Fundación Staff
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Álvaro, Maggi, Ana Isabel, and Vilma
Our staff of four Nicaraguans is dedicated to the mission of the Fundación.

Vilma Bustos, Executive Director, is one of Fundación A Jean Brugger's success stories, having been sponsored through university for her degree in Executive Science.

Program Director Álvaro Novoa is a social worker by profession and has built a strong community service program that is an important component of the scholarship program.

Administrative Assistant Ana Isabel is a native of San Juan del Sur. Ana is a graduate of the Fundación scholarship program; she studied accounting and finance.

Communications and Community Outreach coordinator Margarita Dávila brings a passion for social media and a love of meeting new people to her work.

Vilma Bustos
​Executive Director

Vilma started her working life as a teenager in San Juan del Sur and completed high school with the help of her parents. After graduation she worked full time at Pelican Eyes Resort.

Vilma received one of the first Fundación A. Jean Brugger university scholarships. She earned a Bachelor of Executive Science degree and also completed a multi-year English course. After graduation, Vilma was the director of the Open Heart Ministry in Managua (headquarters in Tallahassee Florida), working with the American missionaries who came three times a year to build homes, deliver medicine, and donate clothes and shoes to the families who worked in the Managua dump.

She was also the director of Casa Esperanza and Casa Robles, two orphanages with children and girls rescued from prostitution and from families with problems of alcoholism and drugs.

When the Fundación Executive Director position became available in 2014, Vilma returned to her native San Juan del Sur. Having been a beneficiary of the Fundación, Vilma is extraordinarily proud to be the Executive Director, leading the Fundación into the future.

Watch a video of Vilma

Álvaro Novoa

Álvaro is originally from San Jorge, Rivas. He currently lives in Rivas and is married to Celina Guzman; they have two beautiful children.
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Álvaro has a Bachelor in Social Work and Development Management, an Applied Degree in Social and Human Promotion, and is currently studying English. He worked in a Catholic organization, “Caritas of Nicaragua”, for 9 years as Project Coordinator in areas related to migration and human rights in Rivas and Rio San Juan. His responsibilities included the design of methodological plans for workshops, training of community leaders, community organization, coordination between agencies (Nicaragua-Costa Rica) and social research; he also acquired experience in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of social projects.  He was also part of the Nicaraguan Network of Civil Society, performing specialized research on Migration. Álvaro also worked in “Aldeas SOS” in Managua as the Director.

​Now Álvaro is developing and sharing his skills as the Student Sponsorship Program Coordinator and Administrator of the Fundación A Jean Brugger. We are proud to have Alvaro’s broad knowledge base and strong work ethic on board!

Watch a video of Alvaro (in Spanish).

Ana Isabel
Administrative Assistant

Ana Isabel was born in San Juan del Sur, where she began primary school. At the age of 8, her family moved to the city of Masaya, where Ana finished primary school and 4 years of high school. In 2004 she returned to San Juan del Sur to take care of her maternal grandmother. Ana took this opportunity to complete her secondary education and graduate from high school. 

In 2005 Ana took the admissions test at the Autonomous University of Nicaragua UNAN, where her desire was to study Computer Engineering. She was admitted into her second career choice, Computer Science. Having the support of her family, she started her college career. She studied for a year but failed to finish for economic reasons. 

In 2012, intending to fulfill her dream of a professional career, Ana started classes in public accounting and finance at the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua-UPOLI Sede Rivas, with the support of caring people of the Christian community. The following year she no longer received aid from this group, but decided to continue because this time she was determined to reach her professional dream. In 2014 she obtained a college scholarship from Fundación A. Jean Brugger.

​Two years later, the Fundación offered her a job as office assistant. Ana, surprised and at the same time happy for the opportunity, is proud to be part of the Fundación team. In December 2016 Ana graduated from university.

Margarita Davila
Communications and Community Outreach

Margarita is passionate about social services, community outreach, social media, and new technologies. She has experience as a journalist in digital media, print media, and radio. She has a bachelor’s degree in Social Communication from the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA).

She has worked as a writer for the newspaper El Nuevo Diario, as a voice-over talent for Ratensa and COASA, in public relations at COMUNICA, as a consultant in Aldea Global Jinotega, and as a social media specialist in NikoiAd Marketing. Also, she has been a volunteer in several non-profits and with that experience, created her own social project with friends.

Margarita`s nickname is Maggi. She loves adventures, traveling, knowing new places, nature, animals, plants and flowers, music, and she really loves spending time with her nephew, Santiago.

She is very friendly and loves to meet new people and experience new cultures and food. She loves avocado and pasta. Her favorite sport to play is soccer. One of her dreams is to be a great swimmer and learn to surf.