Ms. Lucia Marroquín Mendoza has been chosen as the Change Agent of the Year 2020. She has been working in a broad spectrum of sustainable activities, including environment, corporate social responsibility and projects supporting vulnerable groups.

Hi Lucia Marroquín Mendoza! Congratulations to the award, how do you feel? 

I feel good, healthy, with work, eager to continue working for a better world. I believe that this Pandemic is leaving us great lessons and teachings, despite everything. What moves me the most is that we are letting our mother Earth breathe for a moment. It deserves this moment of reflection on our part, and for us, to reconsider the path we have taken as Humanity.

Can you tell us about your organisation?

I have an environmental legal consultancy that develops projects, courses, monitoring of environmental projects for investors who want to develop projects or works. It is supported by strategic alliances with experts in various areas: Legal area, water treatment, control of atmospheric pollution, solar energy, biodiversity, participatory planning for local ecological systems, natural protected areas, etc. The consultancy was founded after the Life Academy Course since 2001 and it is made up of approximately 10 alliances. My husband and I have headed it ever since. Both of us used to work for the federal government before this.

Since then we have worked fot public and private sector, that is, for Municipalities and for business sector.

The idea with the companies that we advise is to guide them not only to seek environmental certifications, but also seek to be socially responsible. For this we guide them by giving support to other types of projects with socially vulnerable groups such as helping institutions that help street children and dog shelters, in addition to reforesting in sites of water recharge of importance for our entity, with producers who are really stakeholders to ensure the survival of the plantations.

We also give advice to graduates of related environmental careers from various universities, from the environmental area (engineering, ecology, biology, etc.). They have provided their social service with us for 12 years. We give them guidance, technical preparation and develop environmental projects with us, which they reproduce in their communities of origin.

You will be awarded with USD 1 000. Do you have any idea what the money will be used for?

First of all thanks a lot for thinking of me as support for this project!

I think I would invest it to continue in the project of valuation of biodiversity in our Parks and Gardens, which we are currently doing, specifically, to carry out the Avifaunistic and Environmental Education Guides in park named El Ameyal and also for environmental signage in that Park as well as writing some articles in local reviews.

I would use this material to continue with the same project in other Parks, in terms of environmental education

You were a participant of the LIFE Academy training program on Local Environmental Management 1998. What knowledge and experiences did you bring from this program?

After the Life Academy Course in Karlstad Sweden and in Bali Indonesia, I changed my perception of the world completely, it was a before and an after. As a woman, I felt empowered, as a professional this experience gave me light to provide guidance with a character of environmental sustainability and human rights. It has been perhaps the most important experience in my life in professional terms. It gave me the knowledge and strength and drive to move forward with a more humane and sustainable approach.

What is your driving force?

The force that drives me to move forward are my son and daughter, in general our Youth, fighting to leave them a better world, giving a message of Hope .

My gratitude, admiration and respect for the members of Life Academy!

I take this opportunity to send you a New Year’s message hoping you have a year of renewed energy, enthusiasm, health and human encounter.

General Information about Change Agents

A Change Agent is a person, trained by LIFE Academy to act for a sustainable development in their organization and country. There are more than one thousand LIFE Academy Change Agents in 80 countries all over the world that are part of the LIFE Academy global network.

The change agents create true value for their organisations and they have their focus on making changes that are sustainable, with a holistic approach taking both the environment, social and economic issues in consideration.

In the work for our common sustainable future it is very important with role models that can inspire more people to take action for sustainable solutions. To encourage our role models, the change agents in our network, we award a Change Agent of the Year. In 2015, Ms. Fasika Minde was selected as the Change Agent of the year, in 2016, it was Dr. P. Kanagavel that secured the honor and in 2018 Ms. Jackie Namakula received the award. In 2019 Ms. Margaret Mutsamvi was chosen Change Agent of the Year.