Juan Manuel began his career in the development sector, with non-profit organizations, almost 30 years ago, working as a project coordinator, project manager, director of operations and regional manager, in international cooperation and non-profit organizations dedicated to projects of Leadership, Development of indigenous populations, art and culture, income generation, microfinance and small business development. Between 2003 and 2006, he worked in the Northeast of Brazil, in monitoring and evaluation processes, as well as management and financial training for about 25 NGOs, on issues of Self-Sustainability. In 1996, he founded VRS Consult, a consulting firm dedicated to strengthening the management capacities of non-profit organizations, planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects, and strengthening human resources.

Today, VRS Consult has about 25 consultants in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Peru, and Brazil, working for non-for-profit organizations. As a regional director in Latin America for Humentum and LINGOS, between 2011 and 2022, Juan Manuel was responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, and delivering learning and consultancy in the Latin America region, as well as the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions in Africa.

He has trained in Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, USA, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, South Africa, Peru, Haiti, Thailand, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Dubai, etc., in Project Management, Fighting Fraud and Planning for Financial Sustainability. Consultant in project management, organizational sustainability and strategic planning for Latin America and the Portuguese-speaking region of Africa.