Community
Leonardo Párraga Gutiérrez is a Colombian peacebuilder and activist for the meaningful inclusion of young people in decision-making, particularly in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and reconciliation processes. In 2013, he co-founded the BogotArt Foundation, a youth organization with the goal of promoting a more democratic art world and greater understanding through different perspectives and diversity. His work in peacebuilding led him to co-create the Letters for Reconciliation initiative, which aims to generate an exchange of messages between former combatants and citizens in order to build new narratives about what a peaceful Colombia could look like. From 2018 to 2021, he was the Youth Ambassador for the Peace Palace in The Hague, becoming the first winner of the Youth Carnegie Peace Prize. Leonardo was also a member of the first Youth Advisory Board of the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Cooperation (YSB DG-INTPA) between 2021 and 2023, which launched DG-INPTA's first youth action plan, and also participated as a United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals between 2022 and 2024. Leonardo was one of the leading trainers of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Youth Peacebuilders program in Latin America and the Caribbean between 2022 and 2024. Leonardo holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in journalism from the University of the Andes and a master's degree in International Education Policy from Harvard University. Leonardo is a member of the Youth Advocacy Team of the Americas of the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (AmYAT UNOY), is also one of the mentors of the Pool of Trainers (Pool of Trainers UNOY) and is the co-founder of the Colombian Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security (CCJPS).
