Key skills and expertise

With 13 years of experience, the expert has developed strong skills in education, social entrepreneurship, and project management. Career highlights include leading both international and local initiatives, with a focus on peacebuilding education and social innovation. Notably, they managed programs impacting 18,000 students and coordinated a team of 25 to enhance teacher capacity. Their expertise encompasses customer development methodologies and lean experimentation. As a Programme Development Manager, they successfully secured and managed grants, ensuring compliance and high-quality delivery. Previously held roles involved designing incubation processes for startups and structuring open innovation challenges.

Project experience and donor exposure

Worked across diverse projects involving collaboration with international donors in the education sector through positions at Socialab. Responsibilities included developing and managing grants for peacebuilding education programs, identifying grant opportunities, proposal writing, and ensuring high-quality delivery and donor compliance. This work was executed on a national scale in Colombia, focusing on building teacher capacity and developing social emotional skills for students from vulnerable communities.

Sectors and geographic focus

Background includes positions in key sectors such as community development, education, youth and child welfare, security and peacebuilding, and social entrepreneurship. Responsibilities have included roles such as Programme Development Manager and Project Manager, with a focus on program development, grant management, and teacher capacity building. The expert's interdisciplinary expertise involves applying design thinking to social issues and incubating startups. Geographic experience spans national projects in Colombia and international initiatives in Kenya, with a focus on leveraging education for peacebuilding and social innovation.

Extensive geographic experience in Colombia includes leading educational and social innovation projects, focusing on peacebuilding and teacher capacity building. The expert has also worked in Kenya as a Kiva Zip Fellow, managing loan processes and policy assessments. Academic pursuits have taken them to the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands, enhancing their understanding of international development and business administration. Additionally, they have volunteered in Nepal, contributing to educational initiatives.

Languages and education

Bringing over a decade of experience, the expert is a native Spanish speaker and fluent in English, with a TOEFL iBT score of 112/120 and an IELTS score of 8/9. They also possess intermediate proficiency in Portuguese, certified by the CELPE-BRAS. These language skills have been utilized in diverse professional settings, including international development projects and collaboration with multilingual teams across various countries.

The expert holds a Master’s degree in Education and International Development from the UCL Institute of Education in London, UK, supported by a COLFUTURO Scholarship. They also possess a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Salamanca in Spain, awarded with a Santander Bank Scholarship. Additionally, the expert participated in a study abroad program in International Business at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, under an ERASMUS Scholarship.