Patricia Zanella

Patricia Zanella is the co-founder of EcoCiclo, an initiative aimed at promoting women’s reproductive justice, including increasing the accessibility of sanitary pads to women in marginalized communities.  As a women’s rights advocate and proponent for social justice and sustainability, at the age of 22, Zanella ran for congress and received almost 10,000 votes. Using online tools and low-cost strategies to mobilize support for her platform, Zanella hopes to use her firsthand experience to encourage more young women to run for office.

Her project will be centered on young women’s political participation and her online discussions will delineate the barriers to young women’s political leadership in Latin America and explore innovative ways, both online and within political party systems, to increase the participation of young women in politics.