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GV Board Elections 2020 Contractors’ Rep. Candidate: Gabriela García Calderón

Categories: Board Elections 2020

Gabriela García Calderón (left). Photo by Jer Clarke (CC-BY-NC [1])G.

Gabriela García Calderón [2] is a Peruvian lawyer based in Lima. She blogs at Seis de enero [3] and enjoys reading and movies. She joined Global Voices in November 2007, and is currently Translation Manager for Global Voices in Spanish [4].

All candidates in the 2020 board elections have been asked to answer the set of questions listed below. Feel free to ask Gabriela additional questions in the comments area below this post!

What appeals to you most about the prospect of serving on the GV board?

The possibility of being a voice for other GVers. As someone who's been almost in every section of GV, as a volunteer, as an editor (both regional an Lingua), as the GV-ES bulletin curator and other things, I think I know what it's like to be a GVer and what one of us may need or like to have or find in tthe community.

What talents, skills, connections, and expertise can you offer Global Voices in your role as board representative?

My experience of 12 years as part of GV, three of them as Translation Manager. In all that time, I can say I've seen a lot! And I've learned how to deal with many kinds of situations.

As you look ahead to the next three years, what, in your opinion, should be GV’s overarching priorities as an organization?

First and foremost, our volunteers, caring for them and having them always in mind in every decision the community makes. They are the engine that powers GV!

What aspect of GV’s work interests you the most?

The sense of being part of something greater, to feel I know all other GVer just because we share being a GVer. And in spite of not knowing all of them personally, there is this feeling we are friends and willing to connect. Like this strange COVID-19 days we are going through, it's nice to read how are other people dealing with all this and to know they are alright is reassuring.

What would you like to get out of this board service experience, both professionally and personally?

A better knowledge of how GV works from the inside. I always admire how GV leadership (let's call it that way) manages everything virtually and how they always have the time, the kindness, the care to respond to our needs, requests, demands, et al.

How will you fit board service into your personal and other professional work commitments?

Although I'm pretty sure it'll be a challenge, I'm a very organized person. I work at home for the past three years, and never failed a deadline thanks to my “eagerness” (ehem) to keep things in order and in a timely manner. Besides that, it's part of my features, as a pitta Ayurveda type (which I'm just discovering).

What methods would you use to engage and listen to the community in order to represent them effectively at board level?

I'll have all my means of communication open: e-mail, Slack, my GV profile page, phone, IM, social networks. Well, let's say Twitter, as I don't have Instagram or Facebook account. All those or any other that I might get to know in future times. I'd say I'm very “reachable”.