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Fond ROADS

INTERNATIONAL ALTERNATIVES NETWORK

The ROADS team

ROADS brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds—economics, law, social sciences, culture, geography, entrepreneurship, and public policy.

Our strength lies not in uniformity, but in complementarity.

We operate as a network of independent expertise, united by shared principles of international cooperation and coordination.


France, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Chile, Spain:
the diversity of our backgrounds enriches our capacity for analysis and adaptation to local realities.

Francisco
RAMIREZ-MENDEZ

President

Francisco is Mexican, but he has been living in France (in the Gâtine region of Deux-Sèvres) for several years.

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He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Poitiers. Activist, professor, public official, and consultant, his professional path is as rich as his academic background.

He specializes in Plural Economy and in public policies related to Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER). He also holds two master’s degrees: one in Law and Development of the Social and Solidarity Economy, and another in Design and Management of Development Cooperation Projects.

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Francisco is at the heart of ROADS, maintaining connections between the different territories and projects. His experience, networks, and relationships have been the starting point of several initiatives.

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Jessica 

HERNÁNDEZ

Secretary General

Jessica is an environmental science engineer with solid experience in the public sector and within national organizations dedicated to environmental protection and the defense of human rights. She has collaborated with various public institutions, promoting projects aimed at strengthening the sustainability and resilience of organized communities facing the impacts of climate change.

Her experience has also been shaped through her work with independent human rights organizations, where she addressed issues related to environmental protection, women’s rights, and the defense of activists protecting their territories. She has also contributed to environmental education initiatives and the integration of a gender perspective in climate policies.

Throughout her career, she has combined her technical training with strong social and legal engagement, focusing on the intersection of gender, environment, and human rights. She has a particular interest in highlighting the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women, children, and young people, as well as in strengthening communities’ capacity to exercise their Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER).

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Alice
CLERY

Member

Alice is French, but she has traveled extensively and rarely stays in one place for long. She lived for a year in Greece, spent two months in Colombia and Cambodia, and has been in Mexico since January 2019. She will soon be heading to Canada.

With a background in political science and a Master’s degree in International Migration, she is currently volunteering with an NGO that defends the rights of migrants.

Alice specializes in sociology, but she is also highly versatile. She supports ROADS and its partners whenever possible and across several areas, particularly in projects related to Bacalar and Nariño.

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Norma
Martínez Loustalot 

Member

Norma holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Management and Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

She specializes in recruitment, candidate evaluation, and profile assessment.

She also holds certifications in psychogerontology, art therapy, and emotional management, and works through an interdisciplinary approach to comprehensive geriatric assessment, drawing on extensive clinical experience.

Throughout her career, she has worked in various departments of local and federal public administration, including the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of the Interior, the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, the Congress of Mexico City, and the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC). She is a specialist in political dialogue and multi-stakeholder negotiation, working with businesses, social organizations, academic institutions, and union representatives.

Norma is also a human rights activist, strongly committed to defending women’s rights, environmental rights, sexual and reproductive rights, cultural rights, the release of political prisoners, and the rights of older adults.

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Jesús 

LÓPEZ 

Member

Jesús is a PhD candidate at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). He holds a Master’s degree in Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), specializing in human rights and the philosophy of law. His academic background combines scholarly research with institutional practice, allowing him to develop an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing and addressing contemporary social issues.

His career in the public sector has focused on supporting victims and contributing to the development of public policies based on the concept of “dignified justice.” He has also worked on strategies related to environmental sustainability and climate change. Jesús has participated in various forums on environmental, legislative, and human rights issues, contributing his expertise in legislative analysis, institutional advocacy, and public policy design.

Within academia, his research has explored the relationship between human rights, bioethics, and emerging technologies, examining the ethical, legal, and social challenges they present.

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Arcelia
MARTINEZ RAMOS

Founding member

Arcelia, originally from the state of Hidalgo in Mexico, is dedicated to the study of museums and cultural heritage.

She works on independent projects with the former Convent of Todos los Santos in Zempoala, Hidalgo, where she is involved in cataloguing its heritage and archival collections.

She was also a founding member of the association Aleación 9.25, an organization dedicated to cultural management initiatives supporting the most vulnerable communities in Hidalgo.

Arcelia has collaborated in the creation of the Community Museum La Peña in Actopan, Hidalgo.

She currently teaches History of Mexico, Heritage Studies, and Geography at the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo (UAEH).

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Romuald - PAPET

Vice-president

Romuald is French and lived in the Gatine region for many years.

After artistic training, he became an actor and a member of a theater company.

He later left the stage and worked as a director of a holiday and leisure center for about twenty years.
Since 2023, he has been involved in child protection and continues his work as an educator.

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Frédérique

PARPAIX

Treasurer

Frédérique is French, but she lived in Mexico for more than ten years.

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Originally trained as a social worker, she began her career working in psychiatry. After returning from Mexico, she continued her work within the child protection services.

Frédérique has long been involved in the field of human rights, particularly in Mexico, where she lived alongside Mayan Indigenous communities. She later worked supporting survivors of torture. During this period, she also trained in wellness massage and went on to train practitioners across the country. She also had the opportunity to work with shamans and marakames.

Today, Frédérique dedicates more and more of her time to well-being. Through ROADS, she offers sessions on a pay-what-you-can basis (see Well-being section) and regularly continues her training to expand her knowledge and skills.

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Odeth
SANTOS

Member

Odeth Santos (Mexico) is an Afro-Mexican public health specialist. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Medicine and a PhD in Public Health Sciences from the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico (UAM-Xochimilco). She is a researcher at CENADEH-CNDH (National Center for Human Rights – CNDH) and currently works with the University Program for Cultural Diversity and Multicultural Studies (PUIC) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

She teaches public health and epidemiology within the CLACSO postdoctoral training network, at FLACSORD and FLACSO Argentina. She is also a visiting professor at universities such as FIOCRUZ (Brazil), the University of Health (Mexico), and the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM), among others.

She is currently a member of the Regional Coordination of CLACSO for International Health and co-coordinator of the regional study group “Decolonial Feminisms, Racism and Health” within CLACSO’s International Health Program (Latin American Council of Social Sciences).

Her research focuses on decolonial, Black, and community feminisms, Global South health, racism in public health, health intersections, and the critical epidemiology of racism.

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Irma
OTERO- FONSECA

Member

I hold a PhD in Latin American Studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). I am also an economist, having graduated from both the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Law at UNAM. As a young Mexican researcher and academic, my work focuses on the analysis of rural Mexico, the social and solidarity economy, and feminist and environmental public policies, with a particular interest in Latin America.

I currently teach at the Faculty of Economics at UNAM and work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CIALC-UNAM).

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Julia

ESCALANTE DE HARO

Member

Francisco is Mexican but has lived in France for many years.

Activist, teacher, project manager, consultant, former civil servant, his professional career is as rich as his training. He holds two master's degrees in Social and Solidarity Economy and Design of Cooperative Projects for Development in France, is preparing a doctoral thesis and is currently working on various projects in Mexico.

Francisco is the heart of ROADS and maintains a relationship of trust with all the members of the association.  His experience and network have been at the origin of many projects.

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Zaskya

MONCAYO

Member

Zaskya is Ecuadorian and lived in France for many years.

She holds a degree in Social and Solidarity Economy and later obtained a Master’s degree in European and International Studies. She is currently writing a thesis on “Responsible Food Consumption and its Contributions to the Social and Solidarity Economy,” as part of a second research master’s program in Social and Solidarity Economy.

She works as a public official at the National Institute of Popular and Solidarity Economy in Ecuador, where she led for several years one of the working groups within the Ecuadorian Strategy for Fair Trade.

Zaskya is deeply committed to ecology, fair trade, circular economy, and responsible consumption. Her vision is to help build a Latin American alliance bringing together these themes. She contributes her expertise in fair trade, social and solidarity economy, and responsible food consumption to the various networks with which ROADS collaborates.

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