Quito Staff
The Duke in the Andes program has its academic base at the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana in downtown Quito and maintains an administrative office nearby. The resident director and his staff are available year-round for academic or personal assistance. Contact information for the staff will be provided upon acceptance.
Resident Director: Dr. Juan Aulestia
Dr. Juan Aulestia, the resident director of Duke in the Andes, has a broad base of international experience that spans academia, social movements, community development, and the institutional spheres.
Dr. Aulestia received his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Education and Development, his masters degree in International Administration from the School for International Training in Vermont , and his undergraduate degree from George Williams College in political science. He has teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels in US and in Ecuadorian universities in the areas of Latin American Studies; Development Issues in the Third World ; Participatory Project Planning and Evaluation; Ethnographic Research Methodologies; Cultural Studies; Rural Development, and Management and Leadership Training. He has served as an academic advisor to both national and international students as well as to a number of university programs.
Dr. Aulestia has more than 25 years of working experience with indigenous peoples and their organizations in the Andean and Amazon regions of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. This work has focused, among other areas, on economic and social development, organizational strengthening including in the cultural and political spheres, collective rights, and educational development, including at the level of higher education. He has had direct involvement in the conceptualization and development of indigenous universities in the Andean region, particularly in Ecuador, and has a strong base of experience in Afro descendant communities.
As a consultant, Dr. Aulestia has done important research sponsored by multilateral, bilateral organizations and has long been engaged in projects of international cooperation. Among other areas, such work has been directed toward the strengthening of Bilingual and Intercultural Education in Ecuador and the establishment of educational north - south partnership programs.
In the field of international relations, Dr. Aulestia served in 2004 as Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ecuador in the area of international cooperation. He currently holds Ambassador status. He is member of number of Boards and has extensive community service.
