grantees » Santiago Londoño Orozco

Santiago is a public accountant from Columbia. Since his transition to the social sector, he has  become highly committed to his organization, AMICHOCÓ, and its mission. AMICHOCÓ is a Columbian NGO created over a decade ago to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and the improvement of the quality of life of the population of the Chocó Bioregion. Santiago handles all of the accounts, budgeting, and financial contracts, and also provides accounting training to his peers. He has grown enormously, and his nominator Clara Hidrón Botero, the Executive Director of AMICHOCÓ, asserts that “Santiago has been instrumental in the institutionalization of our organization [and has played a bigrole in improving] the way in which we manage human resources.”

With the support of the JWH initiative, Santiago completed a postgraduate specialization in Financial Management at the CEIPA Business School in Columbia. His extensive studies covered management courses, financial strategy, and a highly developed understanding of accounting. He conducted an in-depth study on the role of the State in the modern economy, analyzing their decisions and the consequences thereof, which ultimately will assist his director’s decision-making processes. Santiago feels he has gained the skills to contribute greatly to his organization within his area of expertise: “I achieved the tools and basis to prepare budgets and financial projections in the organization, as well as manage the company’s resource management. Financial planing and efficient use of resources are vital to achieving sustainability.” In future, Santiago wishes to share his knowledge with the community leaders of the grassroots organizations AMICHOCÓ works with.