Daniela Perez Mendez
MBA. PgCert.
Costa Rica
nitocr@gmail.com
I am a seasoned professional in strategic management and international business, with a robust track record of leading complex projects, optimizing processes, and managing multicultural teams. My career spans roles in multinational corporations, international federations, and technical committees, where I’ve excelled in driving growth, innovation, and operational excellence.
Key Areas of Expertise:
Strategic Management & International Business: Leading global initiatives to achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
Project Management: Managing cross-functional teams and large-scale projects, leveraging agile methodologies for efficiency and timely delivery.
Lean Six Sigma: Applying advanced data-driven techniques to improve quality, streamline processes, and achieve measurable results.
Multilingual Communication: Fluent in English and Spanish, with professional proficiency in French, Italian, and Portuguese, enabling seamless collaboration in international contexts.
Quality Assurance: Ensuring compliance and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across organizations.
Event Planning & Coordination: Successfully organizing international forums, symposia, and high-impact events from conception to execution.
Throughout my career, I have actively contributed to various technical commissions and international organizations. For instance, I served as Vice President for Gender Equality for FISU America and as a member of REDIMYD’s technical commission. My contributions extend to emergency response teams and political action committees, highlighting my commitment to organizational resilience and community engagement.
Professional Development:
I am deeply committed to lifelong learning, having completed numerous certifications and courses in fields such as Lean Six Sigma (Black Belt), design thinking, project management, and ITIL. I have also participated in prominent international forums, including FISU and NCAA events, further enriching my global perspective.
Memberships & Achievements:
Technical Commission Member, REDIMYD (2023)
Vice President for Gender Equality, FISU America (2020)
Political Action Committee Member, Partido Liberación Nacional (2018-2019)
Emergency Response Team Member, DXC Technology (2017-2019)
Certifications Include:
Digital Marketing and Social Media Specialization. (2024)
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (2021)
ITIL V3 Foundation (2015)
Strategic and Prospective Planning (2020)
Data Analysis with Jupyter Notebook (2020)
Design Thinking (2022)
I am passionate about leveraging my expertise to tackle complex challenges, foster cross-cultural collaboration, and deliver impactful solutions. Whether steering strategic initiatives or facilitating transformative projects, my focus remains on creating value and achieving excellence.
Let’s connect to explore how I can contribute to your organization’s success!
• Bachelor’s Degree (Business Management with emphasis in International Business) – Universidad Nacional Estatal a Distancia - Costa Rica
• Community Management Certificate - Fundacion Uned – Madrid
• University Teaching Diploma -Universidad de Manizales – Colombia
• Postgraduate Certificate in Sport Management. - Royal Holloway, University of London/World Academy of Sport – London
• Master’s Degree (Business Management with emphasis strategic management) – Universidad Nacional Estatal a Distancia - Costa Rica
Taller Tamara (March 2022- Present)
Assistant to the Manager
Administrative Assistant at a local retail store responsible for:
• Payrolls and Monthly reports to C.C.S.S and INS
• Coordination of the different trainings for all our personnel
• Hiring process
• Stock and inventory control
• Payments
• Insurances
• Relationships with providers
• Customer service
• Claims.
Audible – San José, Costa Rica (May 2020 –March 2022)
Concierge Specialist (May 2020- March 2022)
Italian Quality Assurance Specialist (A) (July 2021- October 2021)
Private Consultant – San José, Costa Rica (September 2017 –Present)
Business Development Consultant (September 2017 –Present)
• Advise organisations on high-level decisions in an unbiased fashion, using deep industry knowledge to deliver the best results.
• Cross-industry work, with private and public sector bodies on a wide range of issues, to provide strategic advice to help achieve optimal — and sustainable — results.
• Online advertising management for display, mobile and social platform.
• Social media growth strategy development and implementation.
• Development, implementation and maintenance of several communication channels with diverse stakeholders to ensure the progress and execution of actions defined in the campaign strategy.
Freelance Translator – Latin America (2008 – Present)
Freelance Translator (January 2008 –Present)
• Sports related essays and documents
• Magazine articles
• Restaurant Menus
• Medical related documents and certificates
• Wide range of Business-related documents
Costa Rica Cycling Federation – San José, Costa Rica (August 2019 –July 2021)
• Serve as primary advisor in the creation of the Trainers Academy.
• Assess education standards and course policies, as well evaluation systems.
• Help implement changes to curriculum based on data.
• Survey trainers to change programs or curriculum.
• Report on the effectiveness of current academic system.
• Devise strategies to improve educational quality and help implement new policies.
• Design new training programs and offer revamped training workshops.
• Recommend different educational materials.
• Implement and guide usage of new technologies.
• Meet with administrators to discuss programs and budgets.
• Liaise with local sport committees, National Olympic committee and other stakeholders.
Administrative Assistant – San José, Costa Rica (January 2020 –December 2022)
• Manage day-to-day internal and external scheduling, prioritizing and re-prioritizing and engaging with numerous internal and external stakeholders with a high level of care, urgency and sensitivity.
• Confirm and reconfirm all scheduled meetings; work closely with meeting owners or relevant teams to verify logistics and other matters to ensure a successful meeting.
• Be available for rapid response to scheduling confirmations and changes, updating the C Level Executives and external and internal parties as changes arise.
• Project manage trips, setting up regular communications with staff who are coordinating the visit to ensure an effective schedule and that the executive has received and reviewed all relevant trip preparation materials.
• Ensure that the calendar is updated with the most current and pertinent information and provide immediate support when travel changes, which includes limited support on evenings and weekends when is the executive is traveling.
• Research and book air and ground transportation as well as accommodations, being sure to partner with local staff to ensure appropriate location, etc. This includes applying for and ensuring that the executive has all required visas ahead of international travel.
Other
• Provide additional support that includes but is not limited to:
• Assisting with the executive’s daily office needs (reserving conference rooms, working with IT on technology issues, printing, ordering lunch, setting up video conference calls, greeting guests, etc.).
• Coordinate and support events sponsored by the executive including quarterly business reviews, executive retreats, and customer meetings.
• Managing incoming Purchase Order, travel and expense reimbursement approvals.
.
DXC TECHNOLOGY – Heredia, Costa Rica (May 2018 – June 2019)
Migration Wave Manager (August 2018- June 2019)
Responsible for managing the deliverables related to planning and executing a Wave Migration (includes migration across/within datacenters, server states, user bases, operating systems, HW/SW versions, platforms, workplaces, delivery teams, etc.). Provides direction and support for all parties involved in the Wave Migration process (client teams, vendors, DXC support teams, etc.) to ensure all requirements are met in preparation for the migration execution window.
Responsibilities:
• Confirms that all data required to plan/execute the Migration Wave is in WAME and confirmed correct, current, and complete.
• Participate in the definition of Wave management documentations and provides feedback on how to improve the processes as the project moves forward.
• Maintains the Playbook (pre-migration, migration, post migration) for each assigned wave ensuring each checklist item is performed.
• Acts as the primary escalation point for all issues / risks identified on the assigned wave.
• Ensures prerequisites are in-place, test-plans are in-place (technical & UAT), technical resources are available, and escalation paths are in-place for successful migration waves.
• Responsible for server migration wave execution of a given implementation depending on project’s time/schedule.
• Manage issues and ensure resolution during the Migration Window.
• Manages communication during Migration Window for status emails and/or checkpoints with the client.
• Directs the activities for completing the artifacts contained in the Migration Services process.
• Provides documentation relevant to the update of the overall project status to the Migration Engagement Lead and required information to trigger subsequent migration processes (ESL updates, Monitoring tools, WAME Orchestration Tool updates, etc.).
• Responsibility Details:
· Reports to Migration Engagement Lead and supplies the status of assigned migration waves as well as issues and/or action items that require Project Level attention.
· Has oversight for assigned wave’s migration / cutover activity.
All types of migrations in-scope:
· P2P, P2V, P2C, V2V, V2C, Greenfield, Lift-n-Shift, etc.
· HW and/or SW upgrades.
· Within datacenter, across datacenters.
· Replication via network, swing-gear, etc.
• Validation of all dependencies:
· Hardware build-out/configuration.
· Business/application outage windows
· Resource allocations/commitments.
· Go/No go meeting.
• Ensure all activities/documents, etc. are ready for wave planning and execution.
• Engage in peer-to-peer dialogue with client regarding the IT infrastructure/operations experiences, challenges, needs for their industry and customers.
• Serve as the single point-of-contact for all IHC needs of the engagement (IHC overview through recommendations and close-down).
• Drive definition of IHC scope, ensuring highest-risk areas are covered, and non-high-risk areas are interrogated and signed-off as out-of-scope.
• Influence client attitudes and manages expectations regarding project deliverables and associated business impacts.
• Identify and mitigates client risks that could jeopardize success of the IHC.
• Work with project manager(s) to address any obstacles to staying on-plan.
• Provides communications, reporting, and escalations to IHC governance and DXC executive leadership.
• Define detailed plans to enable effective execution of IHC Assessments projects.
• Identify, select, and secure all required resources to execute projects.
• Use expertise/experience to create and manage detailed project scope, deliverables, schedule, dependencies, and risks, using standard program/project management methodologies.
• Manage project dependencies (gets), deliverables (gives), and risks; mitigates project risks; and escalates non-mitigated risks to Engagement Lead.
• Compile and tracks project expenditures.
• Manage day-to-day interactions with project stakeholders.
• Ensure project team members are performing duties as necessary to avoid project delays and/or quality impacts.
• Raise project change-controls and ensures impacts (including scope, schedule, and budget) are known and changes are approved.
American Field Service (AFS) – San Jose, Costa Rica (May 2017 – May 2018)
East committee vice-chair and liaison to participants.
Support
• Match AFS students with host families
• Help host families get to know their AFS student
• Be a liaison for host schools
• Introduce international students to your community
• Check in with students or host families regularly to monitor programs
Plan
• Organize orientations for study abroad and hosting programs
• Arrange awesome social events and cultural trips
• Bring host families together to share experiences
• Set-up information sessions for students, families or volunteers
Train
• Guide AFSers and others through intercultural learning journeys
• Introduce students to your country’s culture
• Facilitate learning through creative activities
• Share your own global experience and cultural insights
Manage & Lead
• Launch community projects helping others learn how to respect, appreciate and value other cultures
• Serve on local AFS groups and boards
• Learn how to manage local volunteers
• Inspire others to serve their community
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise/DXC TECHNOLOGY – Heredia, Costa Rica (December 2015 – March 2019)
Administrative assistant to Vice President (November 2016 – March 2019)
• Scheduling & Calendar Management
• Manage day-to-day internal and external scheduling, prioritizing and re-prioritizing and engaging with numerous internal and external stakeholders with a high level of care, urgency and sensitivity.
• Confirm and reconfirm all scheduled meetings; work closely with meeting owners or relevant teams to verify logistics and other matters to ensure a successful meeting.
• Be available for rapid response to scheduling confirmations and changes, updating the C Level Executives and external and internal parties as changes arise.
• Partner with the Chief of Staff to develop and maintain the Executives travel calendar, which details long-term proposed and confirmed domestic and international travel.
• Travel & Expense Management
• Project manage trips, setting up regular communications with staff who are coordinating the visit to ensure an effective schedule and that the executive has received and reviewed all relevant trip preparation materials.
• Ensure that the calendar is updated with the most current and pertinent information and provide immediate support when travel changes, which includes limited support on evenings and weekends when is the executive is traveling.
• Research and book air and ground transportation as well as accommodations, being sure to partner with local staff to ensure appropriate location, etc. This includes applying for and ensuring that the executive has all required visas ahead of international travel.
• Accurately manage executives travel-related expenses ensuring timely submission of expense reports and tracking of reimbursements and credit card payments.
Other
• Provide additional support that includes but is not limited to:
• Assisting with the executives daily office needs (reserving conference rooms, working with IT on technology issues, printing, ordering lunch, setting up video conference calls, greeting guests, etc.).
• Coordinate and support events sponsored by the executive including quarterly business reviews, executive retreats, and customer meetings.
• Managing incoming Purchase Order, travel and expense reimbursement approvals.
• Workforce reduction management.
• Real estate management.
• Global staff training approval and registration.
• Ad Hoc executive support and reporting.
• SharePoint creation and management.
• Business continuity responsible.
Provide additional support that includes but is not limited to:
• Communications: monthly newsletter, boards’ maintenance, general communications.
• Procurement: Managing incoming Purchase Order, travel and expense reimbursement approvals.
• Coordinates work within the department and with other departments, both internal and possibly external to the company.
• Executive support for several Latin America manager: Assist the executives daily office needs (reserving conference rooms, working with IT on technology issues, printing, ordering lunch, setting up video conference calls, greeting guests, etc.).
• Reporting: weekly, monthly and on-demand performance reports, tracking of open positions and metrics reports.
• New Employee Orientation.
• Part of the Engagement Team.
• SharePoint updates.
STT for Hewlett-Packard – Heredia, Costa Rica (April 2015 –November 2015)
Customer Contact Data Specialist.
• Contractor. Part of a three-people team in charge of updating the global Credit and Collections customer contact data.
• Collections Analyst for Brazil.
Badminton World Federation – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (January – July 2014)
Shuttle Time Project Officer
Project 1 - Shuttle Time Marketing / Promotions Programme – Pan America.
• Development of a Shuttle Time marketing / promotions / communications programme to market the Shuttle Time Schools Badminton training materials / resources.
• Conduct online research to identify international/regional bodies and associations connected to physical education in schools, school sport and organisations related to the training of PE teachers at a university level.
• Maintain a list of these regional / international bodies documenting their contact details, their main mission and spheres of influence and which stakeholders they represent.
• Review the online accessibility of the BWF Shuttle Time materials for teachers and other stakeholders.
• Develop a plan to market the products to peak bodies and other stakeholders to raise awareness of Shuttle Time Schools Badminton.
• Conduct two pilot projects at a national level: o Select two key markets / territories in Pan America (one English one Spanish speaking) for a more in depth focus of the project to work with two BWF Members who are implementing Shuttle Time.
• Secure the commitment of the BWF Member(s) in the territories to develop a Shuttle Time awareness / marketing campaign for these two countries.
• Working closely with the Continental Confederation and Members, plan, implement and evaluate an awareness / communications plan to make Shuttle Time products aware to peak bodies, teachers’ associations and teachers directly in those countries.
• Develop guidelines for Members in marketing the products nationally.
• Develop the social media strategic plan for the programme.
• Liaise with Continental Badminton Confederations the support to national associations.
Project 2 - Shuttle Time as a University Couse for PE Teachers.
• Investigate and document how Shuttle Time can be implemented into a University Curriculum for one Spanish Speaking territory in Pan America. Network between BWF member associations and FISU member associations.
National Collegiate Athletic Association – Indianapolis, Indiana - United States of America – (February – June 2013) International Intern
• Served as intern at the NCAA and participated in a variety of projects and activities during the 6-month term of the internship.
• Department of Championship and Corporate Alliances – assisted in the organization of and participated in NCAA championships such as the Women’s Final Four, Division II Championships Festival, Division I Gymnastics Championship, Divisions I Swimming Championship.
• Membership and Student Athlete Affairs, - assisted in the organization of the annual NCAA Inclusion Forum and activities related to International Women’s Month, as well as on the translation of several documents.
• Coordinated with the United States Department of State and the University of Tennessee to host international students from 6 countries at the NCAA Women’s Final Four.
• Studied NCAA rules and regulations, the NCAA governance structure, the American intercollegiate model of sports, and the academic requirements of student-athletes.
• Conducted presentations about Costa Rica and the international university sport movement.
FISU Assessor and Gender Equality Commission Chair (August 2011 – December 2013)Special Assistant and Interpreter
• Coordinated and managed highly confidential and sensitive projects.
• Organized meetings, developed presentation materials, planning draft Terms of Reference, wrote summary reports for presentation to the FISU Executive Committee.
• Managed correspondence, including answering, screening and responding to various inquiries via email and telephone.
• Assisted with the development of the Commission’s annual budget and tracked expenditures against budget projects.
Taller Tamara (January 2006 – December 2015)
Administrative Assistant at a local retail store responsible for:
• Payrolls and Monthly reports to C.C.S.S and INS
• Coordination of the different trainings for all our personnel
• Hiring process
• Stock and inventory control
• Payments
• Insurances
• Relationships with providers
• Customer service
• Claims.
Other Special Projects
26th Summer Universiade Shenzhen, China (August 8th -24th 2011)
• Special Assistant to the Head of Delegation for Costa Rica.
• Translator at the ODUPA Executive Committee meeting
• Translator at the ODUPA 1st Pan American Universities Sports Training Forum. Special Assistant/Interpreter for the ODUPA Treasurer
Taekwondo World University Championship - Vigo, Spain (June 29th – July 4th, 2010)
• Team Official for the Delegation of Costa Rica.
Technical Commission Memberships
2023
- REDIMYD: Member of the technical commission (2023)
2018-2019
- Political Action Committee Member – Partido Liberación Nacional
2017-2019
- Emergency Response Team Member (ERT) – DXC Technology
Professional Development Courses and Certifications
2024
- "Digital Marketing and Social Media Specialization" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
2023
- "IAS/IFRS for Non-Financials" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
2022
- "How to Create Valuable Content for Social Networks" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "FISU America Forum" – FISU America
- "Design Thinking" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Project Management and Agile Methodologies" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
2021
- “Design Thinking: Creating successful products” – Miridiax
- “Lean Six Sigma Black Belt” – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Project Management" – Amazon
- "Influencing without Authority" (3-course series) – Amazon
- "Developing Your Emotional Intelligence" – Lynda.com, Amazon
- "TRMS Centre - Working With Your Manager" – Amazon
- "New-to-Amazon Manager: Understand Amazon's Writing Culture" – Amazon
- "Develop Positive Relationships with Peers-EN" – Amazon
- "Working with Peers: Influencing for Results" – Amazon
- "Conversation Spotlight" – Amazon
- "Basic Business Writing Program" – Amazon
- "New-to-Amazon Manager: Write the Amazon Way" – Amazon
- "Business Writing Foundations: Grammar, Spelling, & Punctuation" – Amazon
- "Audible: Focus on Return Language" – Amazon
- "CS-Compliance Training 2021 - Full Curriculum" – Amazon
- "How to Deal with Threats and Abusive Customers Training" – Amazon
2020
- "Social, Business, and International Protocol" – Centro de Formación Mar Díaz
- "How to Create Your Wedding Planner Business" – Centro de Formación Mar Díaz
- "Ceremonial Protocol and Catering" – Centro de Formación Mar Díaz
- "FISUAmerica Forum" – Member of the Organizing Committee
- "Neuro Finance" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Data Analysis with Jupyter Notebook" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Forecast with Microsoft Excel" – Udemy
- "Strategic Negotiations: Types and Processes" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- FISU AMERICA: Vice President for Gender Equality
- "Ethics Matter" – Amazon
- "Positive Language Exercise - Say This, Not That" – Amazon
- "Driving Customer Action - EWR & SJO" – Amazon
- "Strategic and Prospective Planning: Construction of Scenarios" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Cisco CCNA R/S (200-120 and 200-125): The Complete Course" – Udemy
- "Tableau: Basic Business Intelligence of Commercial Management" – Udemy
- "CCNA 200-301: Les Bases du Réseau" – Udemy
- "Clear and Simple VMware Certified Associate (VCA-DBT)" – Udemy
2019
- "Innovation and Competitiveness for SMEs" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "X National Congress of Sport and Recreation" – Costa Rican Institute of Sport and Recreation
- "Six Sigma Yellow Belt Professional" – 6sigmastudy
- "Personal Shopper and Image Consultant" – Centro de Formación Mar Díaz
- "Wedding Planner" – Centro de Formación Mar Díaz
- "Variants in Wages, Income, and Embargoes or Debt with Tax Reform: Legal Basis and Calculations" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Proactive Leadership, Propose and Drive Win-Win Procedures" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Management Skills Strengthening with NLP Techniques" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Data Mining" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
- "Change Management" – Colegio de Ciencias Económicas Costa Rica
2017
- "Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)" – American Heart Association
- "First Aid" – Cruz Roja Costa Rica
- "Email Marketing" – HubSpot Academy
- "Project Management Fundamentals" – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- "Global Trade Customs Awareness" – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- "Presentation Skills - Presenting Your Ideas at the Executive Level" – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- "Management Excellence for People Managers Only" – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
2016
- "Preparing for Leadership" – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
2015
- "ITIL V3 Foundation" – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ITIL Foundation: Introduction – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ITIL Foundation:Lifecycle phases – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ITIL Foundation Principles, Models and Concepts – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ITIL Foundation Processes and Functions – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ITIL Foundation Service Management – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- ITIL Foundation Strategy and Design Processes – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
International Forums and Symposia
2022
- "16th FISU Forum" – Costa Rica
2014
- "12th FISU Forum" – Kwangju, Korea
2013
- ICSSPE Community and Crisis Seminar - Inclusive Development through Sport – Berlin, Germany
- NCAA Career on Sports Forum – Indianapolis, USA
- UN-IOC 3rd International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development – New York, USA
- NCAA Women Leadership Symposium – Indianapolis, USA
2012
-"Leader Women for Change" – National Women's Institute
- "VI Pan American Congress: Women, Sport, Physical Education, and Recreation" – Keynote Speaker – Cali, Colombia
- National Women's Institute – "Leader Women for Change"
- "11th FISU Forum" – Taipei, Chinese Taipei
- "1st ODUPA and Gender Equity Meeting" – Organizing Committee Member and Interpreter – Costa Rica
2011
- "Cultural Projects Elaboration" – Fundavision Vision Cultural
2010
- "II Sport Management Forum: Strategic Management of Sport Organizations" – National Olympic Committee Costa Rica & Instituto Tecnológico Costarricense
- "10th FISU Forum" – Vigo, Spain
2008
- "1st Physical Activity and Sport in Chilean Universities Seminar" – FENAUDE, Universidad de Santiago de Chile
2007
- "Commercial Security Basic Course" and "Community Safety Basic Course" – Interior, Police and Public Safety Ministry