Lecturers Without Borders

I am the CEO of the non-profit NGO Lecturers Without Borders (LeWiBo), which aims to organise outreach lectures in schools around the world. The main idea is to capitalise on scientists' trips (for example, when they travel to attend a conference) and put them in contact with local schools in their destinations. However, in order to reach more schools and be more inclusive towards scientists who may not be travelling, we also organise online activities when resources allow and facilitate local interactions between scientists and schools that are close to their home or workplace.

Our main goal is to contribute to ending stereotypes about what science is and who can be a scientist, presenting students with real life examples of scientists regardless of the location of the schools and its resources (the lectures are free of charge and don't reaquire any specific material or previous knowledge), while at the same time showng scientists the importance of establishing a direct dialogue with people outside of academia.

The project started in late 2017, when a group of friends (scientists) started reaching out to their own personal networks in an attempt to find schools they could visit during their own trips. Over time, the network kept gropwing as the interest of scientists and of schools multiplied, and it was registered as an NGO in August 2019. Today, we're a network of over 400 scientists and over 1000 schools in 84 countries.

I joined LeWiBo in June 2020, initially as the scientists coordinator. My job was to expand the network of scientists and engage them in a more meaningful way, while establishing collaborations with academic and efducational institutions. In February 2022 I became the president and CEO, and I'm now in charge of all the operations of the NGO.

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