Our Giant Leap: Meet the women behind SGAC – South America
April 17, 2022 @ 2:00 AM - 3:30 PM UTC-6
To commemorate the Diversity Month, the Diversity and Gender Equality Project Group from the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), also known as Our Giant Leap, has come up with a series of webinars to showcase women of SGAC. For each webinar, 2 to 3 women from each one of the SGAC regions will speak about their background and professional experience, including their role within SGAC. Join us during your lunch or coffee break and enjoy a nice 30 to 45 minutes of discussion with the panelists. You will be able to engage with them in the chat and ask your questions. This second episode will feature women from the South American region. Use #AskOurGiantLeap to ask all your questions before, during and after the Panel on social media. |
Victoria Carter-Cortez
Born in Sucre, Bolivia, Victoria has a background in Astrophysics and aspires to work in the development of space programs. She currently works as a Space Strategy Consultant of the multinational company PwC, where she actively participates in projects that support both the public and private sectors in decision-making, the development of space policies and the performance of economic impact assessments.
Previously, Victoria worked for the European Space Agency at its Foreign Office in Washington D.C. There she analyzed the developments of the main space actors and worked to strengthen the links between the European Space Agency, NASA and other actors in the aerospace sector. Victoria completed her MSc at University College London where, in association with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, she investigated the erratic X-ray auroras on Jupiter. Opening up opportunities in science and technology, particularly for women, is something Victoria is passionate about. To this end, she has worked as an academic mentor internationally, sharing her passion for space and teaching interactive courses to motivate and inspire the next generation of space scientists and engineers.
Isi Casas del Valle
Isi Casas del Valle is a Chilean astropreneur. She holds a bachelor’s in laws (summa cum laude) from Universidad de los Andes (Chile), where she specialized in comparative law and legal English, and minored in basic sciences. With a keen interest in air and space, she worked as an air attorney for a boutique law firm in Chile whilst undergoing a postgraduate degree in Air and Space Law in UDIMA & the Instituto Iberoamericano de Derecho Aeronáutico y del Espacio y de la Aviación Comercial in Spain. She was awarded the Secure World Foundation’s Ray Williamson Future Fund Scholarship to attend the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program of the International Space University hosted in Adelaide, Australia; and presented the paper resulting from the program at the International Aeronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, supported by Secure World Foundation’s IAC Young Professionals Scholarship. Moreover, she was also one of the awardees of the Emerging Space Leader Award of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), to attend the IAC in Dubai.
Roxy Williams
Roxy Williams is NPOC of Nicaragua in SGAC and is the president of the Society of Women in Space Exploration CR. She worked on a CubeSat design with INPE. She was a GHC Student Scholar participating in the largest gathering of women in computing. She co-design an app to determine the most suitable sites for shelters in the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua; Sentinel-1, elevation and land cover derived from FAO’s SEPAL cloud platform and Google Earth Engine was used to derive low, medium and high shelter suitability. Currently Roxy is working as the lead of CDH and Comms subsystems on a Mercury Sample Return Mission design with the SEPG.