A Youth Leader From Chile Fights Discrimination Across the Globe

This article is part of a Women and Leadership special report highlighting women who are charting new pathways and fighting for opportunities for women and others.The first time she encountered discrimination, Isidora Uribe Silva said, she was 12.“Up until that point, having cerebral palsy was never a problem from the perspective of others, but when I changed schools, I was bullied by my classmates,” said Ms.Uribe Silva, who relies on a walker or cane to get around.

“My teachers and the school wouldn’t accommodate me, and I was increasingly isolated.”Ms.Uribe Silva (whose birth name was Isidora Guzmán Silva) said that she ended up leaving and didn’t attend school at all for seven months until she found Institución Teresiana in Santiago, Chile, where she still lives, which was willing to accept her with her disability.“This experience made me deeply aware of the systemic exclusion that exists, not just for myself but for many other marginalized communities worldwide,” said Ms.

Uribe Silva, now 20 and a law student at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.She became an advocate for inclusion policies, working to promote equality in Chile and globally, especially for women like her who have disabilities.Ms.

Uribe Silva was 13 when she developed an app, Encuentra Tu Lugar (Find Your Place), to help disabled people in Chile find accessible parking spaces.Subsequently, she established a foundation of the same name and broadened her goals.

She is a member of the Generation Equality Adolescent Committee of U.N.Women and was selected to be part of the U.N.

Women Leaders Network, established during the U.N.General Assembly’s annual session in September; the group advocates for gender-equal participation in leadership and in decision-making processes.Ms.

Uribe Silva was interviewed by phone and email.The conversations were edited and condensed....