Maria Cristina is a Colombian, Psychologist, and Doctor in Education. She is a researcher and consultant for social development projects, especially on monitoring and evaluation. She has been an  INTRAC associate since 1993. She was Executive Director of CINDE Colombia for nearly 12 years and actually is head of the board.

Her main area of work has been research and practice of projects and programs around the healthy development of children, as well as monitoring and evaluation of social development projects and child/youth programs for different organizations worldwide such as UNICEF, Mentor Colombia and international, Oak Foundation, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, DNI – Bolivia, The Red Cross Colombia/PREAL, Christian Aid, International Children’s Fund, and CENDI Mexico among others. She has been co-director of the research line on child rearing practices and child / youth development at the Social Sciences Doctorate Program developed between CINDE and the University of Manizales in Colombia, also has been advisor to the Secretary of Education of Bogota for social inclusion programs up to 2014.

She is also associate professional at CINDE Colombia, and at present divides her time between research and independent consultancies on project evaluation. She has also worked as a translator for publications by INTRAC, Bernard Van Leer Foundation, UNICEF, CINDE, Misean Cara and PAL, Ireland.