Monica Tarriba Urias grew up in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa, a northwestern state in Mexico. She studied international affairs, which helped her become more aware of and interested in social-political and economic situations around the world. When she graduated from college, she moved to Mexico City to work for an innovation and design strategy consulting firm as a design strategist. This job helped her learn more about the development of products and services using human-centered design techniques, and she realized she wanted to focus on using this technique to tackle social problems. Last year, Monica became involved in a gender-equality initiative — a platform to create a network of women to inform and empower each other. Her interest in feminism and gender studies grew, encouraging her to obtain a Gender, Sexuality and Law diploma. She finds women’s rights and feminism to be fascinating topics.