Pilar is an Ecuadorian cultural anthropologist, writer and filmmaker, who specializes in food, culture, conflict and health. She is co-founder and director of Comidas que Curan, an independent education initiative and film distributor that blends ethnography and film to document and teach about food traditions and transformations in Ecuador and Latin America. She is director and producer of Raspando Coco, an award-winning documentary about the culinary and medicinal traditions of Afro-Ecuadorians. She is also a certified conflict mediator and coach.

Jesus is a computer engineer and economist. He was the photographer and cinematographer of Raspando coco and he participated in the research and production of the Manabí 2012 documentary project. Jesus is the creative and technical manager of our film distribution operations.

Alejandra is the dean of the School of Literature at Universidad de las Artes, Ecuador. She is founder of La Poderosa Media Project, a non profit organization that uses storytelling towards community transformation through art-schools in Latin America and the United States. Alejandra directed the 5 documentary shorts of the Manabí 2012 project. Learn more about Alejandra here.

Gustavo is an independent filmmaker with 15 years of experience directing feature and short, fiction and documentary films. He graduated with a Performance Arts degree from Paul Vallery University in France and is now based in Mindo, Ecuador. His work focuses on showcasing Ecuador’s biodiversity and ecology through audiovisual narratives. He is the video coordinator at the Seeds Savers Network of Ecuador, and is the director of the award-winning documentary series Tarpuna, featuring the the Network's seed savers and organic farmers throughout Ecuador. He is our close partner in fundraising, producing and distributing the Tarpuna documentary series.

Esteban is a photo & video artist and tourism professional from Bahía de Caráquez, Manabí where he is a culture & community activist. He works with grassroots organizations and local museums to promote Manabí's traditional culture and history. Esteban worked as a mentor for our youth film & ethnography education program and he wrote the script and edited our community-based short documentary series in Calceta (2021-2022).

Jen is a sophomore at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, studying Physics and Philosophy. She is a second-generation American, she is bilingual and fluent in English and Spanish. Jen supports Comidas Que Curan with translation skills in creating accurate film subtitling.

Rachel is a sophomore at Wellesley College studying Computer Science. Food was the main way she experienced her hometown growing up in Miami through different Latino cultures. As a student she has also studied food in Cuba, her family’s home. In her free time, she designs and plays video games. Rachel supports our film distribution and social media content creation.

Sophie is a senior at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, studying Studio Art and Middle Eastern Studies. She is a multicultural, hardworking and creative leader who grew up between France and the United States. A skilled video artist with work experience in 5 languages, she is dedicated to transcending borders through the power of food and media. Sophie supports our film distribution efforts in product design, creating and translating subtitles, designing posters and producing videos about our food education projects. You can learn more about Sophie here.