Joe Martinez

Joe Martinez

Co-Founder, CEO

Joe has pioneered an H2A recruiting & training model that creates value for every link in the labor supply chain.

Since co-founding CIERTO, Joe has worked closely with NGOs and international governments to address farmworker recruitment and labor practice issues. A key component of this work has included the establishment of transparent, ethical labor  agreements that create strong ROI for growers, while protecting migrant farmworkers from fraud and trafficking.

Joe has dedicated his career to creating frameworks that allow for communication and cooperation between Mexican State governments, worker communities of origin, North American growers, international retailers, and labor representatives.

Joe has a B.A. in International Political Economy and Comparative History of Ideas from the University of Washington. 

He is based in Tacoma, Washington.

Carolyn Fairman

Carolyn Fairman

COO

Carolyn’s deep roots in social change equip her to tackle the challenges of supply chain management & traceability.

As Chief Operating Officer, Carolyn brings over 20 years of experience in executive management and grassroots development to her work on clean and ethical recruitment. 

With a background in the coffee industry, she has worked to confront complex issues in smallholder farming communities, addressing the endemic poverty, and educating and engaging the global coffee industry in new practices based on the recognition of the need for greater transparency in the value chain. 

As COO, Carolyn’s work has focused on streamlining global supply chains within an ethical paradigm, building stakeholder engagement, and fostering collaboration between farm owners, vendors and retailers.

Born and raised in the midwest, Carolyn currently lives in Michigan.

Axel Garcia

Axel Garcia

Executive Director, CIERTO Mexico

Axel brings more than 20 years of experience connecting workers & their communities with agricultural employers.

Axel has worked with government, civil society, the UN, and the Catholic Church. This experience has given him a rare combination of skills that allow him to work as a trusted specialist in workers’ communities, and also as a valued labor supply chain consultant to growers in Mexico, Canada, and the US. 

Axel’s work as a human rights lawyer protecting migrants, refugees, and defenders of human rights, informs his expertise at CIERTO, allowing us to create an ethical and transparent H2A recruitment and supervision model.

“At CIERTO, I have the opportunity to be part of the professionalization of farm worker activity, and to help  create an atmosphere of trust between growers, workers, and their communities of origin.”

Johana Bustamante

Johana Bustamante

Executive Director, CIERTO Guatemala

For the last decade, Johanna has worked with Guatemalen migrants both in Guatemala, and in transit to Mexico and the US.

Johana joined CIERTO as our Executive Director of Guatemala in March of 2022 to help us expand our H-2A Visa Program into Northern Central America. 

CIERTO gives me the opportunity to see migration from both sides… I’m excited to help demonstrate that responsible recruitment can work in Guatemala just as well as it does in Mexico, helping our workers get ahead, and protecting our global food supply chain!

Johana earned her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations, and a Master’s Degree in Public Managment.

One of her goals at CIERTO is to nurture her passion for learning, and to overcome challenges sure to crop up!

Norma Encinas

Norma Encinas

H-2A Program Director

Norma has directed the H2A Program at CIERTO since 2016, providing labor to agricultural employers in Mexico & the US.

Her expertise – developed over 15 years working in the H2A program – helps agricultural industry employers navigate the complex legal and compliance issues of the H2A process.

Emphasizing ethical and transparent recruitment processes, Norma has helped CERTO develop a full-scale approach that creates value up and down the supply chain. 

She lives in Yuma, Arizona, the winter lettuce capital of the world.

César Álvarez

César Álvarez

Director of Recruitment & Training

For 20 years César Álvarez has worked to prevent fraud & abuse of migrants emigrating to the US, Canada & within Mexico.

As CIERTO’s Director of Recruitment and Training, César oversees the ethical recruitment program for H2A agricultural workers emigrating to the US. 

In addition, he coordinates training for recruits in order to professionalize the workforce, bringing added value to every link in the fresh food production chain, improving ROI for growers, while offering more stable income for farmworkers.

Originally from San Luis Potosí, César earned his degree in Economics at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí.

Tom Tasker

Tom Tasker

Director of Business Development

Tom brings over 25 years of legal, leadership & sales experience to the table, with a tech background & a passion for mission-focused goals.

While leading the sales organization, Tom’s primary tasks will include developing safe, ethical and regular pathways for agricultural workers from Central America to join the H-2A workforce in the US.

Tasker is also looking forward to bringing together regulators, non-profit leaders and ag industry movers to help meet the challenges and changing needs facing growers, governments and migrant workers navigating the H-2A guest worker program.

I’m delighted and honored to join the CIERTO team. This is already the premier H-2A recruiting organization in the US, and I believe our values of transparency, honesty and trust are the perfect springboard to take us to the next level of success.

When he’s not working the phones and building relationships, Tom is into skiing and hiking, film noir, and reading and traveling to experience new cultures.

Karen Calvillo

Karen Calvillo

Impact Officer

Karen brings over 15 years of experience in human rights, immigration & the environment to her work at CIERTO.

As Project Coordinator, Karen’s dynamism, creativity, and empathy have led her to design, implement, and execute change actions that impact the lives of workers, their families, and their communities of origin. 

Karen has worked for more than 15 years in civil society, public institutions and private companies on issues of importance to immigrant workers including gender violence, fraud, and other concerns.

She has extensive experience as a trainer in the aforementioned topics, applying gender perspective and game-based pedagogy to her work.

Karen volunteers at UNICEF with indigenous peoples, migrants, women, youth, and other vulnerable populations. 

Gilberto Rene Rodriguez Figueroa

Gilberto Rene Rodriguez Figueroa

H-2A Coordinator

Gilberto’s mission to professionalize the migrant workforce is inspired by his drive to help others.

As H2A Coordinator, Gilberto strives to create a safe housing and work environment that has a positive impact for all stakeholders – from migrant workers themselves, to their families and communities of origin, to growers and consumers. 

Gilberto believes that better, more dependable job opportunities for migrant workers lead to a better future for them, and that the way to determine what ‘better,’ means is to listen to the experiences of these workers, and to let their voices guide us. 

With a graduate background in social science, Gilberto’s interests have led him to work with immigrants who have been deported from the US, and on programs dedicated to assisting workers who wish to emigrate legally to work at farms in North America.

Maria Isabel Resendiz Cisneros

Maria Isabel Resendiz Cisneros

Trainer

As a Trainer with CIERTO, Isabel is committed to supporting workers, their families, & their communities of origin.

Isabel’s work with CIERTO is focused on helping agricultural workers take advantage of the opportunities they have to grow professionally – a process that also benefits their families, their communities of origin, and the farms where they will be assigned – while protecting their rights as workers.

Throughout her career, Isabel has striven to apply her core values of teamwork, honesty, and transparency to projects that support migrant workers and other vulnerable groups.

Isabel’s specialty is the development and application of game-based strategies for training. Game-based training starts from a place of respect, empathy and cooperation, and results in improved worker engagement with the training, more efficient tracking of training progress, and improved communication and teamwork. 

The ultimate result of Isabel’s focus is strong season-to-season worker retention and reduced long-term training costs for growers, and workers who are seen and respected.

Gricel Ortega Cuenca

Gricel Ortega Cuenca

Trainer

Gricel’s work is focused on helping workers improve their lives through training and professional improvement.

Gricel’s training activities are developed in accordance with her personal and professional values, including accountability, transparency in the recruiting process, and teamwork.

She’s proud to work for an organization which prioritizes clean, ethical recruitment practices that have a positive impact at every link in the food supply chain. 

Her management and training skills help to give workers from many communities a pathway to improving their lives by helping them evolve personally and professionally.

Cesia Ochoa

Cesia Ochoa

Field Officer / Research Assistant

Cesia joined our team in March, helping to get our Guatemala office up and running.

In addition to admin duties, since coming on board, Cesia has assisted with training our first group of workers and preparing them for their new jobs in the States.

Samanta Padilla

Samanta Padilla

Trainer

Samanta has been working with us since 2018, helping with workers from Tlaxcala and Puebla.

Samanta loves working with her team, and building trust, transparency and communication with workers. 

Knowing that the work she does helps to drive change in the lives of workers, and their communities is one of the most gratifying aspects of her job, along with a strong commitment to personal and professional growth. 

Samanta has a background helping migrant workers and their families get ahead, working with Pastoral Social de Tlaxcala-Caritas in the past.

When she’s not training workers for their new employment prospects, Samanta is an avid and enthusiastic dancer! She loves dancing because it helps to facilitate self-knowledge, teamwork, healing and rehabilitation, and is a way to learn about new cultures. 

Samanta studied Financial Engineering, and has a degree in Mexican Economics, and Migratory Pastoralism.

Manolo Garcia

Manolo Garcia

Recruitment & Training Officer

Manolo is committed to building a fair and equitable recruiting environment for workers coming to the United States from Guatemala.

Training and Ethical Recruitment Specialist Manolo Garcia joined our Guatemala Office in July of 2022.

With more than 10 years of experience in community organization, his background has allowed him to create and implement effective, ethical community processes that benefit the communities with which he has worked.

Manolo is excited to join the CIERTO team because this space allows him to help agricultural workers who are selected for the H-2A visa program to obtain safe, reliable, well-paying jobs.
Working with CIERTO has allowed him to develop processes to generate real changes in the lives of people and to help build Social Equality.

What I like about the CIERTO team is that we are not talking about an abstract development, but that we are putting the people who need it most at the center of this process. That is where my social commitment to implement CIERTO’s transparent and honest model comes in.

Pablo González

Pablo González

Accounting & Finance, CIERTO Guatemala

Pablo González comes to us with 25 years of non-profit accounting experience in the United States and Guatemala.

Pablo’s background has focused on helping responsible, mission-driven companies and non-profits fulfill their goals with regard to health, education, civil society, justice, and biodiversity.

Passionate about great customer service, Pablo loves to apply the knowledge he’s acquired over his career to solving the difficult and unique challenges faced by  non-profit organizations and socially responsible companies.

Pablo is most excited about working with CIERTO to improve the prospects of the Guatemalan people and their communities through clean, ethical recruitment practices that prioritize both the voice of the workers, and their contributions to a reliable global food labor supply chain.

When he’s not at work, Pablo spends time hiking, sharing time with his family and volunteering to help keep Guatemala’s beautiful lakes clean and safe.

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!