Marides Santos, SSpS, is representing VIVAT International at the United Nations. She is an Accountant by profession and started off as a junior auditor at the SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV), a well-respected accounting firm in the Philippines. Sr. Marides had an extensive working record as financial manager of the various SSpS educational and pastoral work institutions. Her immediate past position was serving as SSpS Congregational Communications Coordinator based in Rome, Italy. She was tasked to lead in positioning communications ministry as a strategic thrust of the Congregation’s mission. She brings with her many years of experience in pastoral work among marginalized communities, particularly Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines. She functioned as the Executive Secretary of the South-Central Luzon Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Indigenous Peoples (CBCP-ECIP) while at the same time serving as Coordinator of the Holy Spirit Aeta Mission in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. She pursued special studies on Strategic Planning in Development Management at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila and Minority Voices Media Training sponsored by the Minority Rights Group (MRG) International at the University of Mumbai, India. Currently, as part of the Executive Team of VIVAT International in New York, her areas of advocacy at the UN focus on Women and Girls, Migrants and Refugees, Poverty Eradication, and Financing for Development.