Geneva Peace Week 2021: Prevention of Violence Against Children in the School Environment
First, I worked at different levels to better understand a range of stakeholders’ perspectives.
In particular, I worked daily with highly disadvantaged children in Mexico, Montenegro, and India, which taught me a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. It also gave me first-hand insight into the many forms of exclusion and discrimination children face. These formative experiences continue to drive my commitment to results.
Second, I chose to specialize in violence prevention, earning a PhD from University College London (UCL). I joined the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through the Young Professionals Program and was promoted to a staff position in under six months—significantly ahead of the standard two-year timeline. Within the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE), I served as a lead evaluator for citizen security projects across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Evaluations: Implementation Challenge Lessons | IDB Response to Citizen Security
Next, I joined the World Bank to implement my PhD research on mainstreaming violence prevention into the development agenda. After leading violence prevention initiatives in Latin America and at the global level, I joined the Education Global Practice to institutionalize these efforts within education systems worldwide. Within one year, I built a platform to accelerate this work, resulting in school-based violence prevention becoming one of the top five priorities for the World Bank’s education sector.
Evaluations: World Bank Profile | Publication
Seeking greater global impact, I transitioned from the World Bank to the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children. As Director of the Safe to Learn Coalition, I united 14 major organizations in education, child protection, and health to make school violence a priority in education systems. I spearheaded an ambitious, accelerated strategy [link] to establish safe learning environments as a fundamental precondition for quality education.
Evaluations: Safe to Learn Strategy (2021–2024)
Currently, I partner with decision makers at the national and local levels to scale up smart, sustainable violence prevention initiatives. I am heavily invested in training a new generation of professionals to foster positive peace, starting with building resilience in children to create lasting, systemic change.