Creative Associates International has named Noy Villalobos and Ailea Sneller as Vice Presidents to its headquarters staff in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Sneller has been hired as Vice President for Capture and Bid Operations, a new position at Creative, and Villalobos has been promoted from Senior Director of Field Administration to Vice President of Global Operations, replacing Mario Vilela who will become a Senior Advisor on IT until his retirement in 2022.
Leland Kruvant, President and CEO, recognized the talents and dedication they bring to their roles at Creative and the global development industry. They will serve on Creative’s Executive Committee.
“Noy and Ailea have impressive credentials and will contribute enormously to Creative’s ongoing growth and outstanding service to its beneficiaries, clients and partners,” Kruvant says. “As a social impact company, we rely on mission-driven staff like Ailea and Noy to make our programs a success.”
During the past 19 years at Creative, Villalobos has held significant roles in the field, including the Chief of Party of a crime and violence reduction program in Honduras from 2012 to 2016 and Operations Manager for USAID programs from 2007 to 2012, and in headquarters. In 2016, she was appointed Senior Director of Field Administration.
“The reason why I’ve stayed so long [at Creative] is because I love the people that I work with every day,” Villalobos says. “We have colleagues across the organization who are passionate and … share in the same mission and vision that I do. I’ve been very fortunate to forge a path for myself at Creative by having the right types of mentors, finding those opportunities for myself, and taking some risks.”
As the Vice President of Global Operations – which oversees Field Operations, Security, Grants, Project Performance, MEL, and Procurement – Villalobos emphasizes the need for a strong partnership among the different teams throughout Creative with the goal of being responsive to superior program implementation.
“Having worked in programs for so long in my career, I understood that what is necessary for operations to work well is a strong partnership, communications and coordination between the technical and the operations teams to make a program successful,” Villalobos says.
She earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of West Virginia and a Masters in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.
Read a Q&A with Villalobos here.
Sneller in new role in Business Development
Sneller – who has 16 years of development experience in project management and business development – joins Creative after seven years at DAI in Bethesda, Maryland. Most recently, she was the Business Development Director of DAI’s Global Department and leader of that company’s Proposal Resources and Services team.
At Creative, she will be the Vice President for Capture and Bid Operations, a new position established to streamline process and direct four regional Business Development teams to resource and manage a robust opportunity pipeline through all phases of the business development lifecycle. Sneller will oversee pipeline planning and prioritization, as well as improving processes.
“To me, business development is really the art of dreaming,” Sneller says. “This part of our work is where we allow ourselves to dream big about what we might be able to accomplish, with the right tools, expertise, and resources. I think it’s the most creative, exhilarating and inspiring part of our work. Business development is the moment when we get to visualize progress toward solving those tremendous challenges we all joined this field to solve.”
Sneller spent almost five years at FHI360 in Washington, D.C., where she held a number of roles, including Project Manager and Senior Program and Development Officer, primarily focusing on civil society, governance and peacebuilding. Prior to Fhi360, she spent almost three years at AED in Washington, D.C., where she held two positions, including one where she managed logistics and operations backstopping for an $80 million program portfolio, including USAID programs in Kenya, Mozambique and Nicaragua. She worked in Sierra Leone for the United Nations.
“I think one of the things that taught me about development was that we do have the opportunity to make an impact, even in problems that seem difficult or impossible to solve. When committed people are working together and have the expertise and the resources that they need, it’s possible to make progress, even when that progress is slow or difficult.”
Outside of development, Sneller has worked as a professional journalist and a case aide at a women’s shelter. She holds a M.A. in International Development Studies from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
About Creative Associates International
Creative Associates International works with underserved communities by sharing expertise and experience in education, elections, economic growth, governance and transitions from conflict to peace.
Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has active projects in nearly 30 countries. Since 1977, it has worked in nearly 90 countries and on almost every continent. Recognized for its ability to work rapidly, flexibly and effectively in conflict-affected environments, Creative is committed to generating long-term sustainable solutions to complex development problems.
Creative has grown to become one of the leaders among the U.S. private sector implementers of global development projects. Creative is minority owned and operated.