Name Maria Espindola | ||
Maria Claudia Espíndola Scarpetta (born September 8, 1950) is an educator from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Espindola is known for her studies, researches and publications as well as for her extensive experience in education and social issues.
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Career
Espindola designed and coordinated the Masters Program in Adult Education with emphasis on Development of Vulnerable Communities at the University of San Buenaventura in Cali and Bogota between 1983 and 1987. This program was well-received, with much demand among the student body, inter alia, due to her experience as Chief of Division assessment of the Ministry of Education between 1978 and 1982.
She was a professor at the Universidad del Rosario where she designed the Citizen Participation Program for Fiscal Control, which was funded by the United Nations. She was the Senior Adviser to the Colombian President, Virgilio Barco on social issues and peace processes 1987-1992.
Espindola was the Senior Adviser to the President of the Colombian Red Cross (CRC), Guillermo Rueda Montaña from 1994-2000. During her time at the Red Cross she designed and directed the Vulnerable Community Program of the CRC, which was very well received by the media. She also represented the Red Cross at the International Welfare Conference, which took place in Jerusalem in 1999. The paper that she presented was titled "Development of Vulnerable Communities" and was selected to be presented before the Ministers of State and Presidents of the main universities that attended the conference.
She represented COLCIENCIAS (The Colombian Agency for Science and Technology Development) at the CESU (Consejo de Política de Educación Superior, literally "Committee on the Politics of Higher Education") - from 2003 to 2005, during which Espindola worked as Senior Advisor to the Director General of COLCIENCIAS.
She has been an editorial columnist of the newspaper El Tiempo and regional newspapers, and a consultant for several organizations. She lived in Washington, DC time in which she strengthened her professional network.
During 2009, she worked as strategic advisor for the Prospective, Innovation and Knowledge Management Institute with the Project "Cali 500 años, Visión 2036 at Valle University. In 2010, the Valle University’s President named her as his senior advisor.
In 2011, she joined the cabinet of Governor Francisco José Lourido as Director of Casa del Valle in Bogotá representing the Valle Department in the capital city. During her mandate, she was elected by her peers to lead the network of department delegates in Bogotá.
Currently, she works as a consultant on development issues.
Mrs. Espíndola is an active member of several think-tanks such as the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C.
Personal life
Espindola is the daughter of an Ecuadorian father and a Colombian mother, and was born in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, on September 8, 1950. She has one son, Luis Felipe Ruiz Espindola.