Who are we? – The Board (Asamblea) of Casa de los Amigos
President: Libertad De Gante Cruz. School-based psychologist for children and adolescents in Mexico City, with training in human rights, peace education and issues of gender. Additionally, she maintains a private counseling practice for children and volunteers her expertise with En Vero, a Canadian organization dedicated to the amnesty of wrongfully accused individuals around the world. She lived and worked at Casa de los Amigos from 2008 to 2011, where she collaborated primarily with the Economic Justice Program.
Secretary: Bart Czyz. Educator of children with special needs in the state of Maine (USA). He attends the Monthly Meeting of Portland, Maine. After learning about the House as a guest and then as a volunteer, he lived and worked in the Casa as the volunteer coordinator from 2008 to 2011.
Treasurer: Carlos Branson Garcia. Lawyer and consultant. He has volunteered with several organizations focused on issues of migration, including Sin Fronteras I.A.P and Valencia Acoge. He lived and worked as a full-time volunteer for a year at Casa de los Amigos during 2016.
Board Member: Adela María Elodia Zepeda Zaleta. Translator. She has known Casa de los Amigos for approximately 15 years, when she began attending the Sunday meetings of the Friends (Quakers). She worked as a volunteer in the Jorge Fox Library, in what was the meeting room of the Monthly Meeting of the City from Mexico.
Board Member: Enrique Esqueda Blas. Historian and high school instructor of Mexican History. He has been a volunteer and researcher at Colectivo Sol, AC, an Mexico City organization that promotes the health and human rights of LGBTI populations. He is currently a member of the Monthly Meeting of Mexico City.
Board Member: Mercedes Cienfuegos Meneses. Psychologist and Gestalt Psychotherapist. Beginning in 2016 she has volunteered her professional services to migrants and refugees at the Casa.
Board Member: Clay Javier Boggs. Specialist in international relations, international development and legislative issues in Washington, D.C. He lived and worked at the Casa as first a volunteer and then as the Peace Programs Coordinator from 2008 to 2011. He attended Scattergood Friends School (Iowa), and has been a member of the Berea Monthly Meeting (Kentucky) .
Board Member: Daniel Hernandez Joseph. Mexican ambassador to Greece.
Board Member: Patricia Constantino Casas. Family Physician, Health Economist, SNI Researcher, now retired from IMSS. She has collaborated with Save the Children in York, UK. She supports Amnesty International and Quaker Earthcare Witness. She is a member of the Mexico City Monthly Meeting and has known the Casa since first attending worship there in 2004. For the past 5 years she has served on the Latin American Affairs Committee of Pacific Yearly Meeting.
Board Member: Giovanni Cocom Tah. Student of accounting who lives and works in Washington D.C. He previously worked in several NGOs that related to health and hospitality. He lived at the Casa as a volunteer for four years while studying for his first university degree in Social Communication.
Trustee: Jonathan Woolley. Professionally active in the human aspects of agricultural research and development for several decades, he currently works for an international Quaker agency. He is a member of the Mexico City Monthly Meeting. He has lived and worked in countries in Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
Trustee: April Linnea Wilson Clinical psychologist with a master’s degree in family therapy . since 1985. Professor of psychology at the Tec de Monterrey campus Estado de México 1997-2018. Administrator of Clínica Chiapas, a family business, since 1985. She was born and lived 15 years in Pendle Hill, Pa., a Quaker center of study and contemplation where her father was director. She studied high school at Scattergood School and her undergraduate degree at Earlham College. She has lived in Mexico since 1977. Member as “birthright Quaker” of Providence Friends Meeting, Pa. of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Member of the Board of of Casa de los Amigos for more than thirty years. His parents were directors of La Casa from 1981-1982.
Trustee: Óscar Torres Arroyo. Researcher in public policy and human rights; established in Canada. He writes essays and participates in activities and projects related to sexual diversity. He first became acquainted with the Casa as a guest and later served as a Board member from 2017 to 2021.
Asamblea de Casa de los Amigos, A.C.
Casa de los Amigos is a non-profit peace organization, a community center, the Mexico City home of Friends (Quakers), a social justice-oriented guest house and a home.