Fides is managed and coordinated by a small core team comprising a Leader/Director, Senior Consultant, and Associate. The core team is served by a global council of advisors with an extensive and diverse background in international development, law, business, and missions.
Roberto Laver, Leader/Director – Roberto is an international lawyer with over thirty years of combined professional experience in law and development, non-profit leadership and academia. In 1989, he joined the World Bank where he worked as senior counsel and project manager on justice reform and anti-corruption programs. After leaving the World Bank, Roberto worked in several capacities including legal advisor and business consultant on Latin America at a major Boston law firm, associate adjunct professor at the Fletcher School and president of the New England Latin America trade association. In 2003, he moved from the practice of law to serve as the executive director of a faith-based association, the Forum of Bible Agencies. In the above roles, Roberto has traveled extensively throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Since 2010, Roberto has been advising international development organizations, as well as supporting faith-based initiatives worldwide, on anti-corruption efforts. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School (2012–2014) and a network fellow at Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics pursuing research on the intersection between systemic corruption and socio-cultural norms. Roberto holds a law degree from the Buenos Aires University Law School and LLM and SJD degrees from the University of Virginia Law School.
David Boan, Senior Consultant – David serves as the Director of Humanitarian Advocacy for the World Evangelical Alliance. In this role, he facilitates the work of WEA member alliances related to building capacity for humanitarian service. David is also an adjunct professor of psychology at Wheaton College. Previously he served as the co-Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and taught research and program evaluation in the psychology doctoral program. His work at the Institute focused on international applied research and development projects related to local faith communities, disaster resilience, and humanitarian crises.
Benji Moncivaiz, Associate – Benji is an international development consultant with experience in ecosystem development, design thinking, and international development research. His work at MIT included research and teaching roles that focused on technology-focused design in the developing world. He holds a structural engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Master of International Business from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Esteban Laver, IT Advisor – Esteban is a software engineer at IBM, with 6 years of experience in designing and developing desktop and mobile applications. His most recent team develops offerings to simplify connecting server and mobile applications to IBM Cloudant’s database as a service. During his studies at UMass Lowell, he was part of an on-campus IT team supporting on-line and in-person computer, hardware, and network requests. Esteban holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from UMass Lowell, with a focus in database administration.
Fides Advisory Board
Dr. Martin Allaby, general practitioner at St. Bartholomew’s Medical Center in Oxford, public health consultant to the National Health Service, author of Inequality, Corruption and the Church: Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Church, chair of Faith in Government
Dr. Vilma “Nina” Balmaceda, President and CEO of Peace and Hope International, professor of political science at Nyack College, board member of the Association for a More Just Society, trustee of the Center for Public Justice
Judy Dean, professor of International Economics at Brandeis University, long-term board member of World Relief, former Senior International Economist at United States International Trade Commission
Rev. Joel Edwards, chair of Exposed Campaign, member of Advisory Board of Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation, member of Advisory Board on Human Rights & Religious Freedom, former International Director for Micah Challenge
Christopher A. Ellison, Freelance Translator of Portuguese and Spanish for the Organization of American States and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, serves as Copy Editor for content in all languages across the Fides website; since 2014, he has also taught history and civics at the community college level
Alvaro Henzler, co-founder and CEO of Mosaic Creative Laboratory, former co-founder and CEO EnseñaPeru
David Hoyme, spent five years as a missionary in Sub-Saharan Africa where he headed up governmental relationships and sustainable enterprise development. He completed an MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now works for an investment manager.
Dana V. Martin, retired international development finance attorney, former Senior Advisor to the Opportunities for the Majority initiative at the Inter-American Development Bank
Rachel M. McCleary, Senior Research Fellow in the Taubman Center at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Research Fellow in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University
Julie Schaffner, visiting Associate Professor of Development Economics in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, author of Development Economics: Theory, Empirical Research, and Policy Analysis
Arpit Waghmare, owner of real estate consultancy Interblend Advisors, coordinator of Operation Nehemiah in India
James W. Wert, Jr., Managing Director at Wert & Associates, former strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company and Triaxia Partners