Who's who
Americas Regional Director - Roland Angerer
In his 20-year career in development, Roland Angerer has worked in all continents. Starting with advocacy and development education in his home country Austria, he joined the UNDP in El Salvador and Honduras and then switched to Africa where he coordinated the programmes of an Austrian non-governmental organisation in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
In 2001 he joined Plan as country director in Colombia and from 2006 - 2010, he headed Plan’s operations in India. Since August 2010 he is responsible for the operations of Plan in 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as regional director of the Americas.
His academic background – a PhD in communication science from the University of Salzburg in Austria and a master’s degree in development management from the UK’s Open University – helped him to understand that development is a constant process of evolving attitudes, mindsets and choices for people and requires a continuous and firm rejection of all forms of injustice and discrimination.
Americas Deputy Regional Director Programmes - 
Matthew Carlson
Matthew has over 20 years of experience working in the development sector in the Americas. Born in California, USA, he holds a master´s degree in Latin American studies from the University of California and started his international career in Paraguay, working for the US Peace Corps.
In 1997 he joined Plan’s Americas office as programme advisor, establishing regional guidelines for programme design and implementation for projects in housing, water, and sanitation systems. Later he became Plan’s programme manager in Ecuador.
In 2001, Matthew was appointed as country director in Brazil where he helped develop a vision and mission statement, the core values and a strategic plan. After 4 years, he moved back into a regional role, becoming the programme support manager for the Americas.
His proven leadership in a cross-cultural setting is grounded in solid language skills with fluency in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Americas Deputy Regional Director Operations - Ingrid Kuhfeldt
Ingrid has 25 years of professional experience in the academic, private and development sectors both in the Americas and Africa. Born in Colombia, she holds a degree in business administration from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá and a specialist degree in tourism management from the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft in Germany.
In 1995 Ingrid started her development career with Plan in Colombia and her first assignment was as field office manager for the programme operations in Cali. In 1999 she was appointed as country director for Plan in Honduras. Later, from 2004 – 2010 she filled the post of country director for Plan in Guinea-Bissau, arguably one of the most challenging duty stations amongst the Plan countries mainly because of its challenging environment. The operations covered over 700 very poor and extremely poor communities where she has worked to improve the sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness and quality of programme design and delivery.
“When the opportunities are provided to children they can contribute significantly not only to their own well being but also to the well being of the whole society,” Ingrid says.
Her proven leadership in a cross-cultural setting comes with solid language skills in Spanish, English, German and Portuguese.
