Sara Rueda has worked on several social and sustainable innovation projects in Colombia, including: 1) Women Savers in Action, a government program to help vulnerable women gain access to banking and financial services. As advisor, Sara developed tools to improve communication and service. 2) Let's Do It Colombia, a waste cleanup campaign affiliated with the UN. As co-founder, Sara helped organize collections in multiple cities and hosted an international conference. 3) AlfaBeta, a literacy program where over 400 people were taught to read and write across 4 municipalities. As founder, Sara coordinated collaboration between different sectors.

1. SARA
RUEDAP O R T F O L I O

3. CONTENTS
1
2
SOCIAL & SUSTAINABLE
INNOVATION
COMMUNICATION
DESIGN
MUJERES AHORRADORAS 6
12
20
42
26
48
34
UNA SOLA VOZ
ALFABETA
LET’S DO IT COLOMBIA
GRONCOL
VERDE SUMERCÉ
FIMAR

4. SOCIAL &
SUSTAINABLE
INNOVATION

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MUJERES
AHORRADORAS
EN ACCIÓN
(MAA)
Photo:SocialProsperityDepartment

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+240.000
WOMEN INVOLVED
IN THE PROJECT
Photo:SocialProsperityDepartment

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Women Savers in Action is a governmental initiative that began
on 2007, its aim is to help overcoming poverty in women both
displaced and in condition of social vulnerability, empowering
them and opening possibilities to have access to the banking
system, creating incentives for saving. It also aimed for the
installation of capabilities with a focus on gender, as well as
giving support for sustainable entrepreneurship.
Inside the project, I was in-charge of developing the citizen
advice service, proposing innovative solutions and implementing
them to tackle the different difficulties faced by the women, the
allies and the staff team. For instance, I led the development
of a technological participative tool for creating an updated
Advisor for the National Supervisor
The National Department for Social Prosperity of the Presidency of Colombia.
2013 to 2015
523 municipalities
access to information
income generation sustainable entrepreneurship
gender equality financial inclusion education
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
CHALLENGES:
database of all the women who attend the project, so they can
stay informed of it and remain linked with it.
The importance of the citizen advice service inside the project
is due to the communication –for problem solving- that needs to
exist between its partners, including other governmental entities.
One of these allies is the “Banco Agrario” (Land Bank), which has
presence in all the Colombian territory.
The relation between the Land Bank and the program is
fundamental, as it provides banking services to vulnerable
women. In that joint venture I succeeded in improving the
provision of those banking services that the program offers by
developing different communication and information tools.

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98%
OF CITIZEN SERVICE
PROBLEMS SOLVED
EFFECTIVELY
Photo:SocialProsperityDepartment

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Photo:SocialProsperityDepartment

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LET`S DO IT
COLOMBIA

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+3.000
VOLUNTEERS

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Every day we face situations of intolerance in Colombia, for
example in places as public transport, bars, concerts, or in the
streets. Given this situation, people ask themselves if it is worth
to pursue a change? Such behavior was around in the heads of
me and a group of friends, and led us to think that surely, if a
single person changes towards a more civic behavior and that
person is willing to correct others, to demonstrate how actions
contribute to the welfare and generate responsibility for others,
probably a more significant change will be achieved.
Under this question we decided to join Let’s do it, and add to its
international objectives a social level, emphasizing in issues such
as cooperation, social capital and strengthening communities.
All with the conviction that major changes are achieved when we
act together. Let’s do it in Colombia see collective action as a way
to permanently improve the country.
We have conveyed our message through massive garbage co-
Co-funder - Independent NGO
Let’s do it World
2012 to present
7 municipalities
www.letsdoitworld.org - www.letsdoitcolombia.org
waste management collective actions public awareness
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
LINKS:
CHALLENGES:
llections in Bogotá, Cali, Madrid, Funza, Mosquera, Bucaramanga,
Yopal and we continue planning further interventions. In October
2014, we hosted in Bogotá the Let’s do it conference for America.
In it, we put into practice the theory behind a civic movement,
seeking to generate new ideas and finding ways to implement
them. In june 2015, The Colombian Ministry of Environment and
Sustainable Development considered publicly, in a national news-
paper, to turn Let’s Do It Colombia project into a public policy.
Let’s Do It! World is a nonprofit international civic mass move-
ment accredited as a member of the environmental program of
the United Nations (UNEP), as a promoter of massive cleanups
of garbage in the world.
The movement began in Estonia in 2008, joining 50,000 people
to clean the entire country, who collected 10,000 tons of waste in
5 hours. Right now, Let’s do it World has presence in more than
110 countries.

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ONE OF OUR LEADERS WON THE 2015
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENCY’S PRICE FOR
VOLUNTEERS IN THE AREA OF ENVIRONMENT
AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE ACTIONS DONE
WITH LET’S DO IT COLOMBIA

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ONE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
FOR THE AMERICAS IN 2014

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THE MOST IMPORTANT LOCAL
AND NATIONAL MEDIA CHANNELS
ARE TALKING ABOUT LET’S DO IT
COLOMBIA

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ALFABETA

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+400
PEOPLE ALPHABETIZED IN DIFFERENT
TERRITORIES OF COLOMBIA DURING
THE YEAR OF 2014.

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In Colombia Illiteracy affects around 6.7 % of the population, which
means 2,375,157 million of illiterate youth and adults over 15 years
old. Rural illiteracy rate is 14.2 %, while 4.5 % is urban. The rate of
unreported employment of the illiterate population is 89.8 %, when
the national rate stands around 63%. Not having the opportunity
to read, write, or being a victim of functional illiteracy makes this
population loose opportunities in different areas such as access to
formal employment, health services, inclusion in society.
Founder & National Director
AIESEC in Colombia
2012 to 2014
4 municipalities
literacy education social inclusion
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
CHALLENGES:
AlfaBeta is a literacy project based on the UN Millennium De-
velopment Goals (actually, UN Global Sustainable Development
Goals), focused on overcoming extreme poverty. It was born to
improve the quality of life of illiterate people and to help them
overcome this situation through ensuring access to education
and guaranteeing these people a satisfactory place in society.
The pilot project was developed in 4 cities in Colombia: Cartage-
na, Bogotá, Medellin and Pereira.

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CROSS-SECTOR AND
DISCIPLINES COLABORATION:
BUSINESS, NGO AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT

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4 MUNICIPALITIES: CARTAGENA,
BOGOTÁ, MEDELLIN AND PEREIRA

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VERDE
SU MERCÉ

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WORKING ACROSS
SECTORS AND DISCIPLINES:
PRIVATE, NGO AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.

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“Verde Su Mercé” (Look After You) objective was to build a stra-
tegy for increasing the incomes and strengthening the capacities
of a mining community through hands-on learning methods such
as Human Center Design and The Iterative Process, in a scheme
that closely engaged the community in every step.
By the time, the municipality was experiencing a post- conflict
time, marked by the Colombia’s Emerald Battle and the occupation
of the illegal armed groups. This created a violent stigma around
Founder - Design Degree Graduation project
Universidad de los Andes
2011 to present
4 municipalities
incomes generation education
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
CHALLENGES:
the Emerald territories, which ended isolating Chivor, a municipali-
ty with a great social, cultural and environmental potential.
As a result, we created “Vita.Minas” (a word play that combines
“vitamins” and “mines”), a programme focused on sustainable en-
trepreneurship in the tourism sector as well as English teaching.
The positive results achieved with Vita.Mina’s first targeted po-
pulation led to it being embraced by an independent NGO and
replicated in four new mining municipalities around Colombia.

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4 MUNICIPALITIES: CHIVOR, GUACHETA,
BOGOTÁ AND COTA.

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FIMAR

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My own business, FIMAR, a company in my hometown dedicated
to manufacturing commodities and providing services for the co-
ffee and cacao sectors. My most important current challenge is
helping FIMAR expand its local and national impact on the coffee
sector (one of Colombia’s main export commodities) in order to
increase productivity and improve the quality of life of the com-
munities involved.
Co-leader & director of impact
FIMAR
2015 to present
San Gil, Santander
incomes generation productivity
technological development for the agro
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
CHALLENGES
At present, I am building, along with other sectors of the com-
munity, a project focused on encouraging young people to stay
and work in the coffee fields. The reality is the average age of the
population working in the coffee farms in Colombia are over 55
years old, and there is not guarantee that ensure their permanen-
ce. We are developing innovative initiatives to show a bigger and
contemporary perspective of the coffee business.

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COMMUNICATION
DESIGN

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UNA SOLA VOZ
Photo:GranodeArena

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Photo:GranodeArena

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One Voice was the international annual forum for the executive
board and the corporative team of the Colombian multinational
milk company Alpina. As account manager, I was in-charge of the
interaction with clients, as well as planning and accomplishing
Account Manager
Grano de Arena - Alpina
2013
Bogotá
http://granodearena.com/proyectos/
strategic communication concept design
international event planning
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
LINKS:
CHALLENGES:
a first rate delivery of every section of the agenda. I was also in
charge of supervising the graphic communication materials, lo-
gistics and the design of the presentations of the hosts.

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Photo:GranodeArena

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GRONCOL
Photo:GranodeArena

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Photo:GranodeArena

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Redesign Groncol brand and corporation speech. The challenge
was to sow an environmental awareness to stakeholders highli-
ghting the importance of green areas in the urban zones.
Account Manager
Grano de Arena - Groncol
2013
Bogotá
http://granodearena.com/proyectos/
environmental awareness
strategic communication
concept design
branding
PROJECT SUMMARY
ROLE:
ORGANIZATION:
YEAR:
LOCATION:
LINKS:
CHALLENGES:

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Photo:GranodeArena

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Photo:GranodeArena