MEET THE TEAM

At Solidarity Engineering, our work is the sum of many parts.

From engineering to global health to data-driven advocacy, our team works together to improve living conditions and find community-led solutions grounded in health, dignity, and safety.

With a variety of backgrounds, our team works to ensure that every project is designed to meet the real and urgent needs of the communities we work with.

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Programs Manager

Anayeli Flores López

With over seven years of experience at the U.S.-Mexico border with Doctors Without Borders, Anayeli brings deep expertise in advocating for vulnerable populations. At Solidarity, she guides our team and projects to ensure a community-centered approach. Her background in Anthropology and Human Rights grounds her work in social justice and dignity.

Tapachula Project Manager

Dison Valladares Zepeda

Dison coordinates Solidarity Engineering’s operations in Tapachula, overseeing hygiene distributions, assessing infrastructure needs, and implementing critical WASH repair projects. With a background in construction and civil topography, he brings technical expertise and works closely with shelter staff to implement practical, community-driven solutions for displaced populations.

Executive Director, Co-Founder, Board Member

Erin Hughes

As Executive Director and Licensed Professional Engineer, Erin co-founded Solidarity Engineering to provide humanitarian engineering solutions for displaced populations. With a background in Environmental Engineering and a specialization in stormwater management, Erin leads the team in developing sustainable, community-driven infrastructure projects that address urgent needs at the US-Mexico border and beyond.

Board Member

Estuardo Cifuentes

Estuardo is a Guatemalan asylee and dedicated LGBTQ+ activist. After fleeing persecution in Guatemala, he founded a shelter in Mexico to support LGBTQ+ migrants. Now, he works tirelessly for the rights of asylum seekers in the United States. As a board member, he provides advice related to people on the move and organizational development.

Projects & Media Coordinator

Jona Block

As Projects & Media Coordinator, Jona plays a vital role in our mission to support vulnerable communities along the U.S.-Mexico border and beyond. With an education in Crisis Management and a background in refugee resettlement and photography, Jona contributes to our media development, volunteer coordination, grant writing, and project assistance in the field.

Lead Construction Foreman - Mexico

José "Pepe" Meléndez Cortez

As the Lead Construction Foreman, Pepe is responsible for logistics, coordination, and on-the-ground project implementation of humanitarian initiatives across Northern Mexico. With a background in Construction Management and Economics, Pepe ensures that each project is completed efficiently and sustainably.

Lead Field Engineer - Mexico

José Alvarez Cuevas

José serves as the Lead Field Engineer, overseeing the design, implementation, and maintenance of infrastructure projects at Solidarity's field sites in Northern Mexico. With a strong background in both Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, José plays a critical role in ensuring the functionality and sustainability of humanitarian engineering initiatives.

Programs Director, Board Member

Miranda Mello

Miranda ensures our programs have the resources and support they need to be successful. With technical expertise in WASH engineering and GIS, she supports all projects, monitoring and evaluation, and logistics for product distributions.

How we began - It all started with a podcast

In November 2019, an episode of This American Life aired, highlighting an informal refugee camp that had formed in Matamoros, Mexico. The conditions in the camp were stark, and home to thousands of asylum-seeking families. Here they faced severe shortages of essential resources like clean water and sanitation.

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Three engineers—Erin Hughes, Christa Cook, and Chloe Rastatter—each heard the episode, and though they were strangers at the time, they felt a shared calling to learn more.

After reaching out to the on-the-ground humanitarian organization featured in the podcast, they learned that the camp had no technical or engineering support. The organization connected the three women, inviting them to the border to see how they might be able to support their work.

In June 2020, Erin, Christa, and Chloe met for the first time at the U.S.-Mexico border. Over the next few months, they worked together to complete critical projects alongside asylum-seekers, Global Response Management (GRM), the Resource Center of Matamoros (RCM), and other local NGOs. Driven by a shared vision of dignity and health for all, they used their engineering backgrounds to address the camp’s most pressing needs, from clean water access to safe sanitation.

Solidarity Engineering was inaugurated in November 2020, one year after the podcast aired that inspired them to change their lives. Solidarity Engineering was born—a response not only to the humanitarian crisis at the border but also to the urgent need for sustainable, community-centered solutions for communities affected by displacement.