Belén, an Ecuadorian attorney, joined DPLF in January 2025 as the Program Officer for Corruption and Human Rights. In this capacity, she leads initiatives that bridge human rights advocacy with anti-corruption efforts, promoting structural reforms, active engagement of victims and civil society, and the strengthening of human rights in contexts of systemic corruption.

Before joining DPLF, Belén served as a Specialist in the Rapporteurship of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, a Fellow in the Litigation and International Advocacy department at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center (RFKHR), and a Research Assistant to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. She has also worked as an Advisor at the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, Director of the Truth and Human Rights Commission at the Ecuadorian Prosecutor General’s Office, and an Associate at the law firm Rosero & Albán. Through these roles, she has gained extensive experience in national criminal and constitutional law as well as international human rights law.

In addition to her professional work, Belén is an adjunct professor at the Law School at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), where she has taught courses such as Crimes Against Human Rights, International Criminal Law, Constitutional Procedure, and Public Interest Law Clinic.

Belén holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (magna cum laude) and a master’s degree in Litigation and International Arbitration, both from USFQ in Ecuador. She also earned an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University (NYU) School of Law, where she was a recipient of the Dean’s Graduate Award and a Fulbright Foreign Student scholarship. Upon graduation, she received the “International Human Rights Award” and the “Public Interest Prize for LL.M.”. Belén is admitted to practice law in Ecuador and the State of New York.