MINNesota-uruguay partners of the americas
Board of directors and past presidents
roger moon, director & president
roger moon is a retired professor who taught entomology and statistics to agriculture and veterinary medicine students at the university of minnesota from 1981 to 2016. his involvement with minnesota-uruguay partners began as a farmer-to-farmer volunteer in the early 1990s. he continued to serve the chapter as an officer, board member and previously has been president of the organization. he is looking forward to helping the chapter grow and develop new projects as member interests and opportunities arise. Per election on 12-11-2023, current terms end 12-31-2024.
GERARD LAGOS, director & VICE PRESIDENT
GERARD LAGOS WAS BORN AND RAISED IN MINNESOTA. HE RESIDES IN SAINT PAUL WITH HIS SUPERSTAR WIFE, JANE, AND HAS THREE WONDERFUL CHILDREN. HE HAS WORKED FOR ANDERSEN CORPORATION FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS AND IS CURRENTLY IN THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. GERARD WAS INTRODUCED TO PARTNERS WHEN HE WAS JUST 12 YEARS OLD. PARTNERS MEMBERS ASSISTED HIS FAMILY ON THEIR TRAVEL TO URUGUAY WHERE HE ATTENDED SCHOOL AND DEVELOPED A LOVE FOR URUGUAY AND SOCCER. HE CONTINUES TO WORK ON CONNECTING YOUTH WITH THE POWERFUL LIFE SKILLS OF SPORTS LIKE SOCCER. per election on 12-11-2023, current terms end 12-31-2024 (director) 12-31-2025 (vice president).
kerry meagher, director and secretary
kerry and his spouse, deb, have made many trips to uruguay, where they had a vacation home in punta del este for over 15 years. they became acquainted with minnesota-uruguay partners when looking for tannat wine in minnesota. in 2020, kerry retired from his position as a senior underwriting counsel of first american title insurance company, and he joined the board in 2021. per election on 12-11-2023, current terms end 12-31-2024 (director) 12-31-2025 (secretary).
roy lyford-pike, director & treasurer
roy was born montevideo, uruguay. he was educated in american universities where he obtained a masters in chemical engineering. roy is also fluent in portuguese, having lived in brazil for many years while working for the dupont company. he is currently retired and expects that his connections to uruguay can help the partnership achieve its full potential. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2025 (director) 12-31-2024 (treasurer).
carman mills, director
carman mills is our newest board member. she has lived in montevideo, mn since 1970 when her parents moved to the city for teaching positions in the school district. she graduated from concordia college in moorhead, mn with a spanish and secondary education degree. currently, she is the executive director of the montevideo housing and redevelopment authority. she has one daughter, katie and one son-in-law, mitch who work in grand forks, nd. she likes to attend concerts, travel, knit and gather with friends and family. carman has been involved with montevideo fiesta days serving in a number of different roles within the organization since the mid-1990's. she is looking forward to working with minnesota uruguay partners and creating new relationships. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2024.
silvana brown, director
silvana grew up in montevideo, uruguay and moved to minnesota in 1997. she and her husband patrick live in minnetonka and have two boys attending college. silvana has nearly 20 years experience in the medical device industry, and previously held positions in international regulatory affairs at companies including novartis healthcare, covidien, and wright medical. she is currently the senior director for international market access at balt usa. silvana has an mba from the university of st. thomas, an ms in regulatory affairs from st. cloud state university and a ba in international business from universidad de la republica in uruguay. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2024.
graciela cuadrado-vielguth, director
graciela is the former export & marketing administration manager at me global inc. in minneapolis. she also served for many years on the board of midwest global trade association prior to her retirement in 2020. originally from uruguay, graciela enjoys cooking, sewing, and volunteering with different organizations. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2024.
rachel limon, director
rachel serves as the regional trade manager & protocol officer for latin america, the caribbean, and protocol for china at the minnesota trade office. she received her protocol certification from the protocol school of washington. she has organized and led several minnesota governor's trade missions to china, india, brazil, chile, united kingdom, and finland. she serves as an advisor to the board of study minnesota. rachel is an artist and devoted mother to her 12-YEAR-OLD son. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2024.
kristine martin, director
kristine is the president of east side neighborhood services, a nonprofit human service agency that provides social and other services to individuals, families and the communities of primarily northeast and southeast minneapolis. their purpose is to assist people of all ages and backgrounds in realizing a higher quality of life. kristine has 30 years of working in public and nonprofit organizations, concentrating on social welfare, community development, and systems change. she has been involved with minnesota-uruguay partners since 1992. kristine has traveled worldwide and specifically worked on juvenile justice reform in uruguay. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2024.
JUAN CARLOS GHIRINGHELLI, DIRECTOR
jUAN IS A COMPUTER ENGINEER WITH EXPERTISE IN DATA PROCESSING, MACHINE LEARNING AND SEARCH SYSTEMS. HE HOLDS A BACHELOR'S & MASTER'S DEGREE IN COMPUTER ENGINEERING FROM UNIVERSIDAD DE LA REPUBLICA IN URUGUAY AND A MASTER'S DEGREE IN DATA SCIENCE FROM CATALOINA, SPAIN. JUAN HAS A PASSION FOR CREATING TIES BETWEEN THE TECH INDUSTRY IN MINNESOTA AND URUGUAY, WHICH IS WHY HE JOINED PARTNERS AFTER MOVING TO MINNESOTA WITH HIS WIFE AND THREE CHILDREN. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2025.
cecilia capurro, director
Cecilia capurro was born and raised in montevideo, uruguay. she married her german husband and moved to oregon where they both went to oregon state university. after finishing her b.f.a. in fine arts, they moved back to uruguay where they raised three kids. during those years, cecilia studied contemporary art at the f.a.c. (fundaciÓn de arte contemporÁneo) in montevideo and got to know the local art community. in 2018, cecilia and her family moved to germany for four and a half years and after that to minnesota. she is now getting involved in the local art community and started painting full time. she has exhibited some of her work in a local gallery in minneapolis. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2025.
DEB MEAGHER, DIRECTOR
per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2025.
ROBERT SERVIAN, DIRECTOR
ROBERT GREW UP IN MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY AND MOVED TO MINNESOTA IN 1984. HE LIVES IN SAINT PAUL. ROBERT HAS NEARLY 16 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN THE SAFETY INDUSTRY. HE PREVIOUSLY HELD POSITIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AT THE CITY OF BLOOMINGTON AND WITH THE MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY. HE IS CURRENTLY A SAFETY CONSULTANT PRINCIPAL WITH OSHA AT THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. HIS MAIN DUTIES INCLUDE PROVIDING ASSISTANCE AND SAFETY TRAINING RELATED TO FEDERAL AND OSHA STANDARDS. ROBERT IS A 1989 GRADUATE FROM MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY IN MICROBIOLOGY. per election on 12-11-2023, current term ends 12-31-2025.
chapter historian emeritus
gary kuhn
honorary advisory committee
darlene diesch
honorary board member
david pace