Mayela Calderon

Mayela is the Director of Development at Girls Who Invest and brings to GWI years of international and domestic social impact and fundraising experience.

Prior to GWI, she most recently worked as Director of Development and Communications at a School in the Square Public Charter in the Washington Heights community of NYC. Prior, she worked to build, strengthen and grow corporate and strategic partnerships with some of the nation's largest youth nonprofit organizations, including Girls Who Code, City Year, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Before officially moving to NYC in 2015, she lived in sub-Saharan Africa for 3 years where she completed her 2-year Peace Corps service in Cameroon and a fellowship with MCW Global directing their youth vocational centers in Rwanda and Tanzania. In March 2020, she was invited to the United Nations Headquarters to speak about her experience mobilizing youth through advocacy, technology and resources to achieve SDG's.

As an immigrant from Mexico City, Mayela brings her passion and insights to guide her work and her "why" in bringing equitable access to opportunity for high-need communities. As a personal passion project, she started a scholarship fund for at-risk youth in her Peace Corps village of Bibemi that she has continued since 2014. In her free time, she loves salsa dancing, traveling, and finding the best tacos in town.