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Tomás González Olavarría

Founder and DirectorCongreso Ciudadano

Biography

Founder of Tribu (tribu.ong - formerly Congreso Ciudadano), a Chilean non-profit and non-partisan backbone organization working to advance research, action, and dialogue on the future of democracy. Member of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.

Tomás previously served with Fundación Chile (fch.cl) doing foresight on the Circular Economy and the 4th Industrial Revolution, where he also contributed to the "Technology Roadmap for the Chilean Mining Industry 2015-2035" —which was launched by the Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and has been translated from Spanish to English, German and Chinese—.

Prior to that, he spent two years in Colombia leading a social venture in the field of the sharing economy, with the purpose of strengthening social cohesion in poverty-stricken communities. The project was supported by the Government of Colombia and Socialab; it was showcased at the International Conference on Sustainable Development at Columbia University in the City of New York; and it won Impact on Air, Ventures Colombia, and the World Summit Youth Award.

Tomás is the oldest son of a Chilean mother and an Argentinian father, what made him experience and get interested in the diversity of Latin America since his early years. Before college, he studied for five years at the conservatory of music; what developed his idea of teamwork and his creative skills.

Whilst at college, he joined the international organization AIESEC, where he had his first experiences of entrepreneurship and leadership, and, at the same time, met people from all over the world, strengthening his cultural sensitivity and interest in international affairs. He received a total of five AIESEC recognitions, including the Change Agent Award.

He graduated 'with distinction' in economics from the University of Chile, and was awarded with the Academic Excellence Scholarship of the Chilean Government, the Scholarship Mayor of Santiago, the Scholarship Youth of the UNASUR​, and the Google Fellowship to the Personal Democracy Forum. He has had teaching experiences at universities in Chile and Colombia.