Irene Platarrueda

B.A. in Socio Cultural Anthropology from the National University of Colombia.

Since she was just a little girl Irene had the opportunity to live in the Colombian amazon forest where her mother worked with indigenous communities. A couple of years later her family moved to Guatemala where she grew up surrounded by the magical landscape or the Mayan highlands and the beautiful Lake Atitlan. In Guatemala she discovered that there were different ways of living and understanding our world and that the real richness of our planet relies on the diversity of these views.

Back in Colombia Irene studied anthropology, during her studies she had the opportunity to travel within her country, which few people can do. She explored from the Caribbean to the Andes. Walking those roads Irene met beautiful people who taught her that working with her hands and using her thoughts in a positive way were powerful tools against injustice, especially in countries like Guatemala or Colombia were civil wars have had such a deep impact on society.

Irene has worked with the United Nations Development Program in the peace building process that the Colombian government is promoting. She has also worked with different indigenous communities and with women organizations. Her interests are related to community and sustainable development, which is why she has grown to specialize in facilitating processes of planning and communitarian construction of networks and associations with the goal of empowering them to find local and sustainable answers to the problems that affect their rights.

Irene is a passionate dancer, so it’s not surprising to find her dancing on her own in a wide range of places!