2020
Felipe Ochoa Mogrovejo
- Age: 31
- | He/him/his
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We need to pursue gender equality in order to make this world more human and livable. If my mother, my cousins, my aunts, and my women colleagues and bosses would have had the opportunities I have had as a man, I can assure you this world would have already changed.
- Felipe Ochoa Mogrovejo
Bio
Felipe Ochoa Mogrovejo was born and raised in Ecuador. He received a Master in International Relations from Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals. Felipe was appointed as the first Undersecretary for Diversities of Ecuador’s Government and also held the position of Undersecretary for Human Rights between June 2021 and April 2022. In these responsibilities, he had the opportunity to prepare two National Public Policies: 1) The Diversities’ Action Plan for LGBTIQ+ population; and 2) The public policy of social rehabilitation for in-prisoned people.
Felipe is also Director of Diversity at Aequintas Foundation. In this position, he programs and plans the diversity program for the organization, delivers executive reports on the LGBTIQA+ situation in Ecuador and Latin America, and connects national and international networks to implement partnerships.
What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?
When I was 20 years old, I was a student who barely knew about gender topics. I was impacted by the story of a close friend who was molested by her professor in class. He argued that all she wanted was to have sex with him. The impotence, lack of protocols, and normalization of violence inspired me, my friend, who was the survivor of this violence, and 10 other students to create an association that would organize a forum for the visualization of gender violence. Aequitas Association is still alive, and it is currently working on gender-related topics focusing on LGBTIQ rights and safe abortion policies in Ecuador.
Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.
In 2012, I co-founded the Aequitas Association for gender equality where I am currently volunteering as the Director of Diversity. I had the responsibility to prepare annual short-term courses, fundraising events, and conferences related to the prevention and visualization of gender violence, improving the knowledge of new masculinities and empowering girls and women. Our work in this organization let me the opportunity to work as the first Undersecretary for Diversities and also held the positition as Undersecretary for Human Rights in the Ecuador's Secretariat of Human Rights.
Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?
I love to read novels and literature. I also write some academic articles on the field of higher education policies. I like to swim.
Languages Spoken:
- English (Advanced/Native)
- Spanish (Advanced/Native)
- Catalan (Elementary)
- Spanish (Advanced/Native)
Publications:
- El claroscuro de la universidad ecuatoriana: los desafíos en contextos de la pandemia de COVID-19
- Norms and Ideas Diffusion of Higher Education: Mercosur-Argentina influencing Ecuador’s Reforms on Accreditation and Quality Assurance
- Estudio Paralelo de las Enseñanzas de la Escuela de las Américas y las Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en las Dictaduras
- Women Are Overreacting
Past Awards, Certifications, or Fellowships:
- One Young World Scholar (2021)
