Sara Nathan (née Lamson), a graduate of the MSc in Development Management, has been named President & CEO of Amigos de las Américas, a major international NGO based in Houston, Texas. Amigos’ official announcement follows below. As always, we are delighted with the heights that our graduates scale after leaving the LSE, and proud of their work driving development forward all over the globe.
Dear AMIGOS,
Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS) is pleased to announce that Sara Nathan has been named President & CEO effective December 16, 2013. Marty Sinnott, who has served as CEO since 2010, has accepted a new position as President and CEO of Child & Family, a child welfare organization in Rhode Island beginning January 2014.
The board-appointed transition task force considered a variety of options for identifying Marty Sinnott’s successor and was pleased to identify an outstanding internal candidate. Sara has served as the Managing Director of Programs at AMIGOS’ International Office since 2009.
Scott Roberts, Chair of the International Board said, “As AMIGOS prepares for its 50th anniversary, Sara became the obvious choice considering her twelve years of experience working with AMIGOS – in Latin America, in the chapter network, and most recently at the International Office. Sara’s path to the CEO position is an AMIGOS success story. She began as a volunteer, assumed leadership positions in Latin America culminating with managing a country project in Paraguay after graduating college. She gained other professional experience and is now positioned to lead our organization to its 50th anniversary.”
As Managing Director of Programs, Sara has led many new initiatives that have expanded opportunities for youth involvement in AMIGOS, positioning AMIGOS to thrive going forward. She championed the first federal grant application for the Youth Ambassadors program, allowing AMIGOS to manage two-way exchanges and programming for youth from South America and the United States. She guided the development of college student programming and the Gap Year Program, allowing AMIGOS volunteers to spend up to an academic year in Latin America after completing high school. During her tenure, the number of Latin American AMIGOS volunteers has increased ten-fold.
Sara said, “I am honored to serve as President and CEO of this incredible organization. Partnering with more than 30 community and youth development organizations, we are building on decades of experience to pave the way for new programming for college and high school students throughout the Americas.”
Sara brings a variety of professional talents to the CEO position. She holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Science in International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to her position at AMIGOS, Sara served as Vice-Chair at the UC Berkeley Center for Latin American Studies.
Please join me in congratulating Sara in her new position. We are confident that she will be an excellent leader for the organization as we continue to strengthen our impact in the lives of youth and in communities throughout the Americas.
Jason May
Manager, Marketing and Communication
Amigos de las Américas
