Program Director
Gloria Huerta Huerta
Gloria is a dedicated resident of Yanque. Over the decades she has worked with agencies including the Peace Corps, Paz Perú, and Casa Chapi. Urban Angels was blessed to hire Gloria to keep communication flowing between David and the local leaders of each project in the Colca Valley. Gloria directed the kindergarten (ages 3 to 5) in Yanque for twenty years and expanded the school to care for babies up to 2 years old. We used her school as a model for our work in other villages.
Executive Assistant
Yngrid Málaga Díaz
Yngrid is a college graduate and resident of Yanque with a great interest in education and tourism projects for the sustainable development of the Colca Valley. She has a degree in tourism and hospitality and has researched the development of tourism in the valley’s villages. Yngrid loves the countryside and the sunsets of daily life in Yanque.
Student Guide
Rocío del Pilar Monroy Falcón
Rocío graduated at the top of her class and chose to study education, despite it being a poorly paid career in Peru. She has followed her vocation as a teacher for more than 20 years, teaching at secondary and higher levels in public and private schools in Arequipa, and has always placed at the top of teaching competitions, especially in mathematics. She works as a mathematics specialist in the Education Management Unit of the province of Caylloma, helping improve teacher preparation and the quality of education there.
Curriculum Developer
Lilian Galante
From Mexico City, Lilian has taught in an international bachelor’s program as well as primary school. As an Apple Distinguished Educator, she discovered the philosophy of challenge-based learning. Lilian volunteered in the slums of Argentina, training teachers at a cultural center, and has worked with the nonprofit Notion developing a challenge-based learning curriculum for kindergarten through ninth grade, adapted to Mexico’s national curriculum.
Curriculum Developer
Bonnie Phillips
Bonnie is both a professor and a practicing therapist. She provides the theory, content, and activities for our club meetings that teach practices for emotional well-being.
Educational Advisor
Cynthia Harp
Cynthia has a deep passion for children’s education. She retired after a 30-year career teaching deaf students and students with autism, emotional challenges, and reading difficulties. Cynthia lives with her husband of many years in their home in Austin, where she raised four children. She is a dedicated meditator, yoga practitioner, lover of nature, knitter, and amateur painter. Cynthia played an invaluable role both on the missions in Peru and in the planning and fundraising back in the United States.
Founder
David Hoctor
With a lifelong commitment to community service, David was first invited to the villages of the Colca Valley by the International Children’s Network in 2015. After two more trips, he and Cynthia Harp were inspired to develop an after-school program teaching community leadership and emotional well-being. David has been a financial advisor since 1995. He grew up in Buffalo, New York, and Littleton, Colorado, made Texas his home for more than twenty years, and now lives in San Miguel de Allende with his wife, Melisa.
