Colombia. Mississippi. Switzerland. Vancouver. Abu Dhabi. I've spent much of my life arriving somewhere new, usually in a different language. I was born in Colombia during a period of conflict, learned English after my family resettled in Mississippi, and learned German during a year in Switzerland on a Rotary Youth Exchange. Canada is the country I call home, and where my core values were shaped.
That work has crossed boundaries of every kind: founding IdeasXChange, a youth civic initiative in Vancouver; advancing inclusive governance with the United Nations in Colombia and at Global Affairs Canada; and working on climate and biodiversity finance at the World Bank's Global Environment Facility, including field work in Small Island Developing States in the Pacific and Caribbean.
Along the way I went back to school, got an MPA at Harvard Kennedy School thanks to a Rotary scholarship, and cross-registered at MIT. That's where governance, climate, and technology came together for me.
Today I'm in Abu Dhabi, at the world's first AI research university, leading its global engagements and the activation of a World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Why now? Because I'm fascinated and concerned by one question: how do we as a society navigate a technological shift this profound without leaving people behind, while protecting the fragile planet we all call home? The problems I care about don't sit in separate boxes: economic mobility, social cohesion, and the health of our planet are all interconnected - and ensuring technology delivers for all matters now more than ever.
Notable Recognitions
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Canadian Public Service Award of Excellence for his advocacy contributions at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (GAC). Presented by the Clerk of the Privy Council, this award recognizes outstanding achievements by Canadian public servants.
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Speaker and Moderator in New York alongside the UN General Assembly at the Priority Summit, hosted by the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute.
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Speaker at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland alongside Global Shapers from the Ukraine, Switzerland, Australia, the Managing Director of the WEF, and the former Editorial Director of BBC News. Topic: Tackling Youth Mistrust.
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Co-presented the findings of the world’s first Youth-Driven Recovery report at Davos, as co-chair of this initiative which reached 2 million people and compiled 40 policy recommendations informed by the hopes and insights of young people in over 150 countries through dialogues and surveys.
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Global profile by the World Economic Forum and Global Shaper panelist on a WEF & Quartz Panel on The Future of Capitalism: A Youth Perspective.
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Co-Founder of the Reimagine Society Initiative with Alexis Taylor.
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Apolitical Insider Fellow, COVID-19 edition. Check out his piece “We must use the momentum from Covid-19 to reimagine government.”