Mariana Araujo Herrera

Mariana works at the intersection of storytelling, creativity and community to bring forward an inclusive and just society. Fueled by a strong background in international relations, Latinx issues and gender equity, she is passionate about dismantling systemic violence through community-led strategic communications.

At Spitfire, Mariana partners with organizations working to create a better world. With kindness and empathy, she uses her research, partnership-building and audience-engagement skills to provide creative solutions that speak truth to power. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Mariana’s passion for community-led social change comes from her upbringing in a family of immigrants. From the Andes to the city, from the city to the world, she feels the importance of being interconnected. Her interests deepened after spending a summer in the Amazon region of her home country conducting research on intercultural education with Indigenous-led nonprofit organizations.

Prior to joining Spitfire, Mariana was the program manager for the University of Virginia Health System’s Division of Outreach, where she forged partnerships with community organizations to utilize UVA’s resources for mental health programs for Latinx women, refugee populations and rural communities. Her experience also includes working at the United States Institute of Peace where she coordinated a network of Colombian women grassroots mediators in the context of the armed conflict, and at UNESCO Lima where she worked on sustainable agriculture for Andean grains and Afro-Peruvian visibility and inclusion. She is a firm believer that grassroots efforts are the solutions that tackle the foundation of systemic oppression directly.