María Cecilia Pertuz Molina
Event Speaker Liaison
MEM ’23, Nicholas School of the Environment, Coastal Environmental Management concentration

María Cecilia is a Political scientist and holds a Master’s in Public Policy. She has experience in analyzing, designing, monitoring, and evaluating public policies. She was part of the team that led the aging policy design in Cartagena de Indias. At the National Planning Department of the Colombian National Government, she guided the indicator design process of national policies (CONPES documents) such as the National System of Protected Areas, Environmental Health, and road infrastructure. She also coordinated the monitoring process of CONPES documents, in which more than 1,800 indicators from more than 87 CONPES documents are monitored. She has participated in Reef Check and Reef Repair expeditions led by Corales de Paz in Colombia. Her love for the ocean and its protection inspired her to apply to Duke and study Coastal Environmental Management. As a result, she has increased her knowledge of Coastal Resilience and Blue Carbon projects.