Lidera El Cambio

Maria Paula Macias , Colombia

Maria founded Lidera El Cambio alongside 15 other One Young World Ambassadors following the 2017 Bogotá Summit. Lidera El Cambio is a leadership development platform for young Colombians to come together and work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2018 Lidera El Cambio conference had 300 attendees from across Colombia, with 40 speakers and panellists sharing their expertise with the delegation over two days. Participants also attended 10 practical workshops lead by top non profit organisations, public institutions and corporations.

More than 700 people applied to attend the conference, of which 300 were selected. Lidera El Cambio, which means ‘Lead the Change’, helped to support ambitious young people eager to drive social change to connect with each other and further increase their impact. The event was held at the Universidad El Bosque in north Bogotá, and covered topics including gender equality, eradicating poverty, education and health. Lidera el Cambio attendees formed a community, thus leading to the establishment of the National Network of Young Colombian Leaders for the SDGs.

After attending One Young World 2017 Bogotá, these Ambassadors were so inspired by the event that they wanted to recreate a similar forum for young people across Colombia to be similarly inspired to start their own social action projects.