Yubari Valero is a renown humanitarian leader who currently holds the position of Country Representative in the international NGO, based in Italy, AVSI ECUADOR Foundation. From this position, she maintains a strong commitment to the economic and social development of the most vulnerable communities. She holds an MA degree in Social Economics from the National University of General Sarmiento in Argentina and a PhD in Development Economics from the Latin American Faculty of FLACSO-Ecuador, where she conducted research on “Alternative Food Marketing Systems”, providing valuable theoretical and methodological approaches from the perspective of the new institutional economics. With more than 14 years of experience, she has led local economic development and rural development projects, which together her solid background in strategic planning and ability to implement institutional management methodologies have generated significant impacts on the welfare of the communities she has served.