Born and raised in Lima the capital of Peru, Inés was awarded a scholarship to study in France when she was 18. Being in France was very challenging at first for Inés “finding my reality between what I thought France was and what my actual experience on the ground has been”. At 15 years old she started volunteering with TECHO, an organisation seeking to overcome poverty. Inés participated in raising funds and building people’s homes in shanty towns. She was also a volunteer with Babyloan helping raise microloans for entrepreneurs in Peru. Inés has always had the heart for helping out and assisting people around the world from a very young age and also started her journey in environmental conservation through volunteering with L.O.O.P. a social enterprise raising awareness against plastic pollution. From there she has been able to continue her activism journey supported by organizations and communities around the world.

When Inés arrived in France in 2014 she wanted to continue to help the efforts back in Peru to overcome poverty and protect the environment. In 2015 she co-founded “Ensemble pour TECHO” an organisation dedicated to raise awareness on inequalities in Latin America and raise funds to support the teams on the ground. In 2019 she was selected as one of the Youth Power Panelists, a group of 12 activists from around the world helping advance towards the sustainable development goals.

Inés’s journey as a sustainability activist has taken her from Peru to France, Canada, Japan and Lebanon. Each culture, experience and opportunity has taught her through action and inspiration with the people she meets. Sharing these experiences, projects and stories allows her to pass on the experiences of the knowledge she’s gained in diverse contexts. 

She recently completed her masters in Management of International projects specialized in Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation. Although studies have been a great platform to learn and share, Inés believes action on the ground has brought her more skills and valuable tools to continue to impact people around her. Her volunteering and activism path has given her opportunities to share the topics that she is interested in with a wider audience. Recently sharing with the Global Shapers, being featured by the UN Youth Envoy or sharing in events with UN Women.

 The 24 year old activist concludes by urging other young people that “We can always be the change and it’s never too early or too late to start so we should make sure it’s a positive change.