Maria graduated from la Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia in 2021 with a Master’s degree in Economics of Public Policies and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations  in 2021. During her time in school, she focused her studies on the intersection of gender with religion and conflict resolution in the Middle East. 

She was a Gender Advisor for the Territorial Renewal Agency, a government institution in charge of coordinating the intervention of national and territorial entities in rural areas affected by the Colombian conflict. In this role, Maria created a methodology to provide technical assistance in a gendered approach, especially in education and childhood and food security. This opportunity allowed her to travel the country to towns affected by the conflict to give the local government, the private sector, and schools tools to prevent violence against women and promote STEM careers in young women.

Maria’s international experiences include a year studying Hebrew and Judaism in Israel and in Brazil learning advanced Portuguese at the University of Brasilia. Additionally, Maria was a student at the Youth Symphony of Colombia for 12 years studying piano.

Why GHD?

Because it's the ideal master to build an integral path in your professional career in development and also a space in which you can grow as a person, being surrounded by amazing people.

Summer Internship

I spent my summer in Tanzania with Oxford Policy Management working around Early Childhood Education, nutrition, and monitoring and evaluation. My classes with Professor Tiongoson in STATA helped me strengthen my knowledge of quantitative research and my certificates in Women, Peace, and Security enforced my technical knowledge of gender and gave me tools for my fieldwork in some schools in Tanzania. One of my highlights is the opportunity I had to travel around some small villages to understand the Tanzanian education system and do surveys with the consultants to some professors. I also had the pleasure of meeting a lot of OPM staff from other offices around the world who have amazing projects that in the future I would love to work on and finally travel to different cities around the country like Arusha, doing a safari in Kenia and going to the beautiful island of Zanzibar.