My Journey

My name is Maria de los Angeles and I was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, capital city of Honduras. I lived with my brother and two cousins in my grandmother’s house, since my parents got divorced and couldn’t raise us due to medical problems that my mother experienced. Although I was born into a middle class family, I was always sensitive to social injustice and poverty. I have been actively involved and have participated in youth activities and skill building empowering them to be more active citizens. A mayor challenge in my community, especially in young women, is the low participation levels of youth in decision making process. Due to traditions in some rural areas in my country, young girls are limited their participation and education, reducing their possibilities of personal and professional growth. I’ve had several leadership positions in my professional career and I would like for more young girls and women to continue their studies and occupy more leadership roles. As young women and professionals, we are still facing challenges with gender discriminations at the work place, government and family. I would like to learn the medias, mechanisms and tools available to reach out to all young girls and women in urban and rural areas in order to empower them to become more active citizens and agents of change of their communities.