Team

Our Team

Terri Marlett founded NICA in 2006 to create job opportunities for adults and improve education for children in rural communities in Nicaragua. She began visiting Nicaragua in 2004, and she was immediately. Welcomed by the local people and was inspired to work with the community to improve the conditions and help transform El Transito.

Terri created and launched the Somos El Cambio in 2007 after many visits and discussions with locals in El Transito. This program creates opportunities for adults and high school students to earn basic needs. This includes construction materials, food, school uniforms or other necessities, allowing parents to give their children the best opportunity to attend school. This program has resulted in hundreds of repaired and new homes, a clean town and a renewed sense of pride.

Terri created the vision for CREA with Chris Marlett, and she launched the program in 2015. She currently leads an
nternational team of directors, interns, and other staff to improve the quality of education offered to children.

Terri graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a degree in English and then earned her law degree from Southwestern School of Law.

Christopher Marlett is CEO and Founder of MDB Capital Holdings. His entire career has been focused on starting and financing technology companies that
improve humanity. He has become a thought leader in the area of financing development stage companies in the public markets as a preferable alternative to traditional venture capital. Additionally, he began studying the impact of intellectual property as a method of gaining and retaining market leadership.

This led to the development of PatentVest, the first business intelligence platform focused on intellectual property.

He has co-founded or launched several companies into the public markets from near inception that progressed to over $1B in market value. He has built platforms for the creation of thousands of jobs in Nicaragua through his real estate investments and visionary startups. He has a unique ability to see opportunities where others can not. He purchased the old US Embassy in Managua and converted it into the largest call center in Central America, operated by SITEL. He started and built an intellectual property research business in Managua and sold it to a UK based company called Murgitroyd. He continues to build new businesses in Nicaragua and is active in real estate development in the community near El Transito.

Mr. Marlett graduated from University of Southern California in 1986 with a B.S. in Business Administration.

Claudia Tinoco is the Director of Operations for NICA and Chief Operations Officer for Embassy Properties, S.A. She graduated in 2004 from the National University of Engineering (UNI) in Managua, Nicaragua with an architecture degree. For five years after graduating from the UNI, she gained experience in the field of architectural construction and design with a firm in Managua. Claudia has alwaysshown an interest in the field of architecture because it allows her to develop her structural designs into a physical reality.

In 2010, she continued her education by obtaining a masters degree in the Social Impact of Community Territory Planning from the University of Central America in Managua.

María José is the financial controller for NICA. She graduated in 2007 from the University of Central America (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua with an accounting and auditing degree. For four years after graduating from UCA, she gained experience in the field of accounting in Nicaragua with an international maritime corporation headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

Maria Jose has always shown an interest in the area of auditing because it allows her to develop her accounting skills in a more practical way. She joined Price Water House Coopers in 2011 as an assistant auditor “A” and promoted six months later to the position of Auditor where she had the chance to participate in the auditing team of governmental ministries to review projects funded by international cooperation in Nicaragua.

Jaime is our eyes and ears on the ground in El Transito. She is involved in every project we have going on there. She lives in El Transito with her family. She attends a university in Managua on Saturdays, working towards a degree in Business Administration.

She joined NICA’s team in 2008 because she wanted to help improve her community. In the beginning, she worked part time, supervising the participants working in the Somos el Cambio program (SEC). In a short period, we could see her dedication and passion to NICA’s vision, and she took over more and more duties. Since Since 2010 she has been supervising and organizing SEC in its entirety. Her leadership and organization motivate and empowers nearly 160 participants each year.

Raquel Beteta is a local young woman from El Transito. She and her family still live in El Transito. She finished high school at Douglas Vasquez Galeano, where CREA currently operates. She received a scholarship from NICA to study in a University in Managua, where she earned a degree in Accounting in 2016.

She joined the NICA team in 2015, as a data entry assistant for the CREA program to maintain a database and profiles of the student’s participation. During that time, she demonstrated an overwhelming desire to make CREA the best it could be because she saw its potential to create better opportunities than she had at the same school just years before. She quickly learned the educational apps and the platforms that CREA uses.

Maria has worked with NICA since its inception. She has worn many hats with our organization, working in our Somos el Cambio program, watering trees, cooking at the school, and pitching in any time and anywhere we need her. María (or Conchita) is a valuable member of our team, local to El Transito, and is making true change in her town.