Mafer is a Bandola Llanera player (a four-stringed instrument), producer, researcher, and community organizer from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, based out of New York. As she grew up with an Afro-Indigenous oral tradition inspired by the relationship of the inhabitants of the Plains (Los Llanos) with nature, she developed a grounded understanding of the bandola (male-dominated) traditions. She focused on bringing the instrument to a new artistic path through composition, performance, and improvisation. In addition, Mafer innovated within the practice, investigating and channeling the female experience of a Latinx musician in a globalized world.   Mafer is a co-founder and performer in the Latin alternative powerhouse band LADAMA, which has released two albums. She also leads the production of the online Latínica conference, a platform exploring the Latinx experience within the music industry.   Mafer holds a degree in journalism and focuses her research on the experiences of female instrumentalists in Venezuela's musical oral traditions.