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Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia

Visiting Scholar 2020-2022 Former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia
The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom have always been in the minority… It will take such a small committed minority to work unrelentingly to win the uncommitted majority. Such a group may transform America’s greatest dilemma into her most glorious opportunity.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Background

Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia is a well-known and influential public figure in Colombia, particularly in the Pacific Coast. Under Juan Manuel Santos’ administration, he served as presidential advisor and director for the Todos Somos PAZcifico Development Plan and later served as Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development. Murillo-Urrutia is a mining engineer with a master of science degree in engineering.

Interests

Murillo-Urrutia has 30 years of experience and achievements in public policy design, implementation and advocacy; most notably, in the areas of sustainable regional development, environmental protection and management of natural resources, social inclusion and peace building. He has served in key positions in the public sector, including as governor of the predominantly Afro-Colombian state of Choco. In the 2000s, Murillo-Urrutia worked to make the voices of marginalized Colombians heard in the policy debate both in Colombia and Washington, DC, and was a catalytic force in creating links between Afro-Colombian and African American civil society, elected officials and the public in general.

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