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On April 8th, 2021 the Juanfe Foundation held the seventh version of Women Working for the World, one of the largest and most important conferences on gender issues and sustainable social development in Latin America. For the first time in nine years, it was 100 percent virtual and free!

Its primary aims are to: (1) contribute and generate knowledge, (2) raise awareness about gender issues, (3) make these issues a priority on the national public agenda, (4) identify best practices, encourage the exchange of experiences and propose solutions, and (5) involve civil society.

More than 20 world-class leaders participated. Among them: Agnes Binagwaho, former Minister of Health of Rwanda, who played a key role in the reconstruction of the country after the 1994 genocide; Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen, who has been tackling poverty for more than three decades; Julieta Martínez, “the Chilean Greta Thunberg”, founder of Tremendas, an action platform that makes visible and connects thousands of girls, adolescents and young women to support social causes using their talents; and Pat Mitchell, renowned media executive and co-founder, curator, and host of TEDWomen.

Also, in “20 years of stories and dreams”, Catalina Escobar, founder and president of the Juanfe Foundation, along with Gisela Porras, president of the Voces Vitales Panamá Foundation, and Bárbara Etcheberry, executive director of the Soymás Foundation, reflected on teenage pregnancy and why it is closely related with poverty and lack of opportunities in Latin America. In addition, four adolescent mothers, two Colombians, one Panamanian and one Chilean, shared their stories of success.

Women Working for the World was organized by the Juanfe Foundation, together with Acesco, Bancolombia, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá (CCB), Coosalud, Deloitte, Enel, Esenttia, Ésika, Grupo Energía de Bogotá (GEB) – Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), Positiva, Terpel, Uber and Weissberg Foundation.