Bolivia

Adriana Benitez holds a professional degree in communication, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB). She has three years of experience in development project management and public policy. She has worked for governmental institutions and international NGOs. In her current position, she has worked with more than five projects managed by organizations such as UNICEF and Oxfam International, supporting the development of strategic plans, gender and child protection policies, and youth empowerment. In her time with state/ public organizations, she has contributed to the development of projects that promote alternative energies in Bolivia. In a cross-cutting manner, she has supported the generation of content and communication strategies in all her jobs. Adriana is also a feminist activist in her community, having been part of collectives that promote women’s rights. She has managed projects to support women who have suffered physical, economic, and psychological violence in her department. She is passionate about gender equality and children’s issues, academic research, and the management of development projects.

Alison B. Omiste is a Systems Engineer and lawyer, both with mention of excellence. She has studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Hradec Králové University, Czech Republic, and Advanced Studies in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law at Washington College of Law. She is an activist for human rights, gender equality, and freedom. She is a former IACHR intern and lover of technology, particularly its use to build a fairer, more transparent, and equitable society. Alison has been a trainer and speaker in various academic and technological spaces and is the Co-Founder and current National Director of “Mujeres TICs Bolivia” (Women ICTs Bolivia), an organization that seeks to reduce the digital gender gap. Her organization has trained more than 500 women from peri-urban and rural areas of Bolivia on issues of technologies and digital inclusion and has impacted more than 2,000 people with different digital inclusion programs and workshops in STEM areas. She works in constant contributions and investigations presented as amicus curiae before the IACHR and has participated as a team coach and judge in international Human Rights competitions. She is the Vice-curator of the Global Shapers hub and a member of the Ladies of Liberty Alliance and Students of Liberty. Alison is also a Fellow of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and of the Ban Ki-Moon Center for Global Citizen. She is a CISCO instructor with experience as a mentor in digital education.

Estefania Ortuño has a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Catolica Boliviana in La Paz and graduated with a Master of Social Innovation and Solidarity Economy at the University of Salamanca, her origin and values ​​prompted her to work for a sustainable world. In her ten years of professional experience, she sought to be part of institutions with a purpose aligned with her values. She currently works at BancoSol as Sustainably Senior leading the development and creation of the non-financial offer and supporting the evolutionary process towards the sustainability strategy with inclusion. Although support for vulnerable sectors was always one of her main focuses, without a doubt one of the most challenging labor was the one she faced at Banco Unión, where she began as National Head of CSR and was promoted to Management General Coordinator, supporting the coordination of the payment of bonds at the national level during the pandemic. In her extensive years of experience, she developed adaptability and international standards for the development of strategies in the generation of shared value and sustainability, all these skills were first started when she began his professional career in the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in the area of ​Sustainable Business Solutions and other projects, which gave her the opportunity to get to know different industries and companies. She has also volunteered from a young age at institutions such as Rotary, and Global Shapers Hub La Paz, becoming a curator at this last one.

Ivonne Casas has more than five years of experience in the financial area, project management, and research in public and private institutions. She has a degree in Business Administration from the Higher University of San Andrés and also studied Public Accounting at the Salesian University of Bolivia. Ivonne has a Master’s degree in Management and Public Policies from the School of Production and Competitiveness at Catholic University Bolivian San Pablo. She completed diplomas related to Sustainable Development, Projects, Gender Equality, Human Rights, Climate Change, and Big Data, among others in Bolivia, Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, and the Philippines. She currently works as a Strategic Management Professional at the Bolivian Institute for Standardization and Quality and is a Researcher at the Climate Change Research Center of the Grothendieck Foundation. She’s an activist at several organizations at the national and international level where sustainable development and human rights are promoted. She holds coordination and leadership positions and was appointed Local Ambassador by the Global Institute for Youth Development of the Philippines, managing to obtain a lot of recognition for her work. She was selected as a young leader by the United Nations Generative Dialogue for Positive Peace program in Bolivia. She’s currently working at the “Network for Monitoring and Defense of Environmental Rights and Rights of Indigenous and Afro-Bolivian Peoples,” which is supported by the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Bolivia and civil society organizations. She is also the Coordinator of a Working Group for the development of an international standard for students at the International Standards Institute of Next Generation.

Raquel Cruz Prado is a Bolivian Secondary English Teacher in a rural public school from La Paz, Bolivia. She has been working for almost two years in the education field. She graduated from the Teachers Training Superior School “Simón Bolívar” with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Languages. Her areas of interest lie in education, especially in Bolivian children and teenage women. She previously studied English with two scholarship programs from the American Embassy called Access and Martin Luther King between 2012 and 2015, where she participated in activities like painting schools, planting trees, and orphanage support. She finished those programs and their English studies at Centro Boliviano Americano in 2015. After finishing her Bachelor’s studies, she worked at Gualberto Villarroel School in 2021, obtained her diploma in higher education from the El Alto Public University, and wrote three books. In 2022, she worked at Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Private School as a primary English teacher and started working at Mariscal Santa Cruz School. Nowadays, she is still working at Mariscal Santa Cruz School and the UETH Marcelina. These experiences made her notice education needs and problems. At work, she helps solve students’ education and family problems and is collaborating with the I Speak English Program in Viacha’s Province.

Rocío Corrales is a social entrepreneur and communication lover who lives in Bolivia. She graduated with honors in Social Communication from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón and has three years of experience in journalism, marketing, and strategic communication. She is currently an investigative journalist at the digital media outlet MUY WASO, whose work consists of researching and writing about human rights, gender, and indigenous peoples. In parallel, in 2020 she founded the communication and marketing agency “CREACTIVAS.” During 2021, Rocío worked in the communication area of ​​the organization PROMOCIÓN INTEGRAL DE LA MUJER Y LA INFANCIA, managing more than five social and communication projects with women and children in situations of violence, increasing digital positioning, and social impact. In 2020 she was director of communication and marketing within the organization MUJERES TICS. In 2019 she worked as a journalist on social issues in the local newspaper LOS TIEMPOS.

Virnia Patzi is an experienced and highly skilled Chemical Engineer. She brings extensive experience in procurement, operations, and research in the upstream oil and gas industry. A native of Bolivia, Virnia is a global operations expert, having managed projects and driven complex business operations in Canada, Tanzania, Colombia, and Paraguay. She brings profound experiences in operations management across diverse industries. She also manages projects from product design to research, engineering, and maintenance.

Romina (Romi) Vasquez works with and for people with disabilities, which is her greatest passion. She is the founder and CEO of Friends x Inclusion, a social enterprise of people with and without disabilities that focuses on visibility, awareness, social skills training and creating spaces for leadership and empowerment among youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is co-founder of “SOY COMO TÚ! Agentes por la Inclusion”, an awareness program for people with disabilities to improve educational inclusion and community empowerment. She is also the co-founder of “Includanza,” a program to promote inclusion through performing arts, and “La Tiendita Inclusiva,” an economic empowerment platform that promotes job placement through entrepreneurship. Through these projects, Romina provides support, dissemination, promotion, accompaniment and space to entrepreneurs with disabilities, in addition to raising awareness in society through disability-themed products. On top of that, she is a founding member of the “Be Your Hero” project, the first camp for people with disabilities in Bolivia, and the President of the Network of Young Entrepreneurs of La Paz, Bolivia. She is proficient in Bolivian sign language and the Braille system. In total, she has worked with people with disabilities for almost 9 years in different organizations, programs and projects as a volunteer in different countries such as Mexico and the United States.

Milenka Delgado is a Bolivian lawyer and political scientist with a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development. She has been involved in several research projects on human rights, democracy, peacebuilding and environmental issues that resulted in the publication of several articles and books, both alone and in collaboration with other authors. She teaches a postgraduate course on sustainable development at the University of El Alto in Bolivia. Milenka is an enthusiastic activist and founder of the volunteer group “Voluntarios Ch’ukutas”, which promotes environmental and peacebuilding projects, workshops, and involvement in public policy. She has designed and implemented several social projects to work on the culture of peace with hundreds of young activists. She is a fellow of the Generation Change Programme of the United States Institute of Peace and a member of the National Heralds of Peace Network. In recent years, Milenka has done significant parliamentary work in the Bolivian Legislative Assembly, where she helped draft bills and other legislative instruments involving civil organizations and the government. Through these experiences, she developed strong networking, leadership, and project coordination skills. Milenka has strong interest and experience in peacebuilding, democracy and human rights, as well as a strong passion for environmental issues.

Cadiz Clavijo earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Communication from the University of San Francisco Xavier in Chuquisaca and completed postgraduate studies in Strategic Marketing at the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar. Most recently, Cadiz worked at a nonprofit institution called PRODECO, where she worked as a communications consultant for a project focused on indigenous access to health care and traditional medicine. In the past, she was part of the “Instituto Nacional de Estadística,” where she worked in rural areas and led a survey team that updated citizen data and created mapping of designated communities. Cadiz also worked for two years at Plan International Bolivia in the area of sponsorships and communications, where she ensured the safety of sponsored children by controlling the standards of incoming and outgoing communications. She found her first job at the Tribunal Electoral Departmental de Chuquisaca, where she registered and trained elected citizens as electoral jurors. During her studies, she worked as a volunteer at the Red Cross Chuquisaca, an NGO called “Realidades,” and AIESEC MKT. She has been involved in many youth groups. Today, she is a member of “Sinchi Imillas”, a group of young women that revalues indigenous music through women’s rights.

Ingrid Arinez has over a decade of experience in the non-profit sector. While studying for her law degree at Catholic University in Bolivia, Ingrid worked in the Center for Rights and Capacity Building (CDC), where she visited inmates in Bolivian prisons and advised them about their rights, which resulted in the creation of a permanent aid program to advise inmates about their litigation. Later, she joined the Bolivian Institute of Agricultural Reform as a consultant for the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), where she worked on educating dwellers in agricultural return issues. This effort prepared indigenous people and rural dwellers to better understand their land rights and be able to resolve land return issues. While in attending the University of Arkansas to pursue a Masters in Law and Public Policy Ph.D., Ingrid worked as a summer camp project director for Familia Corazon in Tijuana Mexico where she developed an educational/recreational long-term plan for children between the ages of eight to fifteen. The plan resulted in a new business collaboration between nonprofits and the private sector. After concluding her Ph.D. studies, Ingrid joined Heifer International, where she currently works as a Bilingual International Program Manager, guiding international offices through the project cycle by delivering technical assistance in project monitoring, reporting validation, and strategic planning, as well as leading multinational program and project initiatives, impacting a variety of sectors from gender equality, social justice, food security and business sustainability.

Sergio has five years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Bolivia, and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Chile. In his years of experience he has acquired solid quantitative and qualitative research skills, has conducted several research projects, and has developed interpersonal and team working skills. He started as a researcher in a microfinance institution assessing the impact of microloans on poverty among less-developed areas of Bolivia’s highlands. Afterwards he worked as a researcher in the infrastructure sector of the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) at its headquarters in Venezuela. Back in Bolivia, he worked in the Research Department of the Ministry of Planning (UDAPE), where his main research interest was the relationship between the financial system, private investments, and labor markets. Since January, 2010, he has worked in the Research Department of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Santa Cruz (CAINCO) in Bolivia, where he runs the macroeconomic and financial research agenda. He is also the Director of the Economic Program in POPULI (Políticas Públicas para la Libertad), a public policy independent think tank that promotes well-designed public polices for a free society. He has several publications, including chapters in books and working papers.

Host Organization : Heritage Foundation