AIESEC International
Ana was born in 1988 in Medellín, Colombia. Having grown up in that period of Colombia’s history, she realized not everyone had equal opportunities. Wishing to change that, she became a volunteer at the age of nine. In 2004, Ana’s cousin Alejandro was born with brain paralysis with over 92% damage. Her desire to enable him and more disabled people to have a more independent life led to her becoming a Product Design Engineer at EAFIT University.
Academics alone didn’t satisfy Ana’s drive for purpose, so in 2009 she began volunteering for AIESEC, a leadership development organisation that would change her life. After having obtained bachelor’s degree in engineering in 2012, she began working full-time for AIESEC. In 2013, she was elected President of AIESEC in Colombia 2013-2014, leading an organisation with +3000 members. During her tenure, AIESEC brought over 1200 international volunteers, teachers and interns to Colombia to work on projects that support growth and development of Colombian youth and organisations, and sent over 1500 Colombians abroad to do the same. Due to this legacy AIESEC in Colombia was recognised globally and won numerous awards, including the ING Global Achievement Award and the IAVE award for Best Youth Volunteer Organisation in the country during 2013.
Currently, Ana is the global President of AIESEC International with headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She is the first Latin-American woman to ever hold this position in the history of AIESEC and the final responsible to lead the global strategy, the operations and the leadership body of the organization in +124 countries and territories and with +70.000 members.