Giselle Huamani: What a Changemaker is Made Of

Growing up in a difficult period of Peruvian history, Giselle, like many of her generation, was deeply influenced by the country’s civil war. An energetic young lawyer she grew committed to changing and improving people’s lives. Giselle found her home learning and doing Conflict Resolution in the United States. She then became a well-known professional, not only for her academic credentials but her relentless commitment to working with communities and practicing the notion that as professionals, we are, but mere facilitators. Giselle carries this attitude today in her high-level job at Peru’s ombudsman’s Human Rights office. To learn about her stellar career in Conflict Resolution, Human Rights and community –driven projects listen to Episode 3 of The Social Change Career Podcast.

In this episode we discuss:

Growing up in 1960’s 1970s in Lima with military coups; the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) insurgency and subsequent civil war
How she left in 1989 to study in the United States and how she returned to Peru 16 years
How Giselle ask a young law student learned her first lesson in the field with a rural community and she realized how little she knew
Combining raising 3 children, working and studying for her PhD
The story of working with local youth gang and motherhood
On getting consultancies while pursuing grad school
How Giselle always volunteered in many projects that she deemed interesting from the beginning of her career
How one of her strategies is simply relating and connecting to people
Giselle’s recommendations for starting your career and accumulating practical experience
The importance of networking people and programs
Giselle tells the story of Scar’s program that connected practitioners, professors and programs
The importance of being grounded in the field volunteering/service learning
How she found employment on her return to Peru (after 16 years living overseas)
How she worked in forestry, land and water issues in Bolivia and also in Peru
Why Giselle recommends working at micro-level issues rather than only nationally-led processes
In Peru she started working on water-related issues
Her current work at the Ombudsman in Peru as Conflict Advisor for the whole nation doing Conflict Resolution work
How the person in charge of the conflict office was a student of one of these programs that Giselle talked about she helped organized as she was a grad student
Giselle’s best career advice
Giselle’s take on failure
3 things that Giselle recommends to start a career of impact

Links

School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (Scar)

World Bank

UN Mediation

Peru Ombudsman Office

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157: As Many People in the Sandbox as Possible