Maria Perez Tello is from Bogota, Colombia and earned her BA in Industrial Design from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. She has used her design skills to co-direct Tomate el Control, a youth program that aims to reduce alcohol consumption among Bogota young people, and to manage and design for E-91, an organization that develops strategies for working with war victims in Colombia. Maria is passionate about social justice, animal welfare, and sustainability. She came to DSI to develop strategies to help people think about the ways their lives, and particularly their consumption habits, are closely connected to the future of the enviroment. Beyond her professional ambitions, Maria loves to travel; she has lived and worked in Colombia, Argentina and the United States, and has visited countries across South America.

After DSI, Mafe moved to San Francisco, CA where she worked as a Brand Consultant for Social Driven Companies and Host for Creative Mornings San Francisco, where she has planned and produced 70+ events for small and large groups of people. Mafe uses design tools to create and shape brands, plan events and launch products, while enhancing positive human interactions that are aligned with Sustainable development goals. For the past 6 years she has been working and leading brands, designing campaigns, launching new products and collaborating with large creative teams in San Francisco and NYC, design agencies and boutique companies. Some of her clients include Smitten Ice Cream, Curious Company, Patagonia Provisions, Not For Sale, Sylvatex, RiseOxygen, Just Business, Z Shoes, 196Live, SafeHaus, EventLens, and Wildwonder Drinks.

Mafe now lives in Los Angeles, CA and is working as a Creative Director at 196Live, a female-founded and led-. independent, global, and socially conscious event, strategy, and design company. She has worked on the Paris Olympics 2024, DNC’24, RNC’24, UNGA’79, COP29, WEF25.

In addition, she is currently working toward launching The School Meals Coalition: an initiative led by the World Food Programme, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations.