María Esther Tolentino-Estrada

Esther Tolentino is a student of International Relations at the University of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. She is interested in social transformation and learning from diverse social contexts, to generate systemic changes. Since she was a child, she has been involved in social causes, which led her to found the "Por un Sueño" initiative in 2016, whose purpose is to promote the perspective and participation of young people to fulfill their community dreams, through contextualizing their Human Rights, social innovation and community support. She has alliances with organizations such as with UNHCR, the Secretariat of Citizen Participation of Nuevo León and municipal governments and educational institutions. In 2020 she entered UDEM, where she participated in the "Form to Transform" program. In this program, she has had training as a changemaker. She coordinated student groups from 2019 to 2021, creating new strategies to implement workshops during the pandemic. During high school, she volunteered in the NGO “Educación y Formación Ohana A.C.”, promoting accompaniment processes with children in vulnerable situations. In 2021, she was recognized by being selected for the “Leaders Generation 2030” program, promoted by the United Nations Population Fund, as well as receiving Alfa Foundation 2021 award, and the Millennium Fellowship 2022 program.