In February 2025, Dr. Cecilia Cardesa became Global CEO, ushering in a new chapter as ConTextos celebrates 15 years of amplifying voices, promoting literacy, and nurturing education in Chicago, El Salvador, and beyond. She brings nearly three decades of leadership in strategy and systems innovation powered by narrative, community, and healing. Her work—spanning education, mental health, and development—focuses on building resilient organizations, designing pedagogy rooted in dialogue, and translating research into sustainable growth.

Before ConTextos, Cecilia founded and led TraumaVenture, a consulting practice that crafts trauma-informed, hope-centered programming for clients ranging from global faith leaders to U.S.-based social-impact institutions. She also served as Founding Director of Trauma-Informed and Resilience Programs at Esperanza, where she led initiatives supporting K–14 educators and students, and helped scale rapid response systems at the Center for Victims of Torture.

Previously, she directed nonprofits including Military Assistance Project, Voices Without Borders, and Dress for Success Philadelphia, and led national engagement for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Cecilia began her professional journey in 1997 at Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service), advocating for survivors of violence and displacement.

Her international advocacy includes serving as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 2007 and 2013) and leading global CSW parallel event workshops on mental health and sustainability (2021 and 2022). Her work has been recognized with several honors, including the 2016 Vera Institute Momentum Award for her work with entrepreneurs in El Salvador through the Business Council for Peace (BPeace) and the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange in Malawi (Mental Health). She has also served on numerous boards, including as Board Chair of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Born a possibilitarian and passionate about co-creating spaces where lived experience shapes collective transformation, Cecilia began her academic journey in community college. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Villanova University, a Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and both a Master’s and Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (PennGSE). An applied research practitioner, her scholarship has explored storytelling (Master’s thesis, 2011) as a means of connection and meaning-making, with a special focus on the role of work as a healing agent (Doctoral Dissertation, 2014). While at Penn, Cecilia also served as a planning committee member for the 2013 Wharton Social Impact Conference.