Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Claudia has a vast trajectory in academia, activism, journalism, and public service.

A Finance, Government, and International Relations graduate from Universidad Externado, she pursued a master’s degree in public administration and urban policy at Columbia, was a fellow at Yale, and completed a doctorate in political science at Northwestern University. Since January 2024, she has been a fellow at Harvard.

At a young age, she became involved as a student leader in the movement for the Seventh Ballot, which advocated for a citizen vote to establish the National Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1991 Constitution.

In the mid-2000s, she uncovered elaborate electoral collusion between paramilitary factions and politicians, resulting in the imprisonment of 86 congress members. In 2014, she was one of the most voted candidates for the Senate, from where she championed an agenda against corruption, social inclusion, diversity, education, the environment, and peace.

In 2019, she made history by becoming the first female mayor of Bogotá and the first LGBTQI+ person to hold the position. Throughout her tenure, she demonstrated leadership in navigating the challenges posed by the pandemic, spearheading efforts to restore employment post-crisis, and driving forward the construction of the metro. She also orchestrated the most extensive program of public works and initiatives aimed at fostering education, employment, and assistance for youth, women, working and diverse families, and their small enterprises ever witnessed in the city’s history.