About us

Meet the Neighbors consultants.

Mary Claire Whitaker

Mary Claire Whitaker

Managing Consultant

Mary Claire moved to Mexico City from the US in 2009 and not long after became an in-market consultant for the Ontario, Canada Ministry of Economic Development. She started Neighbors in 2013. Prior to Mexico, she worked in advertising, at the Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia, supporting brands like Alltel, UPS, Burts Bees and Thomasville Furniture.

Her undergraduate degree in English and Government is from the College of William and Mary (2003), and she completed a Master of Arts degree from the Queens University Belfast in 2006. Since 2016, Mary Claire has mentored startups in fintech, clean energy, and telecom connectivity, at Mass Challenge Mexico City. A former US Air Force brat, she has Mexican permanent resident status.

Fania Rodríguez

Fania Rodríguez

Partner & Senior Consultant

Fania, a holding partner in our legal entity, has been with Neighbors since 2014. Like Mary Claire, she worked for Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development in Mexico prior to Neighbors. Fania has also worked in consumer-facing sales, in retail banking (HSBC and Scotiabank) and real estate. Fania graduated from the Universidad Tecnológica de México (1997) in Business Administration.
Kelly Chen

Kelly Chen

Business Development Consultant

Kelly was born in California and grew up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She graduated from William & Mary with a degree in Public Policy and Hispanic Studies, after which she worked as a Marketing Project Manager for a plant-based meat brand in Shanghai.

Two years later, her continued passion for both Mexican culture and international business led her to Neighbors. Fluent in Spanish, English, and Mandarin Chinese, she draws from past experiences in socioeconomic policy research, community outreach for nonprofit organizations, and multilingual marketing campaign coordination.

Since 2024, Kelly has helped coordinate 2 commercial trade missions to Mexico, advised more than 30 US and international businesses on market strategy, and led business development initiatives for Asia and the technology sector.

Riley Morales

Riley Morales

LatAm Markets Expansion Consultant

Riley grew up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and later moved to Southern California to obtain her degree in International Business with minors in Spanish and Political Science from the University of San Diego. During her time in San Diego, she acted as a college consultant for two Mexican businesses.
Upon completing her degree, she moved to Colombia to serve as a Community Economic Development Facilitator with the Peace Corps, where she spent over two years delivering entrepreneurship, basic business skills, and personal money management trainings.
Riley joined the Neighbors team in 2025 as the first consultant for the Colombia market. She promotes international companies in the agribusiness, information security, healthcare and aerospace and defense industries through market and product research, potential partner relations and trade mission organization.
Alison Páez

Alison Páez

Colombia Trade Representative

Alison is an International Business professional with over seven years of experience in business development, international expansion, and advising export-oriented companies. Throughout her career, she has supported organizations in identifying and structuring commercial opportunities, as well as designing and executing international go-to-market strategies.

Prior to joining Neighbors, Alison was part of the consulting teams at Holland House and Marsh McLennan, where she served as a Senior International Consulting Analyst and Senior International Business Consultant respectively. In these roles she conducted market entry assessments, helped businesses refine their value propositions, and mediated conversations between private sector clients and institutional stakeholders.

Alison brings extensive experience in B2B lead generation, forging alliances in the global business ecosystem, and export-import processes, including foreign exchange and customs regulations.