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Maria Jose Lopez

Location:
Colombia, United Kingdom
Languages:
English, Spanish
Issues:
Education, Refugee Crisis and Immigration, Women and Girls, Gender violence
Expertise:
Impact Producing
Cultural/racial identity:
Latina
Self identification:
Woman

Bio

As a psychologist and documentary filmmaker, I've cultivated my career in the social sector, beginning in Colombia and later expanding to new regions like the UK. My primary focus lies in advocating for social justice through storytelling and analysing how shifting narratives can influence realities and behaviours. Over the past six years, I've been actively involved with Tiempo de Juego, a Colombian organisation dedicated to promoting sports, arts, and technological activities for children in vulnerable areas. In this capacity, I worked as a partnerships officer, overseeing grant writing, budget design, project design with financial and operations teams, partner management, and supporting the organisation of fundraising events. Subsequently, I transitioned to Labzuca, Tiempo de Juego's media production company, where I worked as a creative producer. In this role, I contributed significantly to project design and fundraising efforts for creative projects, coordinated documentary screening events in London, Washington D.C., and New York, and crafted content for clients within the social sector, including USAID, WaterAid, and the Open Society Foundations. Recently, I completed my first commissioned film for the Ford Foundation's Enlaza Sur program. The documentary explores the work of five women-led organisations across Colombia dedicated to addressing social and environmental justice issues.