Building Inclusive Migration Systems Together

LinkedIn:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/amparo-sayago-2b0558145/

Website: Official Website of MERCOCIUDADES - Mercociudades

Amparo is the Director of International Relations for the Municipality of Quilmes, Argentina. She is a political scientist with a Master's degree in Public Policy. Specializing in International Relations, Amparo has worked in the implementation and evaluation of public policy programs at the national, provincial, and local levels and is currently responsible for developing the municipal internationalization strategy and designing rights-based migration governance projects.

LinkedIn:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-karina-garcia-69b5a818b/?originalSubdomain=co

Website: https://www.juntossepuede.co/

Lawyer, Master's degree in Public Management and Territorial Government from the Universidad Javeriana, currently studying for an MBA at the Universidad PRIME Sergio Arboleda. Founder and Director of the Juntos se puede Foundation since 2019. Country manager for Colombia, Central America, and the Caribbean for the American company Pine Grove, which created a financial inclusion initiative for migrants from 2020 to 2023. Coordinator of Migrant Assistance at the Venezuelan Embassy in Colombia from 2019. Advisor for the National Federation of Departments of Colombia from 2018 to 2019. Human rights defender in Venezuela from 2014 to 2018.

LinkedIn:   Daniela Brito | LinkedIn

Website: https://about.ikea.com/

Daniela currently works as Sustainability Leader for IKEA Mexico, implementing the brand's global sustainability strategies across its retail operations in Mexico. A graphic designer by profession, she has a deep passion for social justice and design in all its forms, particularly those focused on environmental justice and social innovation. For her, socio-environmental problems are created from the drawing board.

LinkedIn:   Lala Lovera | LinkedIn

Website: https://cpuvcolombia.org/&nbsp ;

Eliana is a Venezuelan migrant in Colombia and co-founder of the Comparte por una Vida Colombia Foundation, where she implements the "Stay in School" model, focused on promoting school retention for migrant children and youth as a key strategy for inclusion.

It is recognized for its leadership in human mobility and its commitment to vulnerable communities in Latin America, contributing to the creation of sustainable networks and models of inclusive development.

LinkedIn:   Gracy Pelacani | LinkedIn

Website: https://uniandes.edu.co/

Gracy Pelacani is an assistant professor at the Universidad de los Andes School of Law, director of the Legal Clinic for Migrants, co-founder of the Center for Migration Studies (CEM), and a member of the Law, Migration, and Social Action (DMAS) Research Group at the same university. She holds a law degree and a PhD in Comparative and European Legal Studies from the University of Trento (Italy). She has taught at the same university and at the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona). Her research focuses on migration and children's nationality, comparative law, and clinical legal education.

LinkedIn:   Josefina Etchenique | LinkedIn

Website: https://migrationyouthchildrenplatform.org/

Josefina Etchenique is the Community Engagement Officer at the Youth and Child Migrants Platform, a youth-led organization and network with thousands of members created in response to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) negotiations. In her role, Josefina plays a key role in planning global youth-engaged events and training programs. She also leads the Youth Leadership and Innovation Award, a global competition that empowers young leaders to drive innovative solutions to migration challenges, organized as part of the MYCP Youth Strategy for the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).

LinkedIn:   José Tomás Vicuña | LinkedIn

Website: https://www.nomadeconsultora.com/

José Tomas has dedicated his professional life to his passion. He has had the opportunity to lead institutions with multidisciplinary teams, designing and executing strategic planning, institutional reorganizations, budget management, research development, and spokesperson roles.

Without expecting it or even realizing it, life led him to entrepreneurship, creating Nómade as a migration consultancy and advising Teco ( https://tecogroup.cl/ ) on business development. He also devotes part of his time to ontological coaching.

LinkedIn:   Juan Pablo Ramaciotti | LinkedIn

Website: www.politicasmigratorias.org

Juan Pablo Ramaciotti is the founder and executive director of the Migration Policy Center, an independent, non-profit think tank specializing in human mobility policies based in Chile. Juan Pablo holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a law degree from the University of Chile. His research interests include migration and asylum, with a focus on migration governance, integration policies, and local governments. He has 12 years of experience working in public and civil society institutions on issues of social integration, human mobility, and public policy.

LinkedIn:   Luciana Gandini | LinkedIn

Website: https://www.american.edu/

Luciana Gandini is a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she is a senior fellow at the Institute for Legal Research and coordinator of the University Seminar on Studies on Internal Displacement, Migration, Exile, and Repatriation (SUDIMER). She specializes in migration policies in Latin America, labor integration, and the socio-legal challenges facing people on the move in various flows across the Americas and Europe. She has coordinated research and consulting services for government and international organizations (UNFPA, SELA, ILO, UNHCR, among others). She is a member of the Observation Mission of the Humanitarian Crisis of Migrants and Refugees in Southeast Mexico and holds a PhD in Social Sciences with a specialty in Sociology (COLMEX) and a Master's degree in Population (FLACSO-Mexico).

LinkedIn:   Luisa Fernanda Ortiz | LinkedIn

Website: https://about.ikea.com/

Environmental Engineer graduated from the Central University with experience in environmental management systems in large areas, sustainability indicators, circular economy and social responsibility, I currently work as Sustainability Coordinator for IKEA Colombia and Chile based in Bogotá, in charge of executing the sustainability strategy in Colombia and ensuring compliance with environmental legal regulations in both countries.

LinkedIn:   Magreth Gutiérrez | LinkedIn

Website: AAvance

A Colombian-Venezuelan financial engineer, Magreth is the CEO and founder of AAvance, a fintech company working for the financial inclusion of the Venezuelan migrant population in Colombia and Latin America. After 15 years of living in Venezuela, she returned to Colombia, understanding the challenges of financial inclusion faced by migrants and the Colombian population returning from Venezuela. AAvance was founded to generate comprehensive financial inclusion solutions that not only facilitate access to the financial system but also promote financial health and education, entrepreneurship, and socioeconomic well-being with a gender perspective for this population. Today, AAvance has impacted more than 7,500 people, 83% of whom are Venezuelan migrants and 58% are women.

LinkedIn:   Marian Gabriela Pérez | LinkedIn

Website: casarefugiados.org

She holds a degree in social communication from the Central American University of Nicaragua. She currently collaborates with Casa Refugiados in the area of Peace Education. Her work focuses on creating intercultural spaces, motivated by equitable dynamics. Her experience as a recognized refugee woman inspires her to take a critical look at the challenges of everyday life through collective actions aimed at supporting vulnerable groups in Mexican society and people displaced by violence. She generates activities influenced by peer-to-peer programs, with the goal of jointly building paths for everyday peacebuilding. Additionally, she has experience in topics related to communication and resilience building. She is currently studying Human Rights and Peace Management at the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana.

LinkedIn:   Marisol Aguilar | LinkedIn

Website: racism.mx

Marisol is an expert in human rights, international law, and studies on racism and xenophobia from various universities across the continent. She has worked as an expert consultant on women's rights, human rights, constitutional law, and security for UN Women in El Salvador and has been in charge of the Crime Prevention Program at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Mexico. She has also worked for civil society organizations on human rights, with a special focus on gender, intersectionalities, non-discrimination, and race. In the State, she worked at the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch on women's political and electoral rights and at the Human Rights Commission of the Federal District, where she conducted research on environmental and gender issues. She has specialized in structural discrimination, racism, and intersectionalities, topics she currently addresses at the Education Against Racism Organization (AC), better known as RacismoMX, where she is deputy director.

LinkedIn:   María Mérola | LinkedIn

Website: https://ashoka.org/ & https://helloworld.ashoka.org/

María is part of the Ashoka team, where she leads the Ashoka Southern Cone office and co-directs Hola Mundo, Ashoka's initiative for social innovation and migration. A Uruguayan national, she has nearly 20 years of experience in the social sector, where she has held various roles in local and regional organizations. She holds a degree in International Relations and a Master's in Public Policy from UNSAM-Georgetown University. She considers herself an agent of change and works every day to help her children, Pedro and Sofía, become change agents as well.

LinkedIn:   Patricia Mercado Sánchez | LinkedIn

Website: https://conexionmigrante.com/

Patricia has more than 25 years of experience as a journalist, having worked as a reporter, editor, and director for various media outlets. She is a Ford and John S. Knight Foundation Fellow, through which she studied at Duke University (North Carolina) and Stanford University (California).

LinkedIn:   Rafael Rincón Magro | LinkedIn

Website: www.gastronomia.social

Rafael is Spanish, but moved to Chile in 2005. He is a gastronomic social entrepreneur, service educator, and publicist. With over five years at the helm of the Social Gastronomy Foundation, his mission is to use gastronomy as a driver of social change, promoting social inclusion, food security, and environmental awareness. As director of the Foundation, he has collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to create initiatives that combat hunger and promote food education. They have expanded their training and employment system to Colombia and Bolivia. They have focused on sustainability and building a stronger, healthier community. Rafael is committed to the idea that gastronomy is a powerful tool for social transformation.

LinkedIn:   Roberto Gil Cancel | LinkedIn

Website: https://www.iom.int/

Roberto is a project manager and proposal writer, as well as a certified project development trainer, with diverse experience spanning from East Asia to Europe and from North Africa to the Americas. He has been working with migrants and members of various diaspora groups for over nine years, focusing on civil participation and migration and development. As a project manager and coordinator, Roberto has demonstrated his ability to engage with his local counterparts, as well as with ministers, legislators, municipalities, and other relevant government institutions, to conduct training activities. As a migrant and part of the Puerto Rican diaspora, Roberto plans to continue his work strengthening the positive link between migration and development, empowering migrants to be agents of socioeconomic growth.

LinkedIn:   Waleska Ureta Reeds | LinkedIn

Website: Jesuit Migrant Service

A psychologist from the University of Chile and a Master's in Government, Public Policy, and Territory from Alberto Hurtado University, Waleska has over 15 years of experience in the social field, leading intercultural and interdisciplinary teams and projects to overcome inequality and exclusion, both in Chile and other countries in the Americas. She currently serves as National Director of the Jesuit Migrant Service, a position in which she has worked on public policy advocacy and interventions in human mobility.