Cynthia del Aguila is a native Guatemalan who has been working to improve education services in her country for more than 40 years in private foundations, government, NGOs, donor-funded projects, civil society organizations, private sector companies, and research centers. Throughout her career, she has excelled at building consensus and promoting collaboration among diverse groups of stakeholders to achieve better and more equitable education in Guatemala.
Ms. del Aguila currently serves as the Chief of Party for a basic education program funded by USAID that aims to increase the number of students who successfully transition from elementary to middle school in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of project implementation, technical quality assurance, external representation, and monitoring and evaluation.
Since 2015, Ms. del Aguila has been Secretary of the Executive Board of the Foundation of the Universidad del Valle of Guatemala. From 2012 to 2015, she was Minister of Education, instituting much-needed reforms, such as elevating teaching to a professional degree and making reading an integral part of the school day. She held several top-level posts at the Ministry of Education from 1996 to 2000, including Vice Minister of Education, and participated in the decentralization and curricular reforms instituted during this time.
From 2005 to 2011, Ms. del Aguila was Education Manager for the USAID|Guatemala Alianzas 1 and 2 projects, implemented by RTI International, which improved learning opportunities for more than 500,000 children and youth in Guatemala. From 2004 to 2009, she was Coordinator for the Gran Campaña Nacional por la Educación (Grand National Campaign for Education), the benchmark for public policy influencing in Guatemala. Her core technical expertise area is curriculum and teaching and learning materials development.
