Ma. de los Ángeles Lasa

  María de los Ángeles Lasa (1986) is an Argentinian young researcher working on drug trafficking issues, criminality and violence in South America. She received a Diploma in Human Rights (WFUNA, 2006) and a Bachelor's Degree in International Studies from the Universidad Católica de Córdoba (Argentina, 2009). In 2011 she was awarded a scholarship from Fundación Carolina and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend the UCM Diplomatic Summer School (Spain). She is currently a PhD Fellow in Political and Social Sciences at UNICAM School of Advanced Studies (Italy).

  In 2010, María de los Ángeles won the Second Prize at the World Bank International Essay Competition (Sweden), and was one of the five winners in the Ideas for Action Competition organized by the World Bank Institute (Belgium). The same year she received an Honorable Mention at the International Essay Contest for Young People organized by the Goi Peace Foundation (Japan) and UNESCO. In 2011, Lasa was selected as one of the 100 Leaders of Tomorrow and awarded with the Third Prize at the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award (Universität St. Gallen, Switzerland).

  She has been selected to participate in the University Latin American Parliament (Argentina, 2008); the South American Business Forum (Argentina, 2009); the World Bank ABCDE Conference (Sweden, 2010); the International Summit of Young Leaders (Argentina, 2010), and the International Leadership Symposium (Belgium, 2010) among others.

  María de los Ángeles is currently blogger of Youthink! (the World Bank's blog on youth issues), Director & Founder of the social project Todo Jóvenes and Jr. Fellow at the consulting firm Grupo Faro. She was also Undergraduate Teaching Assistant at the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Jr. Researcher and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Universidad Nacional de Villa María, and Jr. Researcher at the Observatory of Values in the International Society (UCC). She is author of articles and chapters published in Mexico and Argentina.