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Ophelia Pastrana

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Ophelia Pastrana
Born (1982-10-04) October 4, 1982 (age 41)
NationalityColombian
CitizenshipMexican
EducationFlorida Atlantic University University of Sydney
Occupation(s)Physicist, actress, business woman, youtuber, technologist
Honours100 BBC's Women
Websitehttp://opheliapastrana.com/

Ophelia Pastrana Ardila (Bogotá, 4 October 1982) is a Colombian-Mexican transgender physicist, economist, speaker, YouTuber, technologist and comedian. She is the first transgender women naturalized by Mexico. Business Insider listed her as one of the most influential women on Twitter regarding technology aspects.[1] In 2018 she was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 Women.[2][3]

Biography

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She was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She grew up in one of the most conservative families in Colombia. Her uncle is the Colombian ex-president Andrés Pastrana, and her grandfather was Hisnardo Adila, ex-major of Bogotá. During her childhood, she enjoyed playing the violin and spending time on the computer, she described herself as a quiet child with little social life.[4]

She received a bachelor's degree in physics at the Florida Atlantic University. During college she practiced competitive taekwondo. Upon completing her undergraduate studies in the United States, she moved to Sydney, Australia to get a master's degree in economics from the University of Sydney.[5]

She married a woman, which triggered an stress crisis which led her to seek professional support and discover her sexual identity. After three years of marriage, she ended the relationship, moved away from her family, and after a suicide attempt, moved to Mexico to start her life as a transgender women under the name of Ophelia.[4][6]

After 10 years living in Mexico, in 2018 she received Mexican citizenship, being the first transgender woman naturalized by Mexico. During an interview, after getting her citizenship letter, she stated:[7]

When I received the letter, the chancellor Luis Videgaray celebrated it. He post it on Twitter, but this implicated that they did a change in an immigration form that was 100 years old, this in the middle of the migrant caravan.

The paperwork to change her name and sex was very controversial. In Colombia, because her last name and family were generating it, while in Mexico her activism made her a target of attacks from conservative groups.[2]

Professional career

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Ophelia Pastrana during as a speaker in a conference at Universidad de las Americas, Puebla in Mexico.

She introduces herself as a digital strategist. As a business woman, she has created more than five companies. Among those, two agencies that were dedicated to creating marketing and communication strategies for different brands in Mexico such as Telmex, Telcel, Distroller, McDonald's, Nike, Reebok, Speedo, Nine West, and others.[3][8]

She acted as a broadcaster in Coca-Cola FM. She also worked for CNET Networks, LatinWE, where she coordinated a piece in Despierta America with Mónica Fonseca entitled Las Mujeres También Hablamos de Tecnología (Women also talk about technology).[9] [10]

As an expert in digital content, she collaborates with media like E!, El Deforma, Atomix, Animal Político, Televisa, among others. She has participated as an expert speaker in events such as TEDx Talks and Campus Party, about topics related to technology and content creation.[3][11][12]

In 2017, she debuted as a stand up artist presenting herself as La Explicatriz (The Explainer). This is an improvisation performance in which the audience suggests the topics to be discussed during the show.[13][14]

Activism

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She has been part of a series of activities to raise awareness of the LGBTQ+ community. During her talks or digital activism she speaks about the freedom that people should have to choose, and to go beyond that which was assigned at birth. She is a protector of human rights and argues that the value of people goes beyond their sexual identity.[15][16][17][18]

She was the leader of the LGBT Pride March in different cities in Mexico and virtually during the COVID-19 Pandemic.[19][20][21]

On two different occasions, she participated in the Senate of the Republic in Mexico as a speaker in the Roundtable of businesspeople of the Digital Agenda to transform Mexico.[3][22]

Honors and awards

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Her career and digital activism have been recognized on multiple occasions and by different institutions.[23]

  • 2014: The magazine Business Insider included her in the list of the 100 most influential women Twitter in topics related to technology. She occupied the place 69. According to PeerIndex, who analyses the speed and quantity of other users seeing and sharing a creator's content, she occupies the place 76 among the most influential users of Twitter both in general topics and those related to technology.[1]
  • 2015: Nomination to the Eliot Award by the magazine Líderes Mexicanos. This was in recognition of her digital activism and social media communication.[24]
  • 2018: The BBC listed her as one of BBC's 100 Women. A list of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in 2018. She was one of the 12 Latin American women in the list.[25]
  • 2018: Forbes Magazine recognized her as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Mexico.[26]
  • 2021: She was recognized as Leader of the Year by the magazine Mujer Ejecutiva, in recognition of her social activism.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b Borison, Rebecca (19 May 2014). "PRESENTING: The 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter". Business Insider. pp. Home–Tech. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Ophelia Pastrana, primera mujer trans colombiana reconocida por México" [Ophelia Pastrana, first Colombian trans women recognized by Mexico]. Semana (in Spanish). 12 November 2018. pp. Vida Moderna. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ophelia Pastrana" (in Spanish). p. Bio. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b Castilla, Diana (26 May 2019). "Ophelia Pastrana, euforia de género". Revista Bocas (in Spanish). El Tiempo. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Reconocimientos" [Honors]. Ophelia Pastrana (in Spanish). 11 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ^ Ossa, Ana Carolina (9 March 2014). "Ophelia y Mauricio, la historia de un solo cuerpo" [Ophelia and Mauricio, the story of one body]. Ola Política (in Spanish). p. Internacional. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  7. ^ Ochoa, Cristina (23 June 2019). "Soy mujer, porque es lo que me hace feliz: Ophelia Pastrana" [I am a woman because that is what makes me happy: Ophelia Pastrana]. Milenio (in Spanish). p. Negocios. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  8. ^ Rojas Vega, Regina (9 September 2014). "Entrevista a Ophelia Pastrana" [Interview to Ophelia Pastrana]. Centro de Tecnología e Innovación (in Spanish). p. Noticias. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Ophelia Pastrana". Conferencistas México (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  10. ^ 83. Diseña la vida que quieras vivir / Ophelia Pastrana (Podcast). 18 October 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2023 – via Audible.
  11. ^ Pastrana, Ophelia (14 April 2014). "Siempre hay bellezas escondidas" (mp4). TEDx Talks. Mexico City. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  12. ^ Pastrana, Ophelia (17 March 2016). "El poder de ser multidisciplinario" (mp4). TEDx Talks. Universidad de las Américas Puebla, México. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Ophelia Pastrana: La Explicatriz". OCA. Mexico City. 2 February 2017. p. Agenda. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Ophelia Pastrana improvisó para nosotros y esto pasó". Chilango. Mexico City. 20 February 2017. p. Escena. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  15. ^ News+Media (20 October 2020). "Q&A Inspiring Women: Ophelia Pastrana, explicatriz". DaliaEmpower (in Spanish). p. Mujeres. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  16. ^ Grimaldo, Ana (26 January 2022). "Es raro que le asignen un valor a mi carrera en función de que soy trans". Expansión Mujeres. Mexico City. p. Especiales. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  17. ^ Isaac (13 May 2021). "Ophelia Pastrana, una mujer que cambia a México". Mundo Ejecutivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  18. ^ Esparza, Kike (2 August 2017). "Ophelia Pastrana es vocera de Epicentro Festival de Innovación". El Informador (in Spanish). pp. Internet–Tecnología. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Ophelia Pastrana: 2018 Reel" (mp4). YouTube. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  20. ^ Ribas i Admetlla, Eduard (23 June 2020). "Ophelia Pastrana: "Para mí ser una persona trans es un privilegio"" [Ophelia Pastrana: For me, being a trans person is a privilege.]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). p. Sociedad. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  21. ^ Pastrana, Ophelia (4 October 2023). "¿Es necesario marchar año con año por los temas LGBT+? ¿por?" (mp4). YouTube (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  22. ^ Pastrana, Ophelia (8 October 2014). "Ophelia Pastrana (antes, Mauricio) en el Senado de la República" (mp4). YouTube (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  23. ^ "Ophelia Pastrana". Globant Awards (in Spanish). p. Women that build. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  24. ^ Eliot Chanel Mx (27 October 2015). "Ophelia Pastrana – Nominada a los Eliot New Media Leaders Awards 2015" (mp4). YouTube. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  25. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 19 November 2018. p. World. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  26. ^ Forbes Staff (18 June 2018). "Las 100 Mujeres Más Poderosas en México – III". Forbes México (in Spanish). pp. Portada–Listas. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  27. ^ Elí, Mauricio (1 June 2021). "Ophelia Pastrana refrenda liderazgo femenino". Mexicana de Arte. pp. Actualidad. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
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