Carolina Riera
Carolina holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Social Change and is the co-founder of Pharos, a foundation committed to widening access to educational and professional opportunities for young people in her home country Argentina. Carolina is passionate about human rights and child studies, with focus on child marriage and education in highly complex contexts.
“In Argentina, there are realities that are often unseen. Realities that are unknown, invisible to a large part of the population. In a country where access to primary and secondary education is often considered universal, the truth is that immense barriers to education still exist, as well as a significant lack of support and guidance for young people and children.
In 2025, as part of my master’s thesis research, I had the opportunity to travel to the province of Salta, in northern Argentina, and meet Silvina: a teacher and member of the Wichí indigenous community of Kilómetro 3 (named after its location alongside a national route), on the outskirts of Tartagal.
When I interviewed her, I found her determination, her passion for education, her dedication to the community and her desire to create a safe space for learning in a highly complex context, full of new dangers for young people, to be truly admirable. I knew then that her work had to be shared with the world.
Not only because Silvina is an undisputed champion of education in her region, having already impacted and supported dozens of children from various indigenous communities throughout their educational journeys, but also because her story highlights the significant challenges we still face as a country and as a society regarding education, childhood and youth.
Because what is not named is not discussed. And what is not discussed does not change. The first step to transforming this reality is to begin to see it and make it visible.”