Estela Rivero

Senior Researcher and Co-Director of the Central America Research Alliance, CARA

Areas of Expertise: Mexico and Central America; Education; Gang Violence and Drugs; Gender Equality; Migration; Monitoring and Evaluation; Social Demography and Populations

Estela Rivero (María Estela Rivero Fuentes) is a Senior Researcher and Co-Director of the Central America Research Alliance (CARA). A social demographer by trade, Estela has over 20 years of experience evaluating social programs in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, analyzing and collecting data, and researching gender, migration, youth, and violence issues. Her excellent quantitative and qualitative skills, extensive experience, and innovative creativity have been instrumental for research teams seeking to improve social interventions and programs. Fluent in Spanish and English, Estela has worked collaboratively across international and interdisciplinary teams in academia, international research organizations, and development agencies.

Before joining the Pulte Institute, Estela worked as a researcher in Mexico, conducting several evaluations of education programs, and was a member of the Technical Committee for the Evaluation of the Federal Registry of Voters, where she evaluated the timely enrollment of youth and its impact on the registry’s completeness.

Estela also served as a Senior Research Associate with the Population Council, an international, non-profit organization. At the Council, Estela participated in designing and testing implementations aimed at improving health services in Central America and the Caribbean. She was also an assistant professor of Population Studies at the Center for Demographic and Urban Studies at El Colegio de México.

Estela holds a Ph. D. in demography and public affairs from Princeton University, a master’s in demography from El Colegio de Mexico, and a bachelor’s in actuarial sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.