Sophia Hernández is a program associate with the Civic Engagement and Government International Program in the foundation’s Mexico and Central America office, where she works to advance global strategy and grantmaking. Before assuming her current role, she served as a program associate, supporting the implementation of regional strategy through development of the territorial defense line of work for Mexico and El Salvador and monitoring the office’s BUILD portfolio. Throughout her years at Ford, Sophia has been particularly interested in bringing a gender and youth perspective to strategy development processes.
Before joining the foundation in 2014, Sophia conducted research on human rights violations committed in the war on drugs in Mexico, working under the supervision of Sergio Aguayo Quezada, academic and human rights activist and professor at El Colegio de México. In 2013, she completed an internship program at the Trust Fund for Victims of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, before which she conducted field research and work at the Association of War Affected Women in Kandy, Sri Lanka, where she engaged in activities to foster post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation with victims of armed conflict.
Sophia earned her master’s degree in culture and development studies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a bachelor of arts in international studies from the Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico.
