Davos 2019: How Co-Chair Aristizábal Helps Students Build Skills For 21st Century

Colombia used to be synonymous with the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar a little over two decades ago. Juan David Aristizábal knew that had to change.

Now a co-chair at Davos 2019, Aristizábal felt the need for more role models early in his life. A personal tryst with disasters—a coffee crisis, episodes of violence and an earthquake before he turned 17—resulted in him becoming one. Aristizábal helped lay the foundation for the South American nation's first social movement to prioritise education.

At that time, Aristizábal realised he and his friends weren't ready to engage with the economy in a better way. That led him to start the non-profit organisation ‘Todos por la Educación' nation to equip young people with relevant skills for the 21st century.

“One of our projects has 100,000 young people involved who are trained with soft skills and English,” Aristizábal said in a conversation with BloombergQuint. The organisation has around 1,000 volunteers from around the world who help young Colombians learn English.

One of the projects that Aristizábal's organisation implements is a platform where individuals can learn soft skills by themselves. “They can create their own content. We use role models.” The platform also has a podcast and is well established on social media to engage more people.

Aristizábal's project also pushes the Colombian government to improve education in the country.

Setting the right example and introducing kids to good role models was the best way to engage them, he said. Letters and e-mails from students who benefited from his movement—who are now mostly employed or are in college—motivates him to do more. “We have to inspire, engage them to create knowledge and then we have to learn.”