Higher Education for Social Justice

Team

Luis Fernando Pérez

Program Officer Santiago

Luis Fernando Pérez works on higher education issues in the foundation’s Santiago office. His grant making focuses on generating policy and institutional reform, expanding access to higher education, and removing barriers to the successful inclusion of traditionally marginalized communities in the post-secondary institutions of the Andean Region and Southern Cone.

Prior to joining the Ford Foundation in 2012, Luis Fernando spent six years addressing the challenges of higher education in rural and urban communities. In Colombia, he served as project manager at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente where he focused on increasing access to higher education for marginalized communities and building public/private partnerships. He also collaborated with the Colombian government as an alternative development analyst, overseeing and implementing alternative development programs in rural municipalities. In addition, Luis Fernando was a professor of political science at ICESI University, where he dedicated his efforts to strengthening civil society participation at the local level through advocacy networks.

Luis Fernando holds an M.A. in Latin American studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in psychology from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia.