Administrator of Tourism and Hotel Companies at the Externado University of Colombia, with specialized qualifications in computing for education, gaming-focused education, university teaching, and education’s management and social impact. Holds a Master’s degree in Education from Universidad Libre in Colombia and a Ph.D. in Tourism from the University of Girona and the University of the Balearic Islands.
In 1998, she began her tenure at the Secretaría de Educación in Bogotá, where she served as a Technology and Computer Science teacher. In 2007, she received recognition for her outstanding work by securing second place in the Best Development Experience category, an award presented by the District Mayor’s Office to honor the city’s top educators.
From 2000 to 2022, she served at the Externado University of Colombia, teaching computer science and technology courses. In 2010, she pioneered the university’s first virtual course. Additionally, in 2014, she developed and implemented the Diploma in Digital Marketing for Hotels, offered in in-person and virtual formats. Between 2011 and 2015, she conducted pedagogy classes for professors in the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Business Administration and was a member of the Board of Directors from 2017 to 2022.
In 2010, collaborating with the Foundation for Social Advancement, she successfully secured a bid to support the “Colegios Amigos del Turismo” Program initiated by the Colombian Vice Ministry of Tourism. This involved designing educational programs to teach Tourism from preschool through senior grade in public schools nationwide and providing training for teachers, students, parents, and municipal leaders.
From 2012 to 2014, with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Germany, she provided training in Information and Communications Technologies applied to tourism for the Cuban Ministry of Tourism and its affiliated entities, including Formatur.
From 2018 to 2024, she was director of the Colombia Chapter and is currently the Director for Europe of the Ibero-American Network of Science, Nature and Tourism (RECINATUR).
Since 2015, she has been associated with the GHL Hotel Chain, initially serving as a Doctoral Intern in Tourism and later as a Virtual Training Leader. In this latter role, she developed virtual courses for over 5,000 employees across 60 hotels in 11 countries throughout Latin America. Currently, she holds the position of associate researcher, which she undertakes on an ad-honorem basis. This role grants her real-time access to the Chain’s information for her research and facilitates a connection between academia and the industry, allowing for continuous knowledge transfer.
In 2019 and 2021, she worked with the Universidad Libre to construct and validate questions for the written tests presented by those interested in joining government positions in Colombia.
She completed her postdoctoral research at the University of Girona, where she received a scholarship supported by the European Union, the Ministry of Universities of Spain, and the University of Girona (María Zambrano scholarship). She is affiliated with the Department of Organization, Business Management, and Product Design and contributes to the Tourism Research Institute (INSETUR) and the Multidisciplinary Tourism Research Laboratory (LMRT).