Nacionalidad: Colombia

Nombre de la Organización: Life Academy

Región de Impacto: South America

Sobre el Negocio Social: Life Academy is a social enterprise seeking to reduce youth suicide among ages 12 -18 through leadership workshops into the school curriculum.

Sobre el Y&Y Fellow: Maria del Pilar Aristizabal is a passionate, happy and powerful-woman who loves life. She is a graduate student of Social Communication and Journalism at the social sciences program of Universidad de Manizales, Colombia. During my university studies, she has gained considerable practical experience in the social science field, tackling diverse social phenomena. Besides, she was the president of the youth movement JUVAM, for three years, where she and her team hosted 500 young people. Her primary role as president was to coordinate the project called “Realities,” where they took students from schools to visit reformatories over a year. The goal was to destroy stereotypes, while Colombia was going through the negotiations of a peace agreement. They wanted the youngsters to understand that peace is not only the absence of war, but it comes along with the possibility of building a society together including all those living in Colombia including demobilized young people and the rest of the community. During her work experience at NGO Fundación Amigó in Spain, she gained a combination of skills in global entanglements, international cooperation and projects for development. One of the best ways to create sustainable solutions for development is entrepreneurship. She discovered this through the experience with my own enterprise ‘Life Academy’. The issues she is covering (public health & education), usually depend on the policies of the government. She created a social enterprise to make this program something that can grow no matter which political party is in power. She has continuously been aiming to reach my personal goals and exceed expectations, along the way learning many life lessons.