Staff 

Linda Fitzgerald
Executive Director

Linda Fitzgerald is a seasoned funder and a veteran of both private enterprise and the nonprofit sector. Before joining Peru Opportunity Fund in 2009, she served as Hispanics in Philanthropy’s Director of Transnational Programs, where she implemented a multi-million dollar grant-making program focused on economic development in six Latin American countries. Linda was also Deputy Director of the Community Partners Program at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, where she contributed to the implementation of the program’s strategy across Knight’s 26 communities and managed several community portfolios. Linda has lived in Brazil, where she worked for a Maryland-based consulting firm specializing in international economic development. Linda received her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Washington University.

Janet Desmarais
Program Associate

Janet joined the Peru Opportunity Fund staff in 2010 and is responsible for administrative duties, grant management and communications. Previously, she worked as a language and science educator and as import/logistics manager for an organic food company. She also spent four years in northern Peru, teaching English, traveling and improving her Spanish skills. Janet holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Rochester.

Consultants

Albéric Hibon
Agriculture Consultant

Albéric has 30 years of experience in research and rural development in Latin America (Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and Central America) and other regions. He has been researcher and project head for several centers within the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) network. Between 1997 and 2006, he was director of a Swiss Development Corporation program, designing, managing and evaluating projects to improve the incomes and employment of small-scale agricultural producers in Peru and other countries. Albéric has an undergraduate degree in agronomy from Montpellier University in France and a doctorate in agro-economy from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique (ENSAT-INP) in Toulouse, France. In addition he has a diploma in Small Enterprise Development from the Escuela de Administración de Negocios para Graduados (ESAN) in Peru. Albéric holds both Peruvian and French citizenship.

Gina Ruiz Caro Rothgiesser
Peruvian Officer

A native of Cusco, Peru, Gina has more than ten years of experience in the nonprofit field.  She previously worked for the NGO Cáritas del Perú, developing and managing alternative development projects. As an independent consultant, she has formulated comprehensive development projects for various international aid organizations in the Amazonas, Lambayeque, Loreto, Junín, San Martín and Cusco regions and has worked with both regional and local governments. She holds a master’s degree in management and administration from the University of Alicante (Spain), Diploma in Corporate Social Responsibility from Link Chile and the University of the Pacific (Peru), and a bachelor’s degree in law and political science from Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University. In addition to her work with Peru Opportunity Fund, Gina is a professor of corporate social responsibility at the University of Lima.