SIM Alumni

Vanessa Penayo

Vanessa is from Paraguay, in the heart of South America. She holds a degree in Marketing from the Catholic University: “Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion”. During her studies, she worked as a receptionist for a business and as an English teacher for kids. She also worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Business School of her university, where she taught “Marketing of services and other specific areas”. Following her graduation, she became a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) volunteer. After volunteering, she took on a full-time position as volunteer coordinator for WWF, which involved engaging youth in activities to support national and regional conservation projects. There, she lead a project called “Paraguyan Youth for Climate Action”, which linked different NGOs, public and private institutions and private enterprise to empower volunteers to prevent climate change. In 2017, Vanessa received the “She Rocks” award from the US Embassy. This honoured her commitment to showing positive energy, leadership and commitment to women and her job and also empowering other women to do the same. She hopes to collaborate, teach values through examples, and rebuild the natural capital of biodiversity in order to create a better future. Vanessa is open minded, optimistic and enjoys nature and travelling. In her free time, she enjoys making handmade crafts.