About Diana Trejos Advise & Consulting
A perspective built between people, cultures, and contexts.
Psychologist · Consultant · Advisor · Strategist
My roots
Costa Rica is my starting point.
I was born in San José and grew up in Los Ángeles de San Rafael de Heredia, surrounded by nature, family, and community. My roots have shaped how I relate to people and understand the realities that surround them.
My Career
A view that gradually broadened.
My path began with Psychology and, over the years, expanded to include International Development and Latin American Studies. These three perspectives have allowed me to understand human beings not only from their personal history, but also from the culture and context in which they live.
Psychology, University of Iberoamerica (UNIBE)
San José, Costa Rica · 2006
Development Studies
International Institute of Social Studies
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Netherlands · 2008
Latin American Studies
University of Amsterdam
Netherlands · 2023
Between Europe and Latin America
WHAT DO I DO TODAY?
I currently live in the Netherlands with my husband and our dog, Milly, while maintaining a close connection to Costa Rica and Latin America. My life and work, in many ways, unfold between these two regions.
From the Netherlands, I provide individual counseling and continue to work on projects primarily in Europe and Latin America, collaborating with individuals and organizations from diverse cultures, sectors, and backgrounds. A significant part of my current work is dedicated to supporting and advising social organizations in Latin America and Europe, strengthening their strategies, projects, partnerships, and capacity to mobilize resources and generate impact.
From before I lived in the Netherlands until today, I have supported Development Partnership processes in rural communities, including indigenous communities. Often, my work has begun with something seemingly simple yet profoundly valuable: listening to an idea born from within the community itself and helping to transform it into a project capable of addressing the technical requirements of institutions.
I firmly believe in working with communities, not for communities.
Because understanding a social reality from the perspective of those who live it requires a different kind of listening, a sensitivity that doesn't always fit into theories learned at university or forms designed from a desk.
My work has been precisely at that bridge: translating community needs, knowledge, and aspirations into institutional language, without losing their essence along the way. Adapting, structuring, and giving technical form to ideas without replacing the voice of those who best understand their reality.
Therein lies, for me, one of the most important differences in my way of working: not starting from what we believe a community should need, but from first understanding what it really needs, values, and wants to build.
Living and working between both regions has enriched my perspective. It has also allowed me to personally experience what it means to adapt to a new environment, to learn about other ways of seeing the world, and at the same time, to keep alive my roots and ties to where I come from.
Today, my work brings together two dimensions that for me are connected: accompanying people in their processes of change and well-being, and advising organizations that seek to strengthen themselves, evolve and expand their impact.
This entire journey continues to remind me of something essential: we cannot fully understand a person without also understanding their history and context. And we cannot understand an organization without looking at the people who comprise it.
CAREER PATH & EXPERIENCE
An experience that connects strategy and people.
and impact
Over two decades I have built my career working with multilateral and bilateral organizations, governments, companies, foundations, social organizations and communities in different countries and contexts.
I have had the privilege of collaborating with the International Labour Organization (ILO), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Organization of American States (OAS), Habitat for Humanity, European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), Fundación Eterna, Fundación Rahab, Fundación Ser y Crecer, FENTRAGH and Instituto SOLAC, among other organizations.
My experience encompasses the direction and management of programs and projects, research and analysis, strategy development, building multi-sectoral alliances, resource mobilization, financing, fund and budget management, and organizational strengthening.
Much of my work has taken place where diverse people, organizations, sectors, and interests converge. I learned to understand complex contexts, build common ground, and translate objectives into concrete actions.
Today I combine strategic vision and execution skills: I can look at the big picture without losing sight of the people, relationships, and decisions that make it possible to put a strategy into practice.
MY APPROACH
My way of working
Listen. Understand. Build.
Every person, organization, and challenge has its own context. That's why I first listen, observe, and understand.
From there, I integrate analysis, experience, and sensitivity to build strategic, viable, and humane paths.
I believe in kindness, respect, and dialogue as essential parts of any process of change. Because peace is also built in everyday life: in how we listen, collaborate, and treat others.
Telephone:
(31) 616165269
Email: