The Goldin Institute is proud to introduce the inaugural Goldin Global Fellows (Spanish Edition)! We invite you to learn about each of the outstanding Goldin Global Fellows who live and work in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Haiti, Mexico, Spain, the United States and Venezuela. This diverse group of fellows will learn and work together as a Community of Practice, building on the talents of their neighbors and the assets of their communities to make real and lasting change around the world.
Meet the 2022 Goldin Global Fellows Spanish Language Cohort
Luis Alejandro Alomia (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia): Luis is the Director of the Fundacion Ashe Masai based in Buenaventura, Colombia. As a young social leader, Luis weaves together poetry, dance, music and handcrafted artworks that draw on the unique cultures of the Pacific Region of Colombia. As an artist and organizational leader, Luis believes that arts, sports and culture are powerful tools for peace building and resiliency especially when they are authentic expressions of local culture.
Geiner Alfonso Arrieta Hurtado (la Guarjira, Colombia): Geiner currently serves as Treasurer for the Cooperativa Multiactiva para La Paz De Colombia based in la Guarjira, Colombia. Geiner was born in Valledupar, Colombia, second of seven siblings who together worked in banana farming around the Magdalena Swampland. During the civil war, Geiner and his family were victims of forced displaced, so Geiner had to interrupt his studies to earn money to support his family. As a teenager, Geiner joined the FARC-EP guerrilla forces and served as a combat medic for nineteen years alongside two of his brothers. During the historic peace negotiations, Geiner laid down his arms and signed the peace agreement. After years of combat, Geiner has returned to school to earn a degree as a Technical Assistant in Public Health that leveraged the medical knowledge he learned during combat. In addition to his studies, Geiner is a member of the Health and Gender Committee for his local government, which works as a platform to share productive ideas to connect recently demobilized people and their families, linking seven Villages and a small town in the work of reconciliation and peace building.
Maria Andrea Avendano Valderrama (Miami, USA): Maria Andrea Is a Volunteer for Mi Cuerpo es Mi Historia based in Miami, Florida, USA. Maria Andree was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, but moved to the United States to complete her bachelors degree in Sociology, where she also fulfilled an integrated and Race and Ethnic Studies minor. While a student, she conducted research and volunteer programs that help young people use the arts and culture to understand and heal from trauma. Maria Andrea is passionate about urban ecology and civic engagement, especially when it comes to understanding the connections between culture and identity in community development. In the future, Maria Andrea seeks to merge all her passions and experiences and create a healing arts center and hostel in Colombia in order to connect communities around common global struggles that linger from colonization, host cultural exchanges, and promote economic development.
Maria Balaguera Villa (Bogota, Colombia): Maria is the Co-Founder and Communications Director for La Olla de la Dignidad Cali based in Bogota, Colombia. Maria is a Colombian Anthropologist who is passionate for social change, community work, and intersectional feminist activism. Maria co-founded La Olla de la Dignidad (The Decent Pot), a nonprofit organization working with local community leaders to end food insecurity by creating and supporting community kitchens in eleven towns across Cali in Colombia. In addition to food security, Maria is a visual artist who has been focused on addressing gender inequity in contexts such migration, informal work, violence, and reproductive health for over seven years. In 2018, Maria was honored with a prize for the best under-graduate Colombian dissertation in Anthropology for my work about immigrant Colombian women in Chile.
Johnatan Cordoba Rivas (Florencia, Colombia): Johnatan serves as the Ombudsman for the Amazonia University Law School based in Florencia in the Caquetá region of Colombia where he serves as the student's representative on the academic council. Johnatan combines his skills as an attorney with the arts to support youth development and youth leadership. Johnatan was born and raised in Quibdó in the Chocó region of Colombia and has led several community building projects in his home region as a youth leader.
Omar Arturo Diaz Martinez (Cundinamarca, Colombia): Arturo is a Human Rights Educator for la Red Internacional de Futbol Rebelde y Popular based on Cundinamarca, Colombia. Arturo credits his mother for his success abd for planting the seed of social transformation in him as she struggled to support his education. Arturo uses his skills as a graphic designer to promote peace, working on various advertisement pieces for social collectives since he was sixteen. When Arturo started public university, he conceptualized his life undertaking -- “La Pelota Rebelde” -- as a project to empower youth in his hometown by using soccer as a participative asset for social change. Growing the project to engage more than four hundred people of all ages, Arturo is totally convinced that peace is the only way for Colombia to prosper.
Desiree Natasha Duque Torres (Tachira, Venezuela): Desiree is the Director of O.L.I. and a Venezuelan Lawyer who has worked with vulnerable populations on the Venezuelan – Colombian border where she has worked for more than eight years. Recently, her work has expanded to provide support to immigrants and victims of the armed conflict. She strongly believes in a better world and is eager to show empathy to what has happened in Colombia throughout the decades of conflict in addition to the current Venezuelan humanitarian crisis understanding that our borders are territories that do not respect our nationalities, so they can become bridges of hope and chances for new beginnings rather than barriers.
Nora Gabriela Fuentealba Rivas (Metropolitana, Chile): Nora is Coordinator of the Red de Memoria y Cultura en América Latina y el Caribe based in Metropolitana, Chile. Nora is a researcher in Memory, Culture and Chilean history who her skills as a theater directory to to explore "memory studies" to trace the links between the last military dictatorship in Chile with social movements. Nora was born in Nacimiento in the Southwest of Chile and holds a master's degree in History of Art frmo the Universidad de Chile with postgraduate coursework in Philosophy, Aesthetics, Memory and Social Movements. Nora is also the coordinator of the publication of "Teatro y Fulgor: apoximaciones a la obra de Isidora Aguirre" and helps to coordinate Trenzar MemoriasL red de memoria y cultura en America Latina y el Caribe that collects feminist voices for peace.
Eva Martina Gamboa (Sudamerica Region, Argentina): Eva Martina is the Project Coordinator for CONAMI, the National Council of Indigenous Women in Argentina, based in the Sudamerica region of Argentina. Eva is a proud member of the Wichí indigenous tribe located in the Great Chaco (El Gran Chaco) region in Argentina and is an Indigenous community life rights defender with a focus on indigenous women from ancestral towns. Eva was co-founder of both the CONAMI and the Americas Indigenous Women Continental Connection (ECMIA). Eva is commited to ancestral and timeless spirituality, the harmony between mind and body, and the importance of the indigenous woman's empowerment. Eva is an avid promoter of peace, combatting different types of violence by promoting communal living and respect between our communities and different cultures, human rights, education, and a politics of inclusion for indigenous women.
Diana Rocio Gomez Torres (Buenos Aires, Argentina): Diana is the Coordinator for Red de Memoria y Cultura en América Latina y el Caribe based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Diane has a background in History with a degree from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá, Colombia) and a master’s degree in Analysis of Discourse from Universidad de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Currently, Diana is a PHD grant holder, working at the National Research institution (CONICET) where she leads an Art Research center. Diana also teaches at Universidad Nacional Jose C Paz where she coordinates the network “Trenzar Memorias, Red de Memoria y Cultura en América Latina y el Caribe” where she also manages and edits the online social magazine named Trenzar Memorias.
Nuria Gracia Puigarnau (Oaxaca, Mexico): Nuria is the President of JAD Productions based on Mexico City, Mexico. Nuria brings a spirit of enthusiasm and intuitive relationship building to build warm and welcoming spaces for expression and creativity. JAD Productions uses the arts and creative expression to support people and communities in facilitating social processes that build trust so that we can together create smart strategies that work.
Ernst Djeride Jean-Baptiste (Ouanaminthe, Haiti): Ernst Djeride Jean-Baptiste is the Founder of Haiti Moderne based Ouanaminthe, Haiti. Djeride was born in in the town of Bombardopolis in the Northwest of Haiti, but moved to Port Prince when he was 15 years old. With a background in Philosophy, Djeride is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Political Communication at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. In 2020, Djeride founded Haiti Moderne to promote the use of technology and the practice of our native language, kreyòl, to help connect Haitians to the world, especially those in rural areas. Our dream is to institute the use of kreyòl as the teaching language in Haiti, as it is the most spoken in the population, unlike French spoken just by the 3% of people.
Jaquelin Maria Ladeutt Herazo (Sucre, Colombia): Jaquelin is Legal Counsel at the Manantiales de Luz Foundation focused on three main projects: food bank (God will provide), shelter (God is my shelter), and children and mothers support (dreams midwives). In addition to her role as attorney, Jaquelin is the Elder for her indigenous community where she also serves as Sheriff for the Isla de Gallinazo Townhall. Married and mother of four children, and seven grandchildren, Jaquelin has many roles her community as a servant of God, social leader, secretary, teacher, and promoter of sustainable tourism proposals for the Golfo de Morrosquillo region, where local black and indigenous are central leaders and where their customs, human rights, and public or private institutions are respected and engaged to promote health, education, and food sovereignty.
Leydi Manuela Mosquera Palacios (Choco, Colombia): Martha is a Program Associate for Fundación Territorio Azul in her native area of Guapí on the Colombian Pacific Coast. She is an economist, specialized in development projects, with a master’s degree in Pedagogy and Research in classroom. With fifteen years working with black and indigenous populations in the Colombian Pacific Coast, Martha has led socioeconomic, educative, and organizational strengthening projects as a consultant. In her role as Program Associate for the “Blue Territory” (Territorio Azul) Corporation, she works with youth programs where she focuses on strengthening the cohesion between ethnic and indigenous groups. Martha's work is informed by her commitment to creating inclusive and equitable spaces where all involved can participate in every stage of a project -- design, implementation, assessment, and monitoring -- so social change can be driven by local perspectives.
Martha Cecilia Portocarrero Mosquera (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia): Leydi is cofounder and manager of “Seeds of Chances” (Semillas de Oportunidades), a social enterprise that uses art and sport as opportunities to grow skills for life. The organization builds leadership capacity for young people with a focus on gender power relations and the environmental sustainability. Prior to joining Semillas de Oportunidades, Lyedi has worked as social and grassroots leader for a wide range of community organizations, leading the execution of social and educational projects in the Chocó region.
Julio Cesar Pulido Castillo (Bogota, Colombia): Julio is the Founder of Amor a Tiempo (Love On Time) in Bogota, Colombia, and strongly believes in second chances and reconciliation. Julio founded the organization in 2019 as both virtual and in-person platform of the sale of products made by small farmers from conflict zones who are commited to the peace process. The organization focuses on promoting the products and livelihoods of indigenous communities, young people, women and victims of violence who are convinced that there are more chances of improvement and development if Colombia becomes a more peaceful territory.
Gladys Lorena Terrazas Arnez (Andres Ibanez, Bolivia): Gladys is a Project Coordinator for Red Paz Integracion y Desarrollo where she serves as a teacher and researcher focused on promoting dialogue processes for solving conflicts. She has also been involved in a wide range of environmental protection projects for over fifteen years, especially with indigenous communities. Her background includes experience in sustainable development, climate change and new water treatments. Prior to joining Red Paz, Gladys worked at the UN Climate Change Negotiations (CMNUCC) for nine years and currently she has a position at the 2030 Sustainable Development International Agency, focusing on the intersection of environmental and human rights.
Janneth Wilches Hernandez (Asturias, Spain): Janneth Wiches Hernandez is a Volunteer at Culturas Vivas in Asturias, Spain. Originally from Colombia, Janneth has been a Spanish citizen for over 10 years where she lives with her husband and three children. Janneth has studied Nursing Care and Geriatrics and is currently continuing her studies in Psycology. For employment, Janneth works for a cleaning firm and is an active volunteer at her Church and as a volunteer for Culturas Vivas.
The idea to have a Global Fellows program for Spanish speakers was suggested by 2018 Global Fellow Lissette Mateus Roa from Colombia who is the lead facilitator for this cohort. Lissette recognized that her home country of Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries to be an activist or social leader, and where solidarity and collaboration with other grassroots leaders and change makers was critical. We are proud to launch our first ever Spanish language cohort to expand the reach of the Goldin Global Fellows community of practice. We are excited to see what the Fellows achieve together
ABOUT GATHER
The Fellows are learning together through GATHER, which is both a mobile platform for shared learning and a curriculum for people who want to build on the talents of their neighbors and the assets of their communities to make real and lasting change. Gather Fellows learn and work together through an innovative curriculum that comes pre-loaded on a tablet device with all the connectivity, materials, videos, practices and tools necessary to provide a mobile classroom and toolkit for community leadership.
The Goldin Global Fellows connects and equips grassroots leaders across the world to lead community driven social change. The 2022 Goldin Global Fellows is the first international Spanish language cohort to utilize the GATHER platform, an online learning hub built by the Goldin Institute to empower grassroots leaders. They will engage in a 22-week course of intensive shared learning as well as group projects, culminating in a graduation event in December 2022. The curriculum has been designed and refined in collaboration with the Fellows themselves, based on their practical knowledge and hard earned wisdom, with input from a wide range of civic leaders.
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