Cruz Helena Valencia Moreno
Coordinator of gender and inclusion, Centro De Innovación Del Pacifico; Co-founder, Innovation Girls
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![B&W Picture of Cruz Helena Valencia Moreno against an orange graphic background.](https://www.fordfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/fgf-c2-cruzhelenavalenciamoreno.jpg?w=600&h=600&crop=1)
“Girls and women in Colombia’s Pacific region must be empowered to take on leadership roles and have access to education.”
Cruz Helena Valencia Moreno is passionate about public service, and female and community empowerment. She co-founded and coordinates the Innovation Girls program that seeks to empower women through robotics, science and technology with a leadership, entrepreneurship and empowerment component, promoting the closing of gender gaps in Colombia’s Pacific region. She was the operations ambassador for Mentors 4U Colombia, and was co-founder & CEO of Quibdó Leadership Academy. Helena was a Martin Luther King Fellow, SUSI Fellow (studying at US Institute for Afro-descendant and Indigenous Women’s Leaders at the University of Arizona), Origin Fellow, Foundation mi sangre Fellow, Dale Pacifico 2020 Leader, and a One Young World Ambassador. Her main goal is to promote spaces for female empowerment and promote the closing of gender inequality gaps in the Colombian Pacific region.
Vision: Communities must be empowered to create solutions for their own issues, which requires giving voice to those that historically have not been heard or allowed to speak. Through collaborative work, we can realize a diverse and inclusive society that finally puts marginalized people in leadership roles, especially women and girls.