We Have Developed Fundación Marimbea’s Gender Policy

At Marimbea, we believe profound change happens when academic knowledge meets the experience of communities and organizations working in the territories they call home.

We are grateful to Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, especially Professor Ethel Segura-Durán and Alexander Estacio M., Ph.D., who first connected us, for making this partnership possible. It marks a milestone in our development as an organization.

With the support of Karina Cabrera Rodriguez, Damaris Paola Rozo López, and Giulia Bambara, students in CIDER’s Master’s Program in Gender Studies, we carried out a rigorous, participatory process. It gave us practical tools and strengthened our ability to keep building an organization that is more thoughtful, inclusive, and true to its values. Through this collaboration, we:

Developed Marimbea’s Gender Policy with our team and the people of the Pacific region with whom we work.

Created a guide for integrating a gender perspective throughout the Marimbea Methodology, strengthening an educational approach rooted in hands-on practice, collective learning, and recognition of the knowledge held by Afro-descendant communities in Colombia’s Pacific region.

Documented our organizational experience to identify progress, lessons, opportunities, and challenges, and developed recommendations to guide our work toward greater equity.

This process helps us carry forward our mission of creating meaningful cultural immersion experiences grounded in respect, inclusion, and collective action.

Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who took part. Partnerships like this show what academia and community organizations can achieve together: change with a real and lasting impact. 🤎 We continue to learn, build, and grow as a community.