Women Enabled International’s Board of Directors couldn’t be more excited to announce that Maryangel Garcia-Ramos Guadiana [LINK] has joined Women Enabled International as our next Executive Director.
“The Board is thrilled to welcome Maryangel to the WEI family. We are so excited about her knowledge, skills, and perspective—a unique combination that will ensure both stability and innovation as Maryangel leads WEI into its second decade.” – Catherine Hyde Townsend, WEI Board President
A passionate changemaker, Maryangel has dedicated her career to shifting the narrative and culture of inclusion. As WEI’s Executive Director, Maryangel brings more than 15 years of diverse and deep expertise as a human rights advocate, leader, visionary for inclusion, and all-around badass. Maryangel joins WEI after leading the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the Center for the Recognition of Human Dignity at Tecnológico de Monterrey, where she has been instrumental in developing strategies to strengthen community representation and promote equality for historically discriminated groups in one of México’s largest private universities.
As a strategic communicator and a wheelchair user with lived experience at the intersection of gender and disability herself, Maryangel recognizes just how vital it is to lift up the voices—and diversity of lived experiences—of women, girls, and gender minorities with disabilities. This commitment led Maryangel, a native of México, to found Mexicanas con Discapacidad, a national network of women with disabilities. Additionally, she was recently named the President of the Council for Persons with Disabilities for the State of Nuevo León, México, a five-year, voluntary post where she will play a lead role in advancing the development of a State Plan for Disability Inclusion.
“Women, girls, and non-binary people with disabilities need to keep on being part of the human rights and gender equality conversations and platforms, more than ever. I am humbled and ready to continue the powerful work WEI has done over the past 10 years to advance our rights. I look forward to this new powerful moment in the world where we push a new generation of disabled feminist leadership.” – Maryangel Garcia-Ramos Guadiana, WEI Executive Director
Maryangel took the reins of Women Enabled International on October 3, 2022, following a year of interim leadership by Suzannah Phillips, WEI’s Director of Strategy. WEI’s pioneering founder, Stephanie Ortoleva, retired from the organization on September 30, 2021.
We hope you will join us at our 10th Anniversary celebration on October 20th [LINK], where Maryangel will have a chance to introduce herself and share more about her vision as she leads WEI into our second decade.
Click the link to read Maryangel’s bio. [LINK]
Please reach out to Brittany Evans, WEI’s Communications Manager, at b.evans@womenenabled.org with media requests.