Sandra Zuniga Guzman, '13

Sandra Zuniga Guzman, '13

August 6, 2013
Inspired by her experience immigrating to the United States, recent grad advocates creating opportunity for others

Sandra Zuniga Guzman, '13, came to the United States from Lima, Peru, with her mom when she was 9 years old. “My mom came here at the height of the Peruvian recession and for her, it was about finding opportunities for me,” Zuniga Guzman says. “She never had the expectation that I would do something specific, but she wanted me to take advantage of every opportunity available to me.”

This dedication became a driving force as Zuniga Guzman pursued her education at the University of Richmond, where she settled on a double major in international studies and political science. Drawing on her own experience as an immigrant, Zuniga Guzman chose to study migration issues and the reasons people leave their home countries.

“This idea that we can cross borders, that we have this ability, is absolutely beautiful, but immigration itself can be very painful, as people sometimes can’t find employment or further their education,” she says. “What I want to explore is how do we create those small economies and support local growth, so that people don’t always feel the need to take their skills and talents to other countries.”

Zuniga Guzman saw that one way to address the migration challenges — particularly in Latin America — was through technology. She researched the Latin American digital divide and how social enterprises were trying to bridge the technology gap. She discovered that the key for closing the divide wasn’t access to computers and other technology, but ensuring people understood how the software and hardware works, what it was capable of doing, and how it could address issues facing a community.

She put her research into action by founding a nonprofit, Coderise, with a few friends. Working in Medellin, Colombia, Coderise offered a nine-week training program that teaches high school-age students to code in HTML and build web applications. “Having the ability to learn a skill, and to have something tangible to show someone else — it gives such a different perspective to young people,” she says. Coderise graduated its first class of 17 students in December 2012 and is fundraising to expand the program to other parts of Colombia.

Through her involvement in a number of international projects throughout high school and college, Zuniga Guzman knew she wanted to pursue a career that would allow her to make a difference at a global level. She planned to explore paths like non-profits or NGOs, since her citizenship status prevented her from considering working for the government. In 2012, however, everything changed after she became naturalized as a U.S. citizen. Suddenly, new doors opened for her and she could consider working for the Peace Corps or the U.S. Foreign Service.

Zuniga Guzman applied for and received the prestigious Pickering Fellowship through the U.S. Department of State. Only 20 candidates are selected each year and, once chosen, each receives $40,000 of support toward tuition, room, and board to attend the graduate school of their choice. Recipients also are placed in two internships — one foreign and one domestic.

With the help of the fellowship, Zuniga Guzman will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall, pursing a graduate degree in international economics and Latin American affairs. “I would love to focus on emerging markets and look at how we can support local communities to remain active in the international economy in a way that is supportive for them,” she says.

After completing her master’s degree, Zuniga Guzman will take the Foreign Service exam and then work for the State Department for three years. While she has a connection to, and expertise in, Latin America, they could place her anywhere in the world — a prospect that excites her. “A lot of the issues I look at regionally in Latin America are actually transnational issues that apply to any part of the world,” she says. “I would love the chance to go to China and learn Chinese, but anywhere they send me, I would be happy.”