STAFF
Paula Ramírez
Paula Ramírez Diazgranados is Co-Director of RESPIRA en Colombia and BREATHE International, organizations which combine peacebuilding with mental health practices to restore human resilience. In the recovery process from an autoimmune illness, she started working with the United Nations and so far has worked with humanitarian teams deployed in 21 countries, with a focus on mindful awareness, interoceptive practices, ancestral and somatic perspectives. Paula bridges diversity and culture with contemporary crisis work and trauma integration. This has brought her into collaboration with organizations including the UN and the Tibetan Government in Exile, supporting populations in contexts of war and displacement. Paula´s guiding vision is the embodied and universal dignity of all beings. She holds an MA in Conflict Transformation [from Javeriana University], she is an MBSR trainer from the University of San Diego in California, a Trauma Sensitive Yoga facilitator through the Trauma Center in Boston, and a Somatic Experiencing practitioner.
Viviana Gamboa
Viviana is a seasoned professional in creative project design and management. She bridges the arts and culture with peacebuilding, applying an intersectional approach to her work. Through international cooperation, the private and public sectors, she has collaborated with grassroots organizations of women, ethnic groups, artists, youth, vulnerable, gender, racially and sexually diverse populations. She holds a B.A. in Literature, a Postgraduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution (Javeriana University) and an M.A. in Peace, Resilience, and Social Justice from the University of Bradford (United Kingdom). Her expertise ranges from diplomatic issues to designing and facilitating workshops in prisons and contexts of war; producing intercultural intersectoral programs and events; editing heritage, ethnic literature and HR publications; teaching, and activism. She is passionate about working for and with the people. Studious of ancestral practices such as doulaism and tantra kriya yoga, she stands for collaboration, mindfulness, and the individual and collective body as keys to restore connection and regenerate life.
Pilar Lindo
Pilar started her personal journey through dance and yoga. She then discovered that the best way for her to connect with people and learn about herself was through education and she has been an educator now for 25 years, with the deep purpose of improving the world we live in. She discovered meditation 15 years ago which, together with her two children, has supported her personal growth. For three years, she directed the NGO Children of the Andes Humanitarian (COTAH), leading education projects with indigenous communities in Ecuador. She currently lives in Madrid, Spain, from where she leads the Global Culture Education Initiative (GCEI), an American NGO focused on environmental education. In addition to her title in Education, she holds a Master’s degree in Neuropsychology and Education, is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) trainer from the University of San Diego, specialized in Mindfulness in Health Contexts, and obtained a second Master’s in Mindfulness in Health and Research Contexts from the Complutense University in Madrid. She has been involved from the start with both RESPIRA en Colombia and now , together with Paula, is the Co-Director of BREATHE International.