María José Casaubon's professional expertise includes international institutional relations, business development, and project development. Since 2018, she has been employed at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she is responsible for seeking strategic partners and foreign funding opportunities to develop collaborative projects in educational and international initiatives.  María José holds a master’s degree in business management from Adolfo Ibáñez University. During her time there, she developed a keen interest in global learning. This led her to join AISEC, a global platform run by students and recent graduates to promote youth leadership and intercultural understanding.  

María José firmly believes that all people should be able to develop themselves professionally and personally regardless of their background. Thus, she advocates for equal opportunities and equal access to international initiatives, which helps to develop greater intercultural sensitivity throughout the world. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Support for Equity and Decentralization of Female Entrepreneurship in STEAM in Chile

Through a series of seven virtual workshops, this project provided tools to support entrepreneurial women in Chile in starting in a new business in a STEAM field. The project addressed a need identified by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), which found that only 27.6% of innovation initiatives are led by women. Additionally, few universities teach their STEAM students how to start a business. The training modules covered topics such as business models, intellectual property, development of minimum viable products (MVP) and the importance of diverse teams. A total of 55 women chosen from diverse academic backgrounds and various regions of Chile participated in the project. The training content remained available online for future reference after the workshops.

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Maria José participated in the IVLP Project: A Global Moment in Time: Reflections on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, organized by the U.S. Department of State and Meridian International Center, in partnership with Colorado Springs World Affairs Council, Global Ties Detroit, WorldBoston, WorldChicago, Cleveland Council on World Affairs, Global Ties Kalamazoo, International Citizen Diplomacy of Los Angeles, Global Minnesota, WorldOrlando, Global Ties Arizona, WorldOregon and Global Ties San Francisco.

Maria José's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "My IVLP experience surpassed all the expectations I had before the program started. I had the pleasure of meeting incredible people doing incredible things around the world from different disciplines and in different aspects. However, they had one goal in common: to make a better world for every person."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually

Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Washington, DC; Orlando, FL; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; Kalamazoo, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Cleveland, OH; Portland, OR

Country: Chile

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