Alumni

USFQ Alumni Awards 2019

USFQ Alumni Awards 2020 – COMING SOON

Daniela Vilema Moreno

Daniela Vilema Moreno graduated in 2015 from the Environmental Communication Degree. She leads the Charles Darwin Foundation Marine Education Program in the Galapagos Islands in which, along with her team, she teaches children and young people about the conservation of sharks and marine ecosystems through science, experience, and exploration. She is currently a National Geographic Explorer thanks to the project she leads to change behaviors in the face of marine pollution.

“My training at USFQ taught me to challenge myself, to always keep ethics and integrity in mind, and to go further in everything I do in my professional and personal life. I am very grateful for the training I had at USFQ because, among other things, it is the only university in Ecuador (and one of the few in the world) that has a degree in Environmental Communication. I am very passionate about this career, in addition to loving nature and looking for ways to contribute to its protection, much of this passion is due to the motivation of many of the professors I had, who inspired me a lot through their classes and their experiences.“

María Cristina Gallegos Jaramillo

María Cristina Gallegos Jaramillo graduated from USFQ in 2004 with a degree in Digital Arts and Multimedia Animation with a minor in Programming and English. She has a Master's in Cultural Management from Pratt University in New York, USA. During her career at the United Nations at the international level, María Cristina worked on various social impact projects protecting the rights of girls and boys, gender equality, and people with disabilities at the national and international levels. In Ecuador, she co-founded the project of cultural exchange and social impact, Awakkuna: pro-weaving the animals of the Amazon.

“USFQ not only gave me the technical knowledge necessary for a professional career at a national and international level, but it also gave me the tools to develop my leadership in development projects, my capacity for innovation, critical thinking, resilience, and creativity to face a path of success. In life you not only need technical knowledge; you also need to know how to interact with humanity.”

Diego Falconí Trávez

Diego Falconí Trávez graduated from USFQ in 2004 in Jurisprudence and Liberal Arts with a Minor in Literature. Doctor in Theory of Literature from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where he is currently an associate professor. Writer, professor, researcher, and cultural manager on issues of literature, gender, colonialism, and human rights, branches that have allowed him to understand the importance of historically discriminated groups being able to articulate their cultural registers. In 2016 he won the Casa de las Américas Award in the Essay category, and in 2017 the literature mention Aurelio Espinosa Pólit from the Municipality of Quito. He is the author of more than twenty publications. He directs the magazine Iuris Dictio and the intertext group between Law and Literature, both from USFQ.

“USFQ taught me that education is not synonymous with a career and that to understand the cultural complexities it is essential to wander through various corridors of knowledge, knocking with respect, although sometimes with ease, the doors and bells of various branches of knowledge. The university taught me to be bold but also rigorous, to work individually but also with other people, even those with whom I do not share the same worldview. But above all, at USFQ I learned to defend my ideas and actions with arguments based on knowledge and ethics with assertiveness and seeking to avoid arrogance. I would not be who I am today if I had not passed, more than ten years ago, through those beloved corridors.”

Ana Dolores Román Aguinaga

Ana Dolores Román Aguinaga is an executive with 23 years of experience in the pharmaceutical research sector. She is a two-time USFQ graduate: in 1995 she obtained her degree in Business Administration and Marketing, and in 2001 her MBA. Its most recent and important achievement was to consolidate three countries in a cluster managed from Ecuador, ensuring an organizational model focused on excellence, operational efficiency, and productivity improvement. She is currently The General Manager of Pfizer Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

“At USFQ I learned to grow as an integral human being, I developed a thoughtful thought, supported by a robust education towards excellence and ethical principles. The liberal arts education based at USFQ contributed significantly to my openness of mind, to the development of skills, understanding that knowledge goes beyond technique, that skills must adapt to the changing environment and dynamics, to the importance of being good communicators, to the value of networking and to recognizing that resilience is necessary to be successful professionals.”

Diego Andrés Arévalo Martínez

Diego Andrés Arévalo Martínez graduated from USFQ in 2012. At the same time as he finished his studies, he set up a digital start-up that would later sell to Publicis, one of the 3 most important communication holdings in the world. After spending two years at Publicis leading the group's digital efforts for the region, Spanish unicorn Cabify chose him as the global head of strategic planning. Currently residing in Madrid, he is one of the youngest Global Heads of the Cabify company, as well as the only Ecuadorian in positions of global leadership.

“USFQ was, without a doubt, a school of life for me. From the academic quality to the friendships that were born from that period, friendships that were the seed to find honest partners, with identifiable values to mine. On the other hand, I want to attest to the mentors I met at the University, as they not only guided my first steps with relevant business advice, but were a key motivation, even when the doubts were bigger than ever. I am eternally grateful to the University because I am fortunate to have been able to train there. If I can summarize what I feel USFQ has taught me: entrepreneurship, professional ethics, self-confidence, and resilience. In short, a world-class university.”

Diego Alonso Tituaña Matang

Diego Alonso Tituaña Matango is Kichwa-Otavalo and currently serves as Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations. Since his appointment in 2014, his work has focused on issues related to human, social and cultural rights. He has led and coordinated important processes and initiatives for the benefit of indigenous peoples at the international level. He graduated with honors from USFQ in 2010, where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Communicational Design and an in International Relations. He is a Master in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Institute of Higher National Studies (IAEN).

“One of the aspects that I developed while studying at USFQ was to question everything and question myself. From this, I explored different alternatives to achieve objectives that benefit my people. I learned to set high goals that required much more of my effort to achieve. The knowledge I acquired at the university contributed to my personal development and professional training.”