Personal Changes in our Country Program of Colombia

Strengthening of our Foundation Board and our Local Committee in Colombia as well as change of the President of that Local Committee

 

Over the last few weeks, we had some changes in our country program of Colombia.

First, we are delighted to report that we were able to strengthen our team with two new members who not only have a superb qualification but also have been attached to our foundation for many years:

On the one hand, Christian Egli was elected as new member of our Foundation Board.

Christian studied International Affairs and Governance at the University of St. Gallen and graduated with a thesis that was awarded the Latin America Prize in 2009. In his thesis «A way from precarious conditions to academic elite: Granting of scholarships by private foundations in Latin America» he also analyzed the work of our foundation in Colombia.

He started his professional career by working at the Swiss Embassy in Colombia and Uruguay for many years. Today, Christian works at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, Berne.

His life partner, with whom he travels to Colombia regularly, is Colombian. Hence, he knows this country very well. Christian will join Ivan Adamovich in the team to run our country program of Colombia.

On the other hand, we are also happy to announce that Jorge Gonzalo Tabares Mesa was elected as a new member of our Local Committee in Colombia.

After his studies in Medellín as well as post graduate studies in the USA and Belgium, Jorge was instrumental in shaping some of the activities of EAFIT, our partner university in Medellín. Among others, he founded the Center of Postgraduate Studies and the Institute for Languages, and, finally, was active as a Director for Traineeships where he was able to establish valuable contacts to the local industries.

Ever since the start of our activities in Colombia, Jorge always accompanied our local committee with supporting work, much dedication and passion. In this role, he was always seen as a valuable mentor for our scholarship holders.

Finally, we herewith announce that Dr. Alirio Jaramillo, the long-time president of our Local Committee in Colombia, has decided to step back from this job due to health issues.

Alirio successfully developed our program in Colombia into a role model due to his charisma, his leadership and vision, as well as his endless dedication and passion. We, as members of the Foundation Board, as well as many generations of scholarships holders and alumni owe Alirio our utmost respect and gratitude for his work, and we all are delighted that he has decided to remain in our Local Committee as a member.

Following his recommendation, Norckzia Ortiz de Navarro has become the new president of our Local Committee in Colombia as of May 1, 2020.

Norckzia is an intimate connoisseur of our foundation and has always been the right hand to Alirio. In this duty she was responsible for fostering and mentoring of our Scholarship holders. Furthermore, she is a graduate in Business Administration of EAFIT and is very well connected to our partner university.

We are, indeed, very happy that we can continue our work with such a committed and dynamic person such as Norckzia, a factor that is not only important to grant continuity but also to tackle the challenges that we are all facing with the current corona crisis.

The Foundation Board thanks every one of you for your dedicated work for our foundation, and wishes you all only the best, much success as well as satisfaction and, finally, lots of luck!