My
story in the hydrocarbon world began to take shape without my realizing it when
I had just become an adult. I was a victim of racial discrimination in 2004 in
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. It was normal for such cases to go unpunished;
the difference in mine was that I decided to exercise my rights and judicially
denounced my aggressors. Without calculating the reach of my actions, I became
a reference point for the anti-racist struggle in my country.
Is
racism over in Colombia? No. It persists because, although today there are
regulatory frameworks that specifically protect the right to equality for the
Afro-descendant population, overcoming this reality requires the will,
decision, and determination of everyone who can make it possible; that is, the
entire society.
You
may wonder: "What does this have to do with the energy sector?" And
while the answer may not seem intuitive, in my life, this event marked a before
and after, a dying and rebirth with a very clear objective: to serve. I'm a
lawyer, and very early in my professional career, I had the great opportunity
to strengthen my knowledge about the individual and collective rights of ethnic
groups in Colombia, and that's where I connected with hydrocarbon projects.
From the National Government, I led prior “Consulta Previa” a kind of consultation
processes with the communities for the development of oil and gas projects.
This experience allowed me to acquire skills in assertive communication,
intercultural dialogue, strategic relationship-building, and conflict
resolution that harmoniously articulated with my personal ethics.
Without
planning it, my profile began to be very attractive to the mining-energy
sector, as I combined several key characteristics to lead initiatives with a
sustainability perspective: i) a legal foundation necessary for assurance; ii)
proven suitability for community management; and iii) social capital acquired
from trust and credibility gained as a woman of principles.
With
this credential, I worked for 9 years in the public sector in 2 National
Government entities closely associated with oil activity: the National
Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH, for its acronym in Spanish) and the Ministry of Mines
and Energy. Back then, many achievements were made and challenges overcome. I
proudly remember laying the groundwork for incorporating the framework of due
diligence for Companies and Human Rights within institutional activities. It
was a significant commitment at the country level, and the mining-energy
sector, due to its social transcendence, had to be a pioneer under exemplary
institutional leadership. Once again, my personal ethics took center stage.
In
2018, I had the opportunity to serve as Director of Ethnic Affairs at the
National Land Agency (ANT, for its acronym in Spanish) the highest land
authority in my country, whose primary function was to guarantee access to
collective land titling for ethnic groups, under principles of equity and in
compliance with the social function of property. It was an unprecedented
experience. Recognizing the risk of cultural survival that threatens ethnic
groups, the limited management capacity due to economic resources, the tensions
over land ownership, the lack of justice and equity in prioritizing cases, and
community leaders' claims based on particular interests made me understand
that, to a large extent, it was necessary to redefine the institutional role
from the "ought to be" and, with it, adjust the scope of technical
and legal concepts to ensure greater transparency in processes. I gave it my
all, beyond the extra mile.
After
this experience, I questioned myself as a citizen and wondered: "What
could I do for Cartagena, the city where I grew up and belonged? If I hadn't
worked for the country, how could I not do it for my city?" They say that
"no one is a prophet in their own land." However, I took a risk and
worked hard on electoral pedagogy. Having greater opportunities to participate
in generating well-being in a democratic system depends on choosing our
representatives wisely. In 2023, I collected signatures to run for mayor of
Cartagena in a process that I self-financed, hand in hand with volunteers, with
the sole purpose of showing the city that it's possible to do politics with
dignity. This exercise was surrounded by ethical symbolism to counteract a
civic culture mired in premises like "better that they steal, but get
things done" or "the sly one lives off the fool." With great
effort and daily work, we managed to collect 26,000 signatures that I now have
certified by the National Electoral Council. I didn't achieve the minimum
required to run as a mayoral candidate, but I know I touched the hearts of many
people in the city who identified with my purpose: "serving Cartagena to
see it flourish for the benefit of its people."
At the
end of 2023, for the first time, I had the option to work with a company in the
hydrocarbon sector and learn more about the corporate world. Many learnings,
including the real possibility that companies must contribute to territorial
transformation through competitiveness. I was amazed by the efficiency in
operational processes, the responsibility towards HSE (Health, Safety, and
Environment) indicators, and the pressure on results to guarantee projected profit
margins. Much of what is worth transferring to the public sector. However,
there still exists a perspective anchored in operational viability that
prevents them from transcending to operational sustainability.
Sustainability
is not a narrative strategy; it's a management model that achieves success to
the extent that it becomes a culture in the daily life of organizations.
Additionally, it is not limited to a biotic and abiotic perspective of the
environment; it recognizes the human beings that inhabit the environments and
drive the actions that guarantee a healthy environment, beyond the direct
interaction they have with the operation that is supported. There's still much
to be done here. Overcoming restrictive views, transforming interdependencies
through cooperative work, and maintaining unwavering coherence between what is
said and done to achieve real trust relationships. I believe my stay there also
posed a challenge for the organization. Opening up to new ways of thinking and
seeing reality to enrich business action in the territory is not easy; even so,
they allowed me to validate that change requires courage and that it's urgent
to reconfigure a corporate ethics for the future that is contextual, expressed
daily, and capable of tolerating the discomfort generated by difference.
The
sustainability of the energy sector requires the confluence of profiles that
can contribute from technical-operational, environmental, social, financial,
technological, and other areas of knowledge, which opens the opportunity for
women with a wide range of backgrounds to add value there. My message is to
invite all those women to consider being part of this great sector, being
visionary, bringing new ideas, challenging us to think differently, and, most
importantly, supporting each other to consolidate business models that not only
respond to financial utility but also to the social utility that can be
generated in favor of the territories where activities are developed.
No
sustainable operation can be spoken of in contexts of poverty and scarcity. A
just energy transition cannot be discussed without first striving for an
economic transition that aligns with the territorial aptitudes and
capabilities.
Note: The story is written from its protagonist.
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