Miguel A Rozo is a Canadian-based policy advisor, social entrepreneur and thought leader passionate about climate action, international affairs and innovation. He has called Canada home for many years after being forcibly displaced from Colombia with his family at age 11.
Most recently (2022), Miguel has spoken on post-pandemic recovery, systemic change and restoring trust, and presented the findings of the world’s first youth-driven recovery report to world leaders at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Throughout 2021 he helped to spearhead the launch of this report as co-chair of the Davos Lab taskforce with the Global Shapers Community (GSC) and the WEF.
Miguel is a TEDx speaker (Vancouver, 2015), former Canadian delegate to the G7 Youth Summit (Rome, 2017), an UNLEASH global talent (Singapore, 2018), a Climate Reality leader (Atlanta, 2019), and founder of IdeasXChange, a Vancouver youth-led social innovation organization that he led for three years, before pivoting to work in international affairs.
His policy background spans across the United Nations (Colombia), the B.C. Ministry of Health (Canada), consulting research (Silicon Valley), and now as a policy advisor in international affairs based in Canada.
He holds a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in International Relations and speaks fluent English/Spanish and intermediate German/French. Miguel is a proud and active member of the GSC, a leadership initiative of the WEF. Here are some of his latest accomplishments/pieces:
- September 2022: Speaker and Moderator in New York alongside the UN General Assembly at the Priority Summit, hosted by the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute.
- May 2022: Speaker at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland alongside Global Shapers from the Ukraine, Switzerland, Australia, the Managing Director of the WEF, and the former Editorial Director of BBC News. Topic: Tackling Youth Mistrust.
- May 2022: Co-presented the findings of the world’s first Youth-Driven Recovery report at Davos, as co-chair of this initiative (throughout 2021) which reached 2 million people and compiled 40 policy recommendations informed by the hopes and insights of young people in over 150 countries through dialogues and surveys.
- 2021: Global profile by the World Economic Forum and Global Shaper panelist on a WEF & Quartz Panel on The Future of Capitalism: A Youth Perspective.
- April – December 2020: Co-Founder of the Reimagine Society Initiative with Alexis Taylor.
- Mid-2020, one of 50 global scholars to be awarded the Rotary Peace Fellowship to pursue fully funded graduate studies at UNC-Duke University in the Environment, Ecology and Energy Program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Miguel made the difficult decision to withdraw from the award but continues to be on the lookout for collaboration opportunities on issues related to climate action, decarbonization, nature-based solutions, green tech, along with socio-economic and energy transformation.
- Mid-2020: Apolitical Insider Fellow, COVID-19 edition. Check out his piece “We must use the momentum from Covid-19 to reimagine government.”
Public Speaking + Reflection Pieces
Miguel has delivered a number of speaker engagements on migration, youth, social innovation, and policy, including a TEDx talk on forced migration. To book Miguel for a speaker engagement, please fill out this form.
Check out Miguel’s blog + analysis pieces HERE – more to come! To contact Miguel, please follow this link.
Passionate about social and environmental causes, Miguel enjoys dedicating his time to community and volunteering. A proud member of the Global Shapers community, he’s also volunteered extensively through the Rotaract foundation and independently through social work, working closely with marginalized folks in Northern British Columbia, along with K-12 and ESL tutoring. Miguel also volunteered hundreds of hours by mobilizing youth to launch what would later become the non-profit IdeasXChange.
MEMBER – GLOBAL SHAPERS COMMUNITY (2016 – Present)
- Member of Global Shapers, an initiative backed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) comprised of emerging leaders local and global leaders Volunteer with members to promote discussions on local/global issues
- Check out his reflection piece on the G7 Youth Consultation on the Jobs of the Future hosted by the Montreal chapter of Global Shapers
PRESIDENT (2015-16) – ROTARACT CLUB OF VANCOUVER (2012-16)
- Former member of the youth arm of the club Rotary Club of Vancouver
- Chaired a service club of 80 members, board of directors meetings, supported charity projects/fundraisers, engaged community partners
PROJECT LEAD – STEM EDUCATION PROJECT IN COLOMBIA (2016-17)
- Fostered partnership with grassroots organization and Rotary Clubs in Colombia and Canada to deliver STEM (robotics/engineering) classes to 10 vulnerable children from April-August 2017 via Minecraft EDU.
- Secured grants through speaker engagements, community building
- Check out his reflection piece on the pilot project
Miguel has given various speaker engagements since on various themes, notably on human rights, immigration, youth, social innovation, and public policy.
TEDx Speaker. Terry Project, UBC. Vancouver, Canada (2015)
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- Spoke to an audience of 400 people on forced migration
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- Shared personal story as former refugee and crafted a socio-economic argument for nations to accept displaced civilians
Keynote Speaker. UBC Impact Lab. University of British Columbia. Vancouver, Canada (2015)
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- Shared with university students the importance of appreciating multiple perspectives to address the world’s pressing issues
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- Spoke on personal journey as a social entrepreneur to motivate students to pursue their passion
Guest Speaker. Rotary Clubs in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Ladner, Richmond – British Columbia (2015 – Present)
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- Delivered various talks over the years sharing story as a former refugee and moral argument to accept forcibly displaced migrants
Miguel has spoken at various other Rotary clubs in Canada sharing his journey as an internally displaced refugee, as a young member of the Rotary family, and to seek support for what would lead to the 2017 pilot project to support computer literacy classes in Colombia.
Conference Speaker. YES2 2kNow Conference. RCMP D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). Richmond, Canada (2016)
- Shared with grade 7 students personal journey as a former refugee and migrant through a motivational talk
- Spoke on how obstacles in life can become assets through analogies and personal experience
- More information here.
Workshop Assistant. UBC Changemaker Showcase. Ashoka Foudation, Canada. Vancouver, Canada (2015)
- Assisted the Director of the Ashoka Foundation, Canada in the “Changemaker 101” workshop for aspiring entrepreneurs and changemakers
- Shared personal story of founding IdeasXChange and raising awareness about environmental issues
- More information here.
Speaker, Panel Moderator. IdeasXChange Hub. IdeasXChange. Vancouver, Canada (2015-17)
- Provided opening and closing statements at over 12 interactive workshops and panel discussions
- Introduced influential community, policy, and academic leaders
- Moderated a wide range of panels on environmental, sustainabiliy, social, economic, and policy themes
- More information on themes here. For videos, follow this link
Miguel has moderated various panel discussions on a wide range of local and global public policy issues.
Knowledge & Expertise
Global affairs, development, sustainability, social innovation and human rights.
Leadership
Founder, mobilizer, youth engagement and policy advocate
Multilingual
Fluent in English and Spanish, intermediate German and French
Policy and Global Affairs
Years of experience in government and the non-profit space
Education
International Relations, Political Science, Economics
Public Speaking
TEDx speaker, motivational talks, advocacy
Blog and Analysis Pieces
Miguel writes pieces on global affairs, sustainability, current events, and human rights. Check out his blog.