Management Committee

OSCAR ORTIZ

Area: Director General’s Office

Title: Interim Director General

Citizenship: Peru

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: Dr. Oscar Ortiz is the interim Director General at the International Potato Center (CIP), where he has worked for more than two decades, making major contributions to the organization’s research and programs. An agronomist by training, Oscar began his career at CIP in 1992 working on impact assessments of integrated pest management as a member of the Social Sciences Department. He was the leader of the Integrated Crop Management Research Division from 2004 to 2011 and was the leader of the Integrated Crop and systems Research Global Program in 2012, when he was appointed Deputy Director of Research for Regional Science Programs. In 2014, he was appointed Deputy Director General for Research and Development.

Oscar has spent a decade leading and managing interdisciplinary teams involving both biophysical and social sciences. He has extensive experience in participatory research and training related to integrated insect and disease control; integrated crop management; agronomy and seed management; impact assessment of research and extension activities; and the use of agricultural knowledge and information systems and innovation system approaches for research and development. He has a PhD in agricultural innovation and rural development from the University of Reading, U.K. and has published extensively in peer review journals, book chapters and conference proceedings.

Languages: Spanish, English

HUGO CAMPOS

Title: Interim Deputy Director General for Research and Development

Citizenship: Chile

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: Hugo Campos is Interim Deputy Director General for Research and Development at the International Potato Center. He has 25+ years of international experience working in several Latin-American countries, Sub Saharan Africa, US and UK. Most of his professional career has focused on molecular breeding – the intersection between plant breeding and biotechnology – with an explicit goal of delivering superior varieties and increase the efficacy and efficiency of plant breeding programs, and in developing commercially relevant drought tolerant varieties. He is experienced in diverse crop species such as sugarcane, maize, soybeans, canola, potato, sweetpotato and wheat. He is an advanced practitioner of topics such as innovation and entrepreneurship from a private standpoint. In addition to playing a direct role leading plant breeding international teams, Hugo has written/edited four books to date, which overall have been sold/downloaded in excess of 300,000 times, and is in the process of publishing his fifth book. He is a Chilean national and holds a PhD from the John Innes Centre, UK, an MBA from Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile, and a Professional Certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship from Standord University (USA).

Languages: Spanish, English

SAMARENDU MOHANTY

Area: Asia region

Title: Regional Director for the Asia region

Citizenship: United States of America

Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

Profile Summary: As the Asia regional director, Samarendu Mohanty provides programmatic oversight for the research and development portfolio; provides leadership in regional operational systems; and represents the International Potato Center (CIP) in the region. The countries in focus are: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

He brings over 20 years of experience to CIP, having developed skills in research management, fund raising, commodity markets, research funding, asset management, policy and trade analysis.

Sam, as he is known, joined CIP in July 2017 after working at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines as Principal Scientist and, prior to that, as the Head and Senior Economist of IRRI’s Social Sciences Division. Earlier in his career, Sam worked as Associate Professor and Associate Director for Cotton Economics Research Institute at Texas Tech University and as a scientist with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at Iowa State University.

He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a B.Sc. from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India.

Languages: English, Hindi and Oriya

CARLA LAZARTE

Area: People and Organizational Development

Title: Head

Citizenship: Peru

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: Carla Lazarte is a senior-level manager with more than 20 years of broad–based and progressively responsible experience in management and human resources for international development. She has a proven ability to work with senior management teams to integrate human resources into the overall business operating strategy.

Carla has been a human resources manager at the International Potato Center (CIP) since 2009. Before joining CIP, she worked as an HR Business Partner at the World Bank, in Washington DC. Her areas of expertise include collective leadership, employee relations, organizational development, training and development, operations management, international HR and strategic leadership.

Carla has a BA in communication from Marymount University, in Washington DC and an MA in organizational development from Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Languages: Spanish, English

LU XIAOPING

Area: International Potato Center-China Center for Asia Pacific

Title: Director

Citizenship: China

Location: Beijing, China

Profile Summary: Xiaoping Lu, holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics, is the head of the International Potato Center-China Center for Asia Pacific, and joined the organization in 2011 after a career in senior positions the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. He has spent 30 years in the field of international agricultural policy, project management, macro policy evaluation and bilateral/multilateral agreement negotiations. He also has served as an agriculture economist working with international organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Languages: Chinese, English

PAUL DEMO

Title: Regional Director for the Africa region

Citizenship: Cameroon

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Profile Summary: As regional director, Paul provides programmatic oversight for the research and development portfolio; provides leadership in regional operational systems; and represents the International Potato Center (CIP) in Africa, with a focus on Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Mali and Cameroon.

A Cameroonian national, Paul holds a PhD. and an MSc in Agronomy from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a BSc. (Engineer) in crop production from the University of Dschang in Cameroon. He has over 28 years of experience and skills in agricultural research, research management, fundraising, project management, capacity development and management of public-private sector partnerships.

Prior to becoming regional director, Paul worked for CIP as a senior scientist and country manager in Malawi and as a regional potato expert for sub-Saharan Africa (2003–2005). Before joining CIP, he worked as a scientist and leader of the Seed Potato Production Program at the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development Bambui Center in Cameroon (1990–2003).

Languages: English, French, Portuguese and Mboda’a

JAMES STAPLETON

Area: Communications and Public Awarenes

Title: Head of Communications and Public Awareness.

Citizenship: Ireland

Profile summary: James Stapleton is currently the Head of Communications at the International Potato Center (CIP) where he leads the design, implementation and oversight of the CIP communication strategy, raising the profile of CIP and the impact of the center’s research globally.

An experienced professional, James has spent more than 20 years working for various international and national non-profit organizations where he has gained extensive knowledge in the development, implementation and evaluation of a broad range of communications and advocacy strategies.

Prior to joining CIP, James worked as the team leader of the publishing team at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Communications and Knowledge Management group. Enhancing knowledge management capacities, he ensured ILRI communications products were systematically documented, published to the highest editorial standards in many audience-orientated formats—video, photo and written stories, policy briefs, etc.—and shared widely internally and externally, in print, electronically and through the creation of engagement opportunities. Collaborating with a wide range of actors inside and outside of the Institute, James worked to embed communications strategies within the organizational ‘theories of change’, facilitating the framing and generation of high profile corporate outputs, the provision of support to partners and mobilization of resources.

Between 2004 and 2015, he oversaw the strategic development of communications at the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). In addition to managing relations with the media and taking a hands-on approach to the development, design, editing, translation and publication of electronic content on the JRS multilingual websites and social media platforms, Stapleton also taught human rights at the Rome Campus of the Loyola University Chicago and was actively involved in advocacy networks on child soldiers, migrant detention and landmines. He also worked for the Irish Refugee Council as the policy officer for three years until 2003, where he was responsible for the development of policy and research papers, and relations with the media.

During the 1990s Stapleton worked for the African development NGO Environnement Développement Action dans le Tiers Monde, Amnesty International and the Institute of International and European Affairs. An Irish citizen, James has a bachelors degree in economics and mathematics, a masters in social policy from the National University of Ireland Maynooth and a certificate in managing non-profit organizations.

Languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish.

AMANDA RODRIGUEZ

Area: Finance

Title: Chief Financial Officer

Citizenship: United States of America; Colombia

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Amanda Rodriguez oversees the Finance, Information Technology, Risk Management and Security, Facilities and Maintenance departments at the International Potato Center (CIP). She is responsible for setting priorities, ensuring the development and implementation of efficient financial reporting and risk management mechanisms, and facilitating the digital transformation of across the center.

Amanda has more than 20 years of experience leading multimillion-dollar initiatives and multidisciplinary teams to achieve complex financial and operational objectives, particularly in the areas of risk management with major international development donors. Prior to joining CIP, she served as the Vice President of Finance and Contracts at Social Impact Inc, Finance and Operations Director at the United States Peace Corps, and CFO at the Development Innovations Group, among others. Amanda holds a MA in international development from SIT Graduate Institute and BSc in Business and Management Studies from the University of Maryland.

Languages: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish

SELIM GUVENER

Area: Legal department

Title: General Counsel and Board Secretary

Citizenship: Turkey; United Kingdom

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: Selim Erdil Guvener is the International Potato Center’s (CIP) General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Trusties. He provides legal and governance oversight, leadership and strategic direction for CIP’s global operations and research-for-development portfolio.

Since joining CIP in September 2013, Selim has supported the organizational expansion in Africa and Asia, led the design and implementation of CIP’s intellectual property strategy, and played a key role in the CGIAR restructuring of governance in 2016. As one of CIP’s representatives in the Multilateral System of The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, he has also contributed to its functioning.

Prior to joining CIP, Selim spent over a decade at major law firms in London and Istanbul, where he advised clients on corporate governance, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and international law. He has advised international agricultural research centers on international law and intellectual property since 2008.

Selim was admitted to the Bar in Turkey and is a division member of The Law Society of England. He holds a Master of Laws from Cambridge University; Master of Arts in International Relations from the European Institute, France; and Maitrise en Droit from the University of Grenoble.

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Turkish, German.

MICHELLE RODRIGO

Area: Project Award and Implementation Office

Title: Head

Citizenship: Peru, the United States of America, and Chile

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: Michelle is the head of Project Award and Implementation Office at the International Potato Center (CIP) where she is responsible for the Project Award and Implementation Office.

Before taking up this position, Michelle was the head of the Grants and Contracts unit at CIP. Michelle’s latest position sees taking over this new Office which is a merger of the old Grants and Contracts unit with the Project Management Unit.

An experience project and finance manager, Michelle has more than 15 years of experience administering USAID-funded projects working from the headquarters, as well as from the field and on short-term assignments. She also has expertise in financial management, partner management, capacity building and designing and managing grants programs.

Specialties: Contracts and grants management, international development, partner management, capacity building, opening of new offices, financial management, proposals.

Languages: Spanish, English

IAN BARKER

Area: Global Potato Agri-Food System Program

Title: Program Director

Citizenship: United Kingdom

Location: Basel, Switzerland

Profile Summary: As of August 2019, Ian Barker leads an innovative portfolio of research and development projects designed to intensify, diversify and strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems with potato-related technologies. He is responsible for setting priorities that respond to changing country, regional and global demands and that contribute to the International Potato Center (CIP) and CGIAR long-term strategic objectives and goals.

With over 30 years of experience in agricultural R&D in both the public and private sector, Ian’s background includes serving as the Head of Agricultural Partnerships for The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) based in Switzerland. He has also worked as Senior Principal Scientific Officer and Head Immunological and Molecular Methods Team, Food and Environmental Research Agency (FERA) in Sand Hutton, UK. Prior to joining FERA, Ian worked for CIP between 2006 and 2011 as Senior Virologist and Seed System Lead.

He holds a PhD from Exeter University and a BSc in plant sciences from Wye College, London University.

Languages: English / French

SIMON HECK

Area: Global Sweetpotato agri-food system program

Title: Program Director

Citizenship: Germany

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Profile Summary: Simon Heck leads the research and development projects portfolio designed to intensify, diversify and strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems with sweetpotato-related technologies. He is responsible for setting priorities that respond to changing country, regional and global demands and that contribute to the International Potato Center (CIP) and CGIAR long-term strategic objectives and goals.

He joined CIP in 2012 as Deputy Program Manager for Sweetpotato in Africa where he led the regional Scaling-Up Sweetpotato through Agriculture and Nutrition (SUSTAIN) project in 2013 and the Sweetpotato Program in 2014. He previously worked with the WorldFish Center, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

An anthropologist by training, Simon has extensive experience leading research and development projects in agriculture, aquatic resources and environmental management. He has been chair of the Agro-Enterprise Learning Alliance for Eastern and Southern Africa and has contributed to policy and strategy development in several regional and national institutions in Africa. His disciplinary expertise is in social science and he has contributed to CGIAR research on resilience of social and ecological systems, food security, social development indicators, land tenure, and innovation systems. He has a PhD in Social Anthropology from Boston University.

Languages: English, French, German

VANIA AZEVEDO

Area: Biodiversity for the Future Global Program

Title: Leader of Biodiversity for the Future Global Program and Director of CIP Genebank

Citizenship: Brazil

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile Summary: As leader of the Biodiversity for the Future Global Program and director of the CIP Genebank, Vania Azevedo is responsible for the conservation, characterization, and distribution of samples of the world’s largest in vitro collections of potato, sweetpotato, and Andean root and tuber crops, for the benefit of humanity. She ensures’ that the genebank team adheres to world-class standards and that the genebank complies with CIP and CGIAR’s mission, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. She also collaborates with other organizations and genebanks across the globe in areas that include conservation, research, knowledge sharing, and capacity building.

A Brazilian national, Vania joined CIP in 2021, after working as the Genebank Head at the CGIAR International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in Hyderbad, India. From ICRISAT headquarters, she coordinated activities in India, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. Prior to that, she worked for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa, in the Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Unit, in Brasilia. Among her varied responsibilities there, she coordinated a system of more than 140 Genebanks across Brazil. Vania holds a Ph.d. in Molecular Biology and two bachelor’s degrees in biology and business administration from the University of Brasilia.

Languages: English, French, German

MELISSA HAMBLY-LARIOS

Area: Resource Mobilization

Title: Interim Leader of Resource Mobilization

Citizenship: United States

Location: Lima, Peru

Profile summary: Melissa Hambly-Larios leads business development, partnership, fundraising, and donor engagement efforts at the International Potato Center (CIP). She has more than 25 years of experience in business and international development consulting, having led corporate business development efforts and cultivated client relations with bilateral and multilateral organizations, government entities, and the private sector. Her extensive experience setting up and managing global resource mobilization units builds on a track record of establishing and maintaining resource mobilization tracking systems for coordination, forecasting, and reporting. Prior to joining CIP, she has worked in international development providing technical assistance and managing donor-funded engagements at KPMG Consulting, PwC Consulting, IBM Business Consulting, and Tetra Tech ARD. She holds a Masters in International Affairs from George Washington University.