Nicole Smith Ramirez
Executive Director & Co-founder
With a background in International Relations from IE University and experience in the emerging technology space, Nicole Smith Ramirez built Wait & Hope around the belief that technology education grounded in culture and community context is one of the most direct paths to global equity. Under her leadership, the foundation has run programs across five countries on three continents, bringing emerging technology education into cultural spaces and communities that traditional pathways have not reached.
Sofia Barreto
Chief Operating Officer & Co-founder
Sofia Barreto brings a background in law and literature to her work at the foundation — two disciplines that, for her, ask the same question from different angles: what does it mean to live justly, and what do we owe each other. A graduate of IE University and an avid reader and poet, she shapes how W&H communicates, who it reaches, and how the work gets told, with creativity and human connection at the center of everything the foundation puts into the world.
Mariano Cuartas
Chief Financial Officer & Co-founder
Mariano Cuartas has a background in Business Management and Criminology from Framingham State University, graduating Cum Laude. While studying abroad in Florence, he discovered his passion for art and became a dedicated collector, inspired by the stories behind each piece. With experience as an Investment Operations Associate at Meketa Investment Group and an his work at Bank of New York Mellon, Mariano brings a blend of business expertise and a deep appreciation for
art to the foundation.
Michelle Farkas
Director of Art & Institution Strategy
Michelle Farkas (SHILLS) is a strategic artist and entrepreneur with 30 years of business leadership and two decades of institutional practice, bringing a multidisciplinary approach that bridges art, technology, and community accessibility. Drawing on her experience as both a digital artist exploring emerging tech and a thought leader advancing equitable institutional frameworks, she shapes cultural strategy that prioritizes belonging, inclusive access, and sustainable systems change.