Latin America is facing a crisis in the low levels of support and social legitimacy for political parties and public institutions across the region. However, NED grantees are working to bridge the gap between citizens and politics by helping new actors access institutional processes.
Join us on November 2 for a discussion with grantees on how civil society is helping emerging voices, especially youth, engage in politics, join the ranks of the public sector, and strengthen democracy. Their involvement is challenging conventional ideas about democratic processes and the role of civil society.
Featuring:
Pablo Collada
Executive Director, Fundación Ciudadano Inteligente
Antonella Perini
Director, Asuntos del Sur’s Political Innovation Academy
Valeria Scorza
Director, Fundación Avina Americas
moderated by
Enrique Bravo-Escobar
Program Officer, National Endowment for Democracy
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Pablo Collada is the Executive Director of Fundación Ciudadano Inteligente (Smart Citizen Foundation), a nonprofit organization based in Chile that promotes democratic strengthening in Latin America through the design and implementation of participation models that integrate civic technology, transparency and public innovation. Pablo is a Mexican sociologist that has worked for the past 14 years in the Social Development sector mainly in education, youth and community organization projects either in the public sector or the civil society arena. His previous work includes being head of research Area for the CityLab initiative in Mexico City, where he was part of the development of the Open Government Platform. He also led the creation of regional networks promoted by international agencies such as UN-Habitat to promote local government observatories, and the development and implementation of digital tools for youth participation in the Mexican context.
Antonella Perini is research associate at Asuntos del Sur, a nonprofit organization based in Argentina that seeks to generate ideas and actions to promote more inclusive and participatory democracies in Latin America. She is the coordinator of the Political Innovation Academy, an online platform with training programs for political and social leaders that focus on the demands and technological capabilities of the digital age. She holds a degree in International Relations from University of San Andrés (Argentina) and a Master’s Degree in International Relations Europe – Latin America from University of Bologna. She is member of the Political Innovation Network in Latin America, the Youth Observatory – an Internet Society Special Interest Group – and the Noncommercial Users Constituency at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Valeria Scorza is the Director of the Political Innovation Program at Fundación Avina, a Latin American foundationcreated in 1994 and focused on producing large-scale changes necessary for sustainable development by fostering collaborative processes among leaders from different sectors, thereby contributing toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Valeria leads Conexiones Latinoamericanas de Innovación Política (Latin American Connections of Political Innovation, or CLIP), an initiative to foster inclusive democratic practices – at the local, national, or regional level – among political actors. Prior to joining Avina in 2015, Valeria was deputy director for Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC), a non-governmental organization that promotes labor, land and territory rights in Latin America. Valeria also worked at the International Center for Transitional Justice and Amnesty International in New York City, and participated in the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Scorza holds a BA Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico, as well as a master’s degree in International Relations from Columbia University, New York City. She serves at the International Advisory Board of the Business and Human Rights Center.
- All cameras and media must register with NED public affairs.
- Please email press@ned.org to register as a member of the press.
