytics Advisor

Shanna Kelly provides monthly analytics reports and analysis for Hola Cultura to help grow the website and social media. She is also The Boston Globe’s mobile applications producer, managing the Globe app and news alerts, and a freelance editor for Stacker Media.

Shanna has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. For her master’s project, she broke down Argentina’s 0.1 net migration rate — who’s leaving and coming, the factors that determine this, and the future implications. A New Jersey native, she also founded a news site in her home state.

Before that, she received a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University’s Honors College in journalism, Spanish, and Spanish-English translation and interpretation. Shanna graduated as the Outstanding Contributor in Journalism, and the three years she was an editor for the school’s newspaper, it was awarded the best mid-sized, non-daily newspaper in Virginia by the Virginia Press Association. She completed her Honors College thesis on CNN and NBC immigration coverage, comparing network versus cable news coverage.

Shanna has studied in Spain three times, and her Spanish language studies led her to teaching at a school in Salamanca, Spain, and a dual-language school in Harrisonburg, Va.

Brianna Ferguson

Nonprofit Administration Intern

Brianna (she/her) is a senior at American University studying international relations with a Spanish minor and a focus on justice, ethics and human rights along with environmental sustainability and global health. After studying and living abroad in a Spanish-speaking world, she developed a passion for connecting and learning from different cultures. Through her studies at American University, Brianna has received a certificate of translation and interpretation, which she hopes to incorporate into her career. She also interned at the Washington College of Law’s clinical program, where she translated documents and acted as an interpreter in client meetings. Her interest lies in the intersection of social justice and community organizing. She looks forward to exploring opportunities that will allow her to merge her academic background, linguistic proficiency and passion for equitable change. In her role as Hola Cultura’s nonprofit administration intern, Brianna is eager to channel her interests into supporting a cause she believes in.

Xavier Andrade

Communications Intern

Xavier (he/him) is currently studying communication and political science at Luther College and will be a part of the Lutheran College Washington Semester program in D.C. for the spring. A grandson of four Latin American immigrants, Xavier was born and raised in San Mateo, California. He played football during his time at Luther College and enjoys many other sports like baseball, basketball and soccer. Xavier has always held a passion for his Latine culture and is seeking to engage, promote and celebrate the Latine community in D.C. as a communications and social media intern for the spring.

Emily Chapman

Website Manager

Emily is a passionate, creative web designer/developer. She graduated from Mount Mary University with a bachelor’s degree in English with minors in studio arts and Spanish. During her undergraduate years, she was a staff member on the university’s student publication, where she had her first experiences with web design. After working in digital communications for a few years, she went back to school and earned an associate degree in web and digital media design. Currently, she works as a web designer/developer for a county government in her home state. In her free time, she enjoys reading, visiting art museums and playing with her adopted cat, Salamander.