Hello! I'm Mara Tissera Luna.
I’m an international consultant specialising in practice-oriented research, evaluation, and learning to support protection, gender justice, and localization in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked with 20 NGOs, INGOs, universities, and UN agencies across LAC, the EU, the US, and global networks, with half my career in staff roles and half as an independent consultant.
In addition to consulting, I've worked for 9 years in the non-profit sector and academia as a researcher, advocacy coordinator, and program manager.
I’ve authored or co-authored 25+ publications and given 15+ talks on child protection, gender-based violence, forced migration, participation, community-based organizations, localization, decolonization, and intersectionality.
Trusted by these organizations
"Mara is a talented researcher. Her work was considered highly supportive, well-executed, and of high quality. She maintained a high level of professionalism during the documentation process, including organizing key respondent interviews and focus groups. She has strong written and presentation skills. She showed that she is adept at innovating and using technology to enhance the communication of complex information. She quickly integrated with the UNICEF team in Kazakhstan."
Fiachra McAsey. Former Deputy Representative UNICEF Kazakhstan
Vision & Values
Global work rooted in Latin American perspectives
I bring a Latin American critical perspective to my global work throughout LAC, the EU, the US, and in global networks. Latin American critical theory gives us tools to analyse the human rights issues we're addressing more accurately and create more tailored, context-specific responses. These tools include intersectional feminism as understood by Latin American Black feminists, decoloniality, the importance of root-cause analysis, and meaningful participation and collaborative methods.
I’m from Buenos Aires, but I've lived abroad in Europe (France, Italy, Hungary, Portugal), New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and the United States. I currently live in Europe.
I began my career in 2009 in Argentina and was hugely influenced by Latin American human rights groups fighting for social and gender justice. Since then, I have focused on developing practice-oriented research and evaluations that NGOs, INGOs, and UN agencies can use to advance systemic change. I've further developed my expertise in research and evaluation methods that help organisations improve programs, policy, and advocacy efforts (see more below).
Skill set & regional expertise
I'm a social anthropologist (Buenos Aires University) and an MPA graduate in public administration (Central European University).
To deepen my understanding of my region, I completed graduate diplomas in Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACSO) and Afro-Latin American & Caribbean Studies (Harvard University), focusing on US-Latin America relations, forced migration, and race, class, and gender inequalities.
I have additional training in child protection, forced migration, gender equality, DEI, decolonisation in ‘aid’, research methods, and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL/M&E).
My working languages are Spanish (native), Portuguese, French, and English.
What colleagues are saying about working with Mara
“Mara is one of the most generous and collaborative spirits on the map!”
Gillian Huebner – Director, Collaborative on Global Children's Issues at Georgetown University
"Mara has an incredible capacity to move things forward – no matter the obstacles or the slim chance of success. During the two years in which we worked together, she showed me the importance of going for unusual and difficultly achievable objectives beyond one’s comfort zone as well as that of always dedicating time to retrospectively analyze what went well and what went wrong in a project, regardless of how busy your calendar may be. Her dedication to human rights is only surpassed by her firm commitment to finding creative solutions instead of going with the flow."
Gábor Gyulai - Hungarian Helsinki Committee (Organisational Development Director, Training Expert)
“Mara helped us secure funding from the European Commission for a project to prevent violence and protect children in Aruba and Curaçao. Without Mara's expertise, clear guidance, and EU project writing skills, it just would not have been possible to secure this funding.”
UNICEF National Committee staff
“We are immensely grateful to international researcher Mara Tissera Luna for her stellar work writing and researching this groundbreaking report for us.”
Kathleen Russell – Executive Director, Center for Judicial Excellence
"Mara is a talented researcher. Her work was considered highly supportive, well-executed, and of high quality. She maintained a high level of professionalism during the documentation process, including organizing key respondent interviews and focus groups. She has strong written and presentation skills. She showed that she is adept at innovating and using technology to enhance the communication of complex information. She quickly integrated with the UNICEF team in Kazakhstan."
Fiachra McAsey – Former Deputy Representative UNICEF Kazakhstan
"I know her since she started working for Relaf, the Latin American Foster Care Network as a student. Ever since she showed creativity in developing ways to develop the network further and engaging with children and youth to incorporate their voices, she operated at a worldwide platform and represented the network in global meetings advocating for Latin America to be heard."
Bep Van Sloten – International Alternative Care Consultant and Trainer
"Mara graduated in June 2017 from the two-year Master of Public Administration program at CEU in Budapest. Within this program, Mara came across as one of the most well-rounded talents of the cohort, since she combined sound professional skills with academic knowledge and curiosity. In addition to her academic achievements, I would like to highlight that Mara comes across as very dedicated to both learning and real-world impact."
Doctor Sara Svensson – Visiting Professor, School of Public Policy, Central European University
"For one and a half years, I directed Mara in the elaboration of her dissertation research, which resulted in a high-quality piece of research. She proved to be highly independent and diligent, and she tackled the research process with a high level of maturity, discipline, and critical thinking."
Dr., Prof., Carla Villalta – Buenos Aires University, Argentina
What readers are saying about Mara's publications
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