Features

For those who don’t know you, tell us a little about your background.

My name is Juliana Uribe, I am a Colombian woman who lives at the intersection of social innovation, the digital age, and international relations, as a social entrepreneur, activist and consultant. I am the CEO & Founder of Movilizatorio, a citizen engagement and social innovation Lab for Latin America. I graduated from the Master’s in Public Administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. After finishing it, I came back to Colombia to mobilize people around the peace process and the plebiscite during 2016, that was our first initiative to empower people using civic tech. During the covid 19 crisis, I led  the mobilization and communications strategy “Colombia cuida a Colombia” (Colombia Cares for Colombia), an alliance of more than 300 civil society organizations with the aim of mitigating the negative impact of COVID19.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, I was part of the Purpose Campaigns team, from where I advised on global mobilization strategies organizations such as Hewlett Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and Ikea Foundation, among others. I was also consultant for FTI Consulting and Compartamos con Colombia, and I was part of the public sector in Colombia for more than 6 years, as Marketing Director of ProColombia, where I lead the campaign “Colombia, el riesgo es que te quieras quedar” (Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay), and as Director of International Relations for the City of Bogota.

 What are you most looking forward to about reviewing Anthem Awards entries?

I am looking for the most impactful projects, tackling the most challenging issues that we are facing globally.

What does it take for a project or campaign to cause real-world change?

We can see a real world change when a project or campaign has specific achievable goals, engages communities in a sustained way, and has a clear but not divisive narrative.

How does your work at Movilizatorio support your mission?

Movilizatorio is a citizen engagement and social innovation Lab for Latin America, that is working together with organizations and vulnerable communities to empower them and tackle very challenging issues such as sustainability, human rights, peace building, miss information and polarization. I grew up in Colombia with an active war conflict, looking and witnessing how it affected people’s life and context. So, since I was little,  I remember that I wanted to work in changing that reality and helping and contributing to people’s well-being. That is my mission, and with Movilizatorio I am working on it.

Bonus: What’s your favorite purpose-driven project or mission-driven campaign right now, and why?

My favorite purpose-driven project/campaign is “Black Lives Matter”, which is a movement that has allowed progress in positioning the importance of inclusion and diversity, and how to break gaps in powerful environments in the USA. It has been a movement where people, companies and social organizations are participating. It is my favorite because it shows how a sustained effort of diverse organizations and people can really achieve a systemic change over time.