One day, I wrote to my mother, “Mom, you won’t be hearing from me for two weeks,” and I went to live with the orangutans in the middle of the Indonesian jungle.
I am Cindy Jiménez, and I was named one of the 50 most influential women at Tec de Monterrey.
My story started at PrepaTec, after which I studied a degree in Sustainable Development Engineering. Even though I was interested in the environment right from when I was a little girl, I dreamt of being a lawyer. Afterwards, I realized that I couldn’t see myself with the Mexican Constitution, but, instead, learning about the environment and understanding how systems work to be able to change them.
I had a very active student life. I grew in my degree’s student society until I became president, with the goal of leaving my mark.
In parallel, I grew in INCMty, the most important entrepreneurship festival in Latin America where, thanks to people such as Rob Ryan and Josué Delgado, who saw my potential, I became the general director of volunteering for two years, with 600 volunteers reporting to me, since this is a 10,000-person event.
Later on in my degree, I had the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program in Hong Kong, where I interned in a consulting firm called “The desk” providing public relations services. As part of the international experience, I taught Spanish and saved up to pay for my volunteer programs and trips. I completed two volunteer programs, the first of which was in the Indonesian jungle. I was out of reach for two weeks mapping orangutans, also known as GPS Tracking. Next, I volunteered at the “Giant Panda Breeding Center Research” in Chengdu, China,
rehabilitating pandas that had been living in the centers owing to deforestation, with the objective of sending them back to live in their habitats at some point.
My other international experience was at UC Berkeley, where I went to study, although I wanted to work abroad. I found a vacancy at CVC Monterrey on social networks and applied. I sent numerous emails until they answered one, which is how I completed a research internship in “Energy and Climate Institute,” UC Berkeley. It was a very interesting project because, even though it was based on metropolitan cities in Mexico, it was developed in the U.S. state of California, working on topics of electromobility and clean energies.
In the final stretch of my degree, I started an internship at Sintec Consulting, where I know work after graduating. At first, I was a traditional consultant, but given my pride in my degree, I mentioned to the director Gabriel Briesca that we needed a sustainability project. He placed his trust in me and now the SDG-oriented project is one of the most important tracks.
Four years ago, 2017, I was recognized by Tec de Monterrey’s Women Leaders of Mexico Forum and would like to replicate this women’s empowerment track at Sintec so there will be a before and after in sustainability and women’s empowerment issues.
All these experiences made me realize how important it is to surround myself with inspiring, supportive people. Continuing to learn from them just as they learn from you. You don’t always have to be the hero of the story, but you can also be the companion, without whom there would be no hero.
I am an Outlier because my story starts at Tec and ends up changing the world.
