Nathalia Contreras Pardo

Sponsoring Rotary District: 4281
Worked in: Colombia, United States, Philippines
Degrees from: Universidad de los Andes and University of Notre Dame
Future plans: "Upon finishing my fellowship and masters program, I will collaborate with governments and civil society organizations to strengthen programs and policies that, simultaneously, address past atrocities and pursue development goals in fragile contexts."

Ms. Contreras Pardo received her bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences (2008) and Law (2009) from Universidad de los Andes, and her Master in Law degree (cum laude) from University of Notre Dame (2016). Her professional experience includes teaching assistance and lecturer on human rights and constitutional law at Universidad de Los Andes Law School, and public policy adviser for the advocacy of subjects such as transitional justice, reconciliation and political participation. Furthermore, between 2012 and 2015, she worked as researcher at the National Center for Historical Memory and at the International Organization for Migrations on initiatives related to the right to truth, justice, reparations, guarantees of non-recurrence and reconciliation.

More recently, she joint the Barometer Project conducted by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies of the University of Notre Dame. By mandate of the Colombian Peace Accord, the Barometer provides technical support to the parties (Government, FARC and international actors) to, continuously, improve the quality of the implementation of the Accord. There, as a senior researcher, she monitored the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms, victims´ rights and legal reforms. Before being awarded a Rotary Peace Fellowship, she worked as a specialized attorney at the Appeals Chamber of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.

Through the Global Studies Master’s program (UNC), Ms. Contreras Pardo hopes to gain the necessary tools to ensure peacebuilding initiatives are more robust and effective. Particularly, to design a model that identifies the challenges that arise from, simultaneously, addressing past atrocities and pursuing development goals, as well as, to formulate measures to overcome those. In addition to her career goals, she has volunteered with non-profit organizations in Colombia, such as Techo, which builds housing solutions for vulnerable families, and with animal protection projects.