OUR TEAM
SECRETARIAT
The members of the OBREAL Secretariat are located in Europe, Africa and Latin America. The Secretariat is led by the President and the Board of Directors and is responsible for the development, implementation and execution of the organization’s strategy.
Nicolas Patrici
Nicolas is currently serving as the Director of Strategy and development within the organization. His role involves overseeing political functions and guiding the organization’s strategy, growth, and policy development. He also works on coordinating internal teams. Nicolas provides hands-on supervision across all organization aspects, serving as a senior expert in higher education policy for specific projects. He plays a crucial role in project execution and budget planning. Over the past 17 years, Nicolas’ role has adapted alongside the organization’s growth. Starting in a smaller but ambitious setting, he handled diverse responsibilities during the years. Originally from Argentina, Nicolas has been living, working, and studying in Europe for two decades. He has studied in Spain, the Netherlands, and France, and holds a Ph.D. degree in classical philosophy. Nicolas is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.
Elizabeth Colucci
Elizabeth is acting as Director of International Projects. She has worked for OBREAL since 2014 and partnered with the association in her previous professional roles in Brussels. She currently drives strategy and organizational development, project development, management and strategic oversight, supervises daily operations, and represents the organization in diverse international projects and activities. Amongst her fields of experience and expertise are higher education in development cooperation, regional integration policy, quality assurance in higher education, regional development policy and innovation and internationalization in teaching and learning. She was born in the US but has been living, studying, and working in Europe for more than 20 years and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Agustina Calabrese
Agustina has accompanied OBREAL through over the past 15 years.
She acts as the Financial Director, who has financial and legal oversight of all OBREAL activities and the general operational budget. In addition, she drives the human resources of the association, manages contracts and service providers and the general office management. Her role has evolved; Today she is accompanying all projects in the implementation and budget execution and contribute to project proposal development. She is supporting the transition towards a more data driven association, to help better assess impact and growth of actions as well as the possibilities for diversification of activities and funds. Agustina is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan.
Marina Larrea
Marina supports the policy development of OBREAL looking specifically at the interregional aspects of higher education and to link it to development. Moreover, she more specifically manages projects and initiatives of OBREAL in Africa and Latin America linking them to OBREAL´s general interregional strategy. Before joining OBREAL, Marina acted first as the coordinator of the internationalization program of the ministry of Education of Argentina and then as the national director of international relations of the Argentina Ministry of Education from where he represented Argentina in multilateral organisms such as IMF, UNESCO, MERCOSUR, etc. Marina speaks English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Jaume Fortuny
Jaume is a Senior Project Manager at OBREAL. Jaume manages projects in their full life cycle, from conceptualization to proposal development to partnership management and execution. He also designs training programmes related to EU project management targeting, in particular, the EU funding landscape. He has specific competency in the field of digitalization and represents the association in important international conferences and events. Jaume builds relationships with members and partners on the ground and provides transversal support to the team in managerial aspects. Jaume is fluent in Catalan, English and Spanish.
Angel Rafael
Angel Rafael is a project manager specialized in the internationalization of Higher Education and the successful implementation of European projects, including initiatives such as Erasmus Plus and Horizon Europe. With a longstanding experience in HE which includes topics such as mobility, capacity building, and quality assurance, Angel plays a key role at OBREAL, where his responsibilities include the management and follow up of the entire project lifecycles. In his transversal role at OBREAL, Angel takes charge of creating, implementing, and evaluating projects. His expertise extends to providing comprehensive training and information sessions on calls, financing opportunities, and the life cycles of projects for OBREAL members. Currently, Angel streamlining the organization’s overall project portfolio, aiming to enhance management processes. Angel speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and he is a native German Speaker.
Apiyo Okwiri
Apiyo plays a strategic role in Africa for OBREAL, articulating projects and generating stakeholders’ relationships. She is from Kenya and has helped to build OBREAL´s African portfolio since 2019. Based in Nairobi, she articulates actions, initiatives, and strategies with a special focus on East Africa and support the project management for OBREAL in the region. She offers a long history of higher education cooperation: she has been the president of the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association -Africa Chapter-. Apyio is fluent in English and Swahili.
Kibrome M. Haile
Based Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Kibrome is responsable for the development and execution of projects in Africa and to advise on capacity building programs and interaction regarding African higher education and research development, particularly related to data policy and regional integration. Kibrome plays an instrumental role in representing and connecting OBREAL with African institutions. Kibrome is fluent in English and Amharic.
Georges Mulumbwa
Georges is from the Democratic Republic of Congo where he is a professor of linguistics at the University of Lubumbashi. He has an extensive research record regarding the relation between inclusion and language in African young population. He has a long-standing experience in working internationally in implementing quality assurance and has coordinated QA actions with national authorities, universities, and international partners in the DRC and in Africa. George contributes to the implementation of projects in francophone Africa and their results with authorities and stakeholders in the region. Georges is fluent in Swahili French and English.
Jimena Estrella
Jimena contributes actively to the development of the association in Latin America and the Caribbean and in articulating strategic actions and projects in the region on innovation, education, and development. Jimena brings to OBREAL her vast experience in university management gained at the National University of Cuyo in Argentina (one of the largest research universities in Argentina) where she acted for 8 years as Secretary of Research, International Relations, and Postgraduate Studies. Jimena is based in Argentina and speaks Spanish, English and Italian.
Juan Guillermo Hoyos
Based in Colombia, Juan Guillermo currently serves as an expert in Higher Education policy for Latin America and the Caribbean at OBREAL Global. Collaborating closely with the Buenos Aires office, he efficiently coordinates the implementation of projects and strategic initiatives in the region. Juan Guillermo plays a pivotal role in developing the association strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to his role at OBREAL, Juan Guillermo dedicated over 15 years to the Association of Colombian Universities (ASCUN), eventually assuming the position of ASCUN Secretary General from 2019 until his transition to OBREAL in 2023. His extensive experience also extends to serving as the Secretary General of the Latin America and Caribbean Higher Education Space (ENLACES), where he actively contributed to and led numerous projects in higher education and regional integration.
Juan Guillermo is a Medical Doctor and Surgeon, having earned his degree from the Pontifical Javeriana University. Complementing his medical expertise, he holds a master’s degree in public health from the National University of Colombia. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Juan brings a wealth of knowledge and linguistic versatility to his role in fostering education policies and initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pablo Beneitone
Since 1994, Pablo Beneitone has participated, coordinated and led a number of international programmes and projects on academic mobility, regional convergence and international university cooperation (Erasmus +, ALFA, TEMPUS, Erasmus Mundus, etc.) in different countries and regions. Dr Beneitone is the author of several scientific publications related to current issues in higher education, as well as the director of research on academic mobility, credit systems, global competences and learning outcomes, and the impact of these on the processes of curriculum internationalisation at the National Univeristy of Lanus in Argentina where he also is a professor. Pablo holds a degree in International Relations, a Master in International Cooperation and a PhD in Social Sciences.
Anahí Astur
Based at OBREAL’s headquarters in Argentina, Anahí currently works as coordinator of OBREAL’s South American office. She works closely with OBREAL staff deployed in Argentina, Colombia and Panama and acts as the main liaison with international organizations and university associations in the region. She is also in charge of coordinating the activities of OBREAL’s South American Chapter. Anahi has 20 years of experience working at the governmental level in the region. Prior to joining OBREAL, she was coordinator of the Program for the Internationalization of Higher Education and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education of Argentina. She has also actively participated in the educational process of MERCOSUR involving Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the associated states of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and actively participated in the implementation of regional integration programs in Latin America representing Argentina. Anahí has studied international relations at the University of San Andrés and holds a master’s degree in international relations and negotiations from FLACSO Argentina and the University of Sandrés, with a joint Master’s degree in Regional Integration from the University of Barcelona. Anahí is fluent in Spanish and English.
Nicole Font
Nicole Font provides transversal support to OBREAL funded programmes and manages the SPHERE Initiative, a project aimed at modernising higher education in EU neighbouring countries. Specialised in international relations and higher education, she has longstanding experience in project and communication management by implementing strategies to improve results and achieve significant impact. She contributed to European funded actions such as Erasmus+ Capacity Building, Horizon Europe, and European Universities Initiative. Nicole Font holds a master’s in international relations from the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and a degree in Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Her practices include international cooperation, research and analysis of the SGDs, impact management, follow-up of emerging issues of EU policies, strategic communication strategies, and multistakeholder relationships.
Eloi Espósito
Eloi has been part of the OBREAL secretariat since 2019, a key team member during the pandemic, who promoted a mayor digital transformation of the work of the association. Since then, Eloi has been managing OBREAL´s digitalization processes and OBREAL´s communication channels. Acting as a catalyzer of the different needs of the association´s work, he introduces new digital tools and supports the implementation OBREAL´s communication strategy. Moreover, Eloi oversees the implementation and design of the OBREAL Training Platform. He is fluent in Spanish, English and Catalan.
Georgina Boixereu
Since she joined OBREAL she has been developing and reshaping the communication actions of the association. She manages the development of the communications tools and the development of key messages and acts as the OBREAL liaison with the media in Catalonia and in Spain. She supports the articulation of OBREAL´s projects and the implementation of the OBREAL´s communication strategy. Georgina has worked for more than 6 years in the Spanish and Catalan media as a journalist. Georgina is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan.
Jenny Delos Reyes
Her role at OBREAL secretariat in Barcelona is to support all administrative processes of the organization. Jenny is responsible for following and implementing the different administrative policies of OBREAL and to assist staff members in their daily administrative work. Jenny also contributes to managing the logistics and organizational aspects of OBREAL events. Jenny is originally from the Filipins and speaks Catalan, Spanish, English, and Tagalog.
Nicolas Patrici
Nicolas is currently serving as the Director of Strategy and development within the organization. His role involves overseeing political functions and guiding the organization’s strategy, growth, and policy development. He also works on coordinating internal teams. Nicolas provides hands-on supervision across all organization aspects, serving as a senior expert in higher education policy for specific projects. He plays a crucial role in project execution and budget planning. Over the past 17 years, Nicolas’ role has adapted alongside the organization’s growth. Starting in a smaller but ambitious setting, he handled diverse responsibilities during the years. Originally from Argentina, Nicolas has been living, working, and studying in Europe for two decades. He has studied in Spain, the Netherlands, and France, and holds a Ph.D. degree in classical philosophy. Nicolas is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.
Elizabeth Colucci
Elizabeth is acting as Director of International Projects. She has worked for OBREAL since 2014 and partnered with the association in her previous professional roles in Brussels. She currently drives strategy and organizational development, project development, management and strategic oversight, supervises daily operations, and represents the organization in diverse international projects and activities. Amongst her fields of experience and expertise are higher education in development cooperation, regional integration policy, quality assurance in higher education, regional development policy and innovation and internationalization in teaching and learning. She was born in the US but has been living, studying, and working in Europe for more than 20 years and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Agustina Calabrese
Agustina has accompanied OBREAL through over the past 15 years.
She acts as the Financial Director, who has financial and legal oversight of all OBREAL activities and the general operational budget. In addition, she drives the human resources of the association, manages contracts and service providers and the general office management. Her role has evolved; Today she is accompanying all projects in the implementation and budget execution and contribute to project proposal development. She is supporting the transition towards a more data driven association, to help better assess impact and growth of actions as well as the possibilities for diversification of activities and funds. Agustina is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan.
Marina Larrea
Marina supports the policy development of OBREAL looking specifically at the interregional aspects of higher education and to link it to development. Moreover, she more specifically manages projects and initiatives of OBREAL in Africa and Latin America linking them to OBREAL´s general interregional strategy. Before joining OBREAL, Marina acted first as the coordinator of the internationalization program of the ministry of Education of Argentina and then as the national director of international relations of the Argentina Ministry of Education from where he represented Argentina in multilateral organisms such as IMF, UNESCO, MERCOSUR, etc. Marina speaks English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Jaume Fortuny
Jaume is a Senior Project Manager at OBREAL. Jaume manages projects in their full life cycle, from conceptualization to proposal development to partnership management and execution. He also designs training programmes related to EU project management targeting, in particular, the EU funding landscape. He has specific competency in the field of digitalization and represents the association in important international conferences and events. Jaume builds relationships with members and partners on the ground and provides transversal support to the team in managerial aspects. Jaume is fluent in Catalan, English and Spanish.
Angel Rafael
Angel Rafael is a project manager specialized in the internationalization of Higher Education and the successful implementation of European projects, including initiatives such as Erasmus Plus and Horizon Europe. With a longstanding experience in HE which includes topics such as mobility, capacity building, and quality assurance, Angel plays a key role at OBREAL, where his responsibilities include the management and follow up of the entire project lifecycles. In his transversal role at OBREAL, Angel takes charge of creating, implementing, and evaluating projects. His expertise extends to providing comprehensive training and information sessions on calls, financing opportunities, and the life cycles of projects for OBREAL members. Currently, Angel streamlining the organization’s overall project portfolio, aiming to enhance management processes. Angel speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and he is a native German Speaker.
Apiyo Okwiri
Apiyo plays a strategic role in Africa for OBREAL, articulating projects and generating stakeholders’ relationships. She is from Kenya and has helped to build OBREAL´s African portfolio since 2019. Based in Nairobi, she articulates actions, initiatives, and strategies with a special focus on East Africa and support the project management for OBREAL in the region. She offers a long history of higher education cooperation: she has been the president of the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association -Africa Chapter-. Apyio is fluent in English and Swahili.
Kibrome M. Haile
Based Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Kibrome is responsable for the development and execution of projects in Africa and to advise on capacity building programs and interaction regarding African higher education and research development, particularly related to data policy and regional integration. Kibrome plays an instrumental role in representing and connecting OBREAL with African institutions. Kibrome is fluent in English and Amharic.
Georges Mulumbwa
Georges is from the Democratic Republic of Congo where he is a professor of linguistics at the University of Lubumbashi. He has an extensive research record regarding the relation between inclusion and language in African young population. He has a long-standing experience in working internationally in implementing quality assurance and has coordinated QA actions with national authorities, universities, and international partners in the DRC and in Africa. George contributes to the implementation of projects in francophone Africa and their results with authorities and stakeholders in the region. Georges is fluent in Swahili French and English.
Jimena Estrella
Jimena contributes actively to the development of the association in Latin America and the Caribbean and in articulating strategic actions and projects in the region on innovation, education, and development. Jimena brings to OBREAL her vast experience in university management gained at the National University of Cuyo in Argentina (one of the largest research universities in Argentina) where she acted for 8 years as Secretary of Research, International Relations, and Postgraduate Studies. Jimena is based in Argentina and speaks Spanish, English and Italian.
Juan Guillermo Hoyos
Based in Colombia, Juan Guillermo currently serves as an expert in Higher Education policy for Latin America and the Caribbean at OBREAL Global. Collaborating closely with the Buenos Aires office, he efficiently coordinates the implementation of projects and strategic initiatives in the region. Juan Guillermo plays a pivotal role in developing the association strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to his role at OBREAL, Juan Guillermo dedicated over 15 years to the Association of Colombian Universities (ASCUN), eventually assuming the position of ASCUN Secretary General from 2019 until his transition to OBREAL in 2023. His extensive experience also extends to serving as the Secretary General of the Latin America and Caribbean Higher Education Space (ENLACES), where he actively contributed to and led numerous projects in higher education and regional integration.
Juan Guillermo is a Medical Doctor and Surgeon, having earned his degree from the Pontifical Javeriana University. Complementing his medical expertise, he holds a master’s degree in public health from the National University of Colombia. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Juan brings a wealth of knowledge and linguistic versatility to his role in fostering education policies and initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pablo Beneitone
Since 1994, Pablo Beneitone has participated, coordinated and led a number of international programmes and projects on academic mobility, regional convergence and international university cooperation (Erasmus +, ALFA, TEMPUS, Erasmus Mundus, etc.) in different countries and regions. Dr Beneitone is the author of several scientific publications related to current issues in higher education, as well as the director of research on academic mobility, credit systems, global competences and learning outcomes, and the impact of these on the processes of curriculum internationalisation at the National Univeristy of Lanus in Argentina where he also is a professor. Pablo holds a degree in International Relations, a Master in International Cooperation and a PhD in Social Sciences.
Anahí Astur
Based at OBREAL’s headquarters in Argentina, Anahí currently works as coordinator of OBREAL’s South American office. She works closely with OBREAL staff deployed in Argentina, Colombia and Panama and acts as the main liaison with international organizations and university associations in the region. She is also in charge of coordinating the activities of OBREAL’s South American Chapter. Anahi has 20 years of experience working at the governmental level in the region. Prior to joining OBREAL, she was coordinator of the Program for the Internationalization of Higher Education and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education of Argentina. She has also actively participated in the educational process of MERCOSUR involving Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the associated states of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and actively participated in the implementation of regional integration programs in Latin America representing Argentina. Anahí has studied international relations at the University of San Andrés and holds a master’s degree in international relations and negotiations from FLACSO Argentina and the University of Sandrés, with a joint Master’s degree in Regional Integration from the University of Barcelona. Anahí is fluent in Spanish and English.
Nicole Font
Nicole Font provides transversal support to OBREAL funded programmes and manages the SPHERE Initiative, a project aimed at modernising higher education in EU neighbouring countries. Specialised in international relations and higher education, she has longstanding experience in project and communication management by implementing strategies to improve results and achieve significant impact. She contributed to European funded actions such as Erasmus+ Capacity Building, Horizon Europe, and European Universities Initiative. Nicole Font holds a master’s in international relations from the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and a degree in Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Her practices include international cooperation, research and analysis of the SGDs, impact management, follow-up of emerging issues of EU policies, strategic communication strategies, and multistakeholder relationships.
Eloi Espósito
Eloi has been part of the OBREAL secretariat since 2019, a key team member during the pandemic, who promoted a mayor digital transformation of the work of the association. Since then, Eloi has been managing OBREAL´s digitalization processes and OBREAL´s communication channels. Acting as a catalyzer of the different needs of the association´s work, he introduces new digital tools and supports the implementation OBREAL´s communication strategy. Moreover, Eloi oversees the implementation and design of the OBREAL Training Platform. He is fluent in Spanish, English and Catalan.
Georgina Boixereu
Since she joined OBREAL she has been developing and reshaping the communication actions of the association. She manages the development of the communications tools and the development of key messages and acts as the OBREAL liaison with the media in Catalonia and in Spain. She supports the articulation of OBREAL´s projects and the implementation of the OBREAL´s communication strategy. Georgina has worked for more than 6 years in the Spanish and Catalan media as a journalist. Georgina is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan.
Jenny Delos Reyes
Her role at OBREAL secretariat in Barcelona is to support all administrative processes of the organization. Jenny is responsible for following and implementing the different administrative policies of OBREAL and to assist staff members in their daily administrative work. Jenny also contributes to managing the logistics and organizational aspects of OBREAL events. Jenny is originally from the Filipins and speaks Catalan, Spanish, English, and Tagalog.