FUNDACIÓN VIENTO SUR

We believe philanthropy plays an important role in taking risks and accelerating progress and change.

Our philanthropic work in Chile is led by Fundación Viento Sur, a local and separate non-profit focused on Early Childhood Development, Workforce Development and Community Economic Development.

Through Fundación Viento Sur, we use philanthropy as a catalytic tool to support communities in exploring traditional and non-traditional methods, piloting new models, and incubating place-based approaches that can scale and/or replicate in service of strengthening social and economic systems.

Early Childhood Development

Supporting collaboration across sectors so that children, from conception to five, have the opportunity to grow up in optimal socio-emotional and cognitive environments to develop their full potential in life. We focus our work in the following areas:

Prevention and Care for Child Neglect, Maltreatment, and Sexual Abuse

Expanding preventative strategies to reduce the number of children who experience maltreatment and increasing access to services that mitigate harm and support children and families in healing.

Perinatal Mental Health

Raising the standard of mental health screening and care from conception through twelve months postpartum to support the critical development of a strong parent-child bond for optimal social and emotional development.

Parent awareness

Improving access to quality resources, affordable services, and support to help parents be well informed about their child’s development and encouraged to access relevant, affordable services to support their families.

Workforce Development

Increasing access to and navigation of quality career pathways to help individuals obtain job-relevant skills and pursue a meaningful career.

Community Economic Development

Supporting rural communities to explore national economic drivers that have the potential to catalyze local economic growth and resilience.

Fundación Viento Sur Team

Founder and Board Chair

Lucy Ana Walton

Lucy Ana Walton is a mother, child psychologist, philanthropist, investor, and founder of Fundación Viento Sur. She is dedicated to helping find solutions to key issues facing Colorado and Chile – the communities she and her husband Ben call home.

With her husband, Ben, she co-founded ZOMALAB where she focuses on issues that reflect her passions and personal experiences including early childhood development and community economic development.

Motivated by her own challenges with perinatal mental health in a health a system not designed to provide comprehensive care, Lucy Ana has focused on parental support from conception to five for more than a decade. More specifically, she is dedicated to promoting perinatal mental health through timely universal diagnosis and access to the necessary care and support during this crucial stage. Lucy Ana is also committed to improving access to quality resources and support to help parents be well informed about their child’s development, and to help children and families heal from the trauma of abuse and neglect. To address these issues and others on the ground in Chile, Lucy Ana founded Fundación Viento Sur in 2014.

Additionally, Lucy Ana is committed to driving social and environmental impact through investments in sustainable consumer products and scalable solutions that benefit local communities through a circular and regenerative economic model.

Lucy Ana serves as board chair for Fundación Viento Sur, as a board member for Socialab in Chile and previously volunteered as a therapist at the Denver Children’s Advocacy Center where she cared for Spanish-speaking children who experienced maltreatment.

Lucy Ana is a licensed child psychologist in Chile and earned a psychology degree from The Universidad del Desarrollo.

Senior Program Officer

Paula Santolaya Rojas

Paula Santolaya is the Senior Program Officer at Fundación Viento Sur leading the areas of early childhood development and community economic development.

Prior to joining Fundación Viento Sur, Paula worked in the nonprofit and public sectors leading and managing projects in rural, southern Chile.  She also served at the División de Fiscalización de la Superintendencia de Educación of the Chilean government and led program oversight of public educational systems and implemented process improvements.

Paula previously served as an advisor to the Undersecretary of Social Evaluation of the Ministry of Social Development during the first administration of President Sebastián Piñera. In her role, she oversaw the implementation of planning and negotiation strategies with other ministries, as well as the implementation of public policies related to gender equality.

Paula earned a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration from Universidad Diego Portales.

Program Officer

María José Vergara

María José Vergara is the Program Officer at Fundación Viento Sur where she develops the foundation's philanthropic strategy in the areas of early childhood development, workforce development, and community economic development.

Prior to joining Fundación Viento Sur, María José worked in various roles across the public sector, non-profit sector, and in academia. She worked in the Ministry of Social Development for the Undersecretary of Social Evaluation leading processes of monitoring and evaluation for social programs, and for the Undersecretary of Social Services, as Head of the Targeting Division.

María José also worked at the Public Policy Center of Catholic University as a research analyst, and at the América Solidaria Foundation as the Director of Alliances.

María José earned a BS in Economics from Universidad Católica de Chile and has a master’s in management and public Policy from the Universidad de Chile.