Ambassador: Felipe Calvo Cepeda , Colombia
Felipe co-founded Fundación Aspirantes in 2010, with the aim of increasing access to higher education for underprivileged young people in Colombia. Fundación Aspirantes has a network of more than 16,000 people, with 100 people having enrolled in the programme over the past year. The foundation helps individuals to develop their emotional and social skills, as well as their academic capabilities. Fundación Aspirantes focuses on teaching academic skills in preparation for college, with a curriculum covering mathematics, critical reading, social sciences, natural sciences and abstract reasoning. Students are also given socioemotional training to develop their soft skills through activities such as community service, art projects and other extracurriculars.
Due to the visibility provided at the One Young World 2017 Bogotá Summit, Fundación Aspirantes was profiled by a range of media and news outlets within Colombia. As a result of this, more than 500 young people reached out and expressed interest in enrolling in their college preparation programme. Felipe and his team have partnered with other social enterprises to design the syllabus of a course for the reintegration of ex-combatants in order to boost their academic skills and help them access higher education.
Felipe also joined forces with other Colombian One Young World Ambassadors to design Lidera el Cambio, a new platform to inspire, boost and connect initiatives of emerging leaders in Colombia.