Beliza Coro Guairacaja (35 years old), Kichwa Puruwa indigenous woman from Ecuador, was the first indigenous woman from her community to graduate as a lawyer and for just over a year, after a long journey that has taken her to move around half the world , is head of Digital Inclusion Policies at Telefónica Hispam (the Latin American unit of the Telefónica Group).
This interview took place at the end of November in Madrid, where he traveled to defend his doctoral thesis, with the title Human development of indigenous women in Latin America. An intersectional look at the human rights of indigenous women in Ecuador at the Carlos III University, completed with the highest score: outstanding cum laude. “I have been the first Kichwa indigenous woman to obtain a doctorate in this specific program, but I have not felt alone. Along with the love and support of the teachers present at the event, I felt that my ancestors and all those indigenous women who, like my grandmother, never had access to formal education were with me spiritually,” she says, remembering the intense emotions of the previous day. .
Coro, who is inspired by Michelle Obama and the Ecuadorian indigenous leaders Dolores Cacuango and Tránsito Amaguaña, was born into a family in a bad economic situation and had to work from a young age, selling fruit and vegetables in several cities in her country. She came to live on the streets, vulnerable and exposed to violence. “At that time I was a beneficiary of the Telefónica Proniño program, the point where everything originated.” A program, which as she herself explains, was created in the nineties by the telecommunications company with the aim of contributing to the progressive eradication of child labor in Latin America, providing access to education and technology. “So, even though society wanted me to feel the guilt of being born a woman, indigenous, in poverty and in a country with fewer opportunities than others, I understood that there was a path for me,” she remembers. A path, she says, full of “discipline and pursuit of excellence. Not of perfection, but of excellence,” she emphasizes.
Today, from her workplace in Quito, Coro's goal is to close gender gaps in the field of new technologies and promote initiatives that involve more indigenous people, helping them reach leadership roles, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. in the region. Coro is also a cultural ambassador for her own indigenous community, and wears typical clothing daily. “I want it to be understood that diversity is a gift. I would like no indigenous girl to feel what I felt as a child. I would like to be able to show them that being a woman and indigenous is a great luck, and that these plural identities can be valued in spaces of national and international relevance.”
Coro graduated in Law from the San Francisco de Quito University to be able to practice as a lawyer. Later, she received specialization studies and professional training in the United States, in England, Israel and Spain: a path conquered, scholarship after scholarship. After the Proniño program and law studies in Ecuador, Coro began her career at Telefónica as an intern in the South American country in 2011 and, since that moment, she has grown in the company to the position she holds today.
When asked what the future holds, Coro is committed to continuing to create impact and opening new spaces. “In Ecuador, and not only there, there are still many girls, indigenous and non-indigenous, who society tries to make feel the guilt of being born women, diverse and with fewer opportunities.”
Although he always has his sights set on new challenges, Coro believes that now, after obtaining his doctorate, it is time to be with his loved ones. “I am going to dedicate more time to my family, to my son Luis Alejandro, born during the doctorate, and to my life partner Geovanny,” he comments, confessing that the conciliation has not been easy. And he places special emphasis on the role of his partner, “a man who emanates this positive masculinity that is still not very common, especially in Latin America,” she points out. “He has always been there supporting me, believing in me and repeating to me: 'Beliza, you can do it.'
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