Ms. Cortes is the Chief Architect in the Municipality of Maria Pinto in Chile, where she has worked since 1981 on rural community planning and development. She has been concerned particularly with improving the design and construction of rural housing, to help alleviate Chile's housing deficit. Ms. Cortes also works as an independent architect and is a member of the Chilean Association of Architects. She has worked for the Institute of Cultural Affairs, and is an active participant in organizations concerned with women's issues and environmental quality issues in Chile. Ms. Cortes was a high school exchange student in the U.S. She holds an Architecture degree from the University of Chile (1979).