Associate Director, Special Projects and Initiatives
Mariana Samayoa Martinez is the Associate Director for Special Projects and Initiatives at the United Nations Foundation. Before joining the UN Foundation, she led programs and operations at Lead-Up International, a youth peacebuilding organization working across Guatemala and the United States. Earlier in her career she worked with UNESCO in Guatemala on education for Indigenous girls and young women, and helped design the country’s national curriculum on peace and human rights education. She grew up in Guatemala during and after the peace process, which led her to study peace and conflict. She has a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Universidad Francisco Marroquín and has completed graduate studies in peace and conflict at the University of Innsbruck.
