In the Boardroom
Tina Bueche
President
Tina, a resident of the East Coast of the USA, epitomizes the dynamic nature of a self-respecting Gemini. Her extensive corporate career has spanned organizational development, human resources, succession planning, marketing, training, and communication, predominantly within major companies and tech startups.
In her "chapter two," Tina has embraced consulting and entrepreneurship, managing multiple restaurants and retail businesses simultaneously. She is also heavily involved in community activism, leadership, and volunteering.
Her connection with San Miguel de Allende began in 2010, and she became involved with Libros para Todos after attending an inspiring author event. More recently, she founded the Art of the Story—a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing platforms for individuals to tap into their potential. She also co-founded the Vivos y Muertos festival, which organizes free events to celebrate the Day of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende.
Dale Eby
Treasurer
Dale Eby is a Canadian and a permanent resident of San Miguel, Mexico, where he has lived for the past 17 years. With a background as a business consultant specializing in sales, marketing, and technology for small and medium enterprises, Dale has been actively involved in the local nonprofit sector.
His volunteer work includes leadership roles at the Biblioteca Pública, where he served as Vice President, President, and Director of Business Operations. He has also volunteered with the Lavender Project in La Colorada, Mexico, and contributed to organizations such as Libros para Todos, Feed the Hungry, El Sindicato, and Mujeres en Cambio, providing computer and technical support.
Dale currently serves on the board of directors for Amistad Canada and acts as a project manager for Mujeres en Cambio and So Others May Eat, representing Amistad Canada. Having witnessed firsthand the transformative power of education in Mexico—particularly for youth—he is passionate about supporting initiatives that promote literacy and essential life skills for children and young people.
Claudia Lafforgue
Secretary
Claudia was born in Argentina and considers herself Mexican at heart. She has devoted many years to nonprofit work in Mexico, including serving on the board of Mujeres en Cambio, a women’s scholarship organization. Her involvement with Libros para Todos began in 2022, when she became an active volunteer and leader of the Outreach Program, working directly with children who had fallen behind in school.
Although not a teacher by profession, her passion for reading and her dedication to supporting the most vulnerable have guided her throughout the years. Before relocating to San Miguel de Allende, she spent 16 years volunteering and working with the Women’s Auxiliary at the Centro Médico ABC in Mexico City. In these roles, she visited patients in underserved communities, managed shops, and served in leadership positions such as vice president and president. Her efforts resulted in impactful projects that continue to benefit the community today.
Ezequiel Mojica
Board Member
Ezequiel has been active in the NGO sector for 30 years, working with various organizations in the region. He devoted six years to CASA A.C. and served on the Board of Directors of Hospice San Miguel. Currently, he is an advisor to The Latin American Relief Foundation.
In 2004, Ezequiel founded APOYO A.C., where he serves as the Executive Director. His commitment to social entrepreneurship was recognized in 2014 when he received the Ashoka-Tec de Monterrey Social Entrepreneurship Award. In 2015, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende.
Ezequiel has collaborated on projects with Feed the Hungry, Rotary Club, Mano Amiga, Caminos de Agua, Vancouver Island University, and both municipal and federal government entities, demonstrating a long-standing dedication to community development and social impact.
Emma Guerra Arguero
Board Member
She has over 32 years of experience working in the private education sector, teaching at all levels from preschool to high school, primarily in private institutions. She served as director of a middle and high school for five years at a Lasallian school in Coatzacoalcos. Additionally, she taught development courses in collaboration with an international human resources company.
In San Miguel, she worked at a tutoring school teaching Spanish as a second language. Currently, she is a regularization tutor for young people who have not completed high school, as well as a tutor for the Guanajuato Open High School program, where she prepares and guides students to take the single exam at the Colbach Institutes (National High School). She is a certified teacher with INEA and has spent eight years guiding children aged 10-14 and older to obtain primary and secondary certificates through the modular system.
For the past five years, she has been working at a state-owned school in San Miguel de Allende. In Guanajuato, she runs a project focused on self-sustaining schools, providing fresh food and promoting reading comprehension through the creation of a new library.
In the Field
Daniela Elena Franco
Executive Director
She started volunteering with Libros para Todos in 2013 and became Executive Director in 2015. Daniela has served on the Board of Directors for various nonprofit organizations and has worked overseas with international development organizations. She is currently on the Board of Directors of Apoyo a Gente Emprendedora, an organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs from low income families, and is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the San Miguel Writers Conference. Daniela studied International Affairs and Foreign Languages at Lewis & Clark College, earned a Master’s in International Policy Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and completed an MBA at ITESM Querétaro. She is deeply committed to promoting equal access to education and addressing issues of poverty.
Mariana Tapia Hernández
San Miguel Program Manager
Mariana discovered her talent for working with children and her passion for community development projects at an early age. After graduating from high school, she worked at a microcredit institution, where she helped design the curriculum for a program aimed at children that teaches basic financial education principles. Since 2019, Mariana has been the Program Coordinator in San Miguel de Allende for Libros para Todos. She studied accounting at Universidad Continente Americano and was valedictorian of her class.
Gerardo Arredondo Hernandez
Dolores Hidalgo Program Manager
Gerardo has been a lifelong promoter of culture, specializing in the promotion of literature since 2000. He was the founder of the Jorge Ibargüengoitia Book Club, an initiative that collaborated with CONACULTA and the Secretariat of Culture of Mexico. A trained teacher, Gerardo has dedicated himself to fostering the habit of reading for pleasure among children and young people in the municipality of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. As a member of the team of Libros para Todos, he coordinates reading campaigns in Dolores Hidalgo that engage hundreds of young participants.
Erika Burgos
Erika Burgos Pineda, originally from Mexico City, is a mediator and trainer of reading mediators. She has collaborated with the National Reading Rooms program of the Federal Ministry of Culture, the Puebla Reading Council, and other spaces. She was an advisor and promoter of children's and young adult literature at Alfaguara and assistant manager of academic promotion at the Fondo de Cultura Económica.
She taught the seminar "Towards a Culture of Peace" for the Fondo de Cultura Económica and participates as a speaker in the SEP's "Reading for Life" program.
She has mediated various spaces and audiences, such as the reading room for incarcerated women at a social rehabilitation center in the city of Puebla.
She designed and coordinated the Reading and Science Room at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. She collaborated with the University of Veracruz as a professor of the Specialization in Reading Promotion at the Faculty of Pedagogy, and, at the same university, she participated in the design and organization of the Master's Program in Reading Mediation.
She currently works independently on her reading promotion project, "A House of Words."
She holds a degree in Hispanic Language and Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and an International Master's Degree in Children's and Young Adult Books and Literature from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Claudia Rodríguez Frías
Born in Querétaro in December 1976, she grew up and lived there until 2009. She always knew she wanted to work with children, construction paper, colors, books, and letters. From the age of seven, she offered summer classes (crafts and cooking) for her neighbors and organized picnics for the children. She majored in Education. Later, she earned a specialty and master's degree from the Faculty of Psychology at the UAQ (University of Querétaro).
For almost 14 years, she has lived with her family in San Miguel de Allende, where she runs Atelier, an educational community where she teaches literature classes. She truly enjoys collaborating with Libros Para Todos. She and her husband are very happy to watch their three children grow up in a small town, in a respectful community with values and traditions.
Founder and past president
Susan Neulist
Founder and Former President of Libros para Todos, Susan Neulist, launched the organization in 2013 during a Spanish conversation class. She takes pride in its growth over the past 13 years and its success in reaching children, particularly in rural communities.
With extensive experience working in various settings across the United States—including nonprofit organizations, administrative roles, and healthcare environments such as the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Chapel Hill, NC; the University of North Carolina; medical offices; and small businesses—Susan brings a strong background in organization and leadership.
After retiring, she moved to Mexico with her husband, Richard. Throughout her adult life, Susan has volunteered and organized volunteers, leveraging her dedication and organizational skills to serve others. She continues to channel this passion into her work with Libros para Todos, committed to making a difference in children’s lives through literacy and education.
