Alfonso Galarce

Columbia SIPA Luksic Fellowships for Chile

Chief Budget Planning Officer, Chilean Ministry of Environment

Being a practitioner of martial arts for more than 18 years, I like to identify with the concept of the samurai, whose literal translation would be “those who serve” or “servers”, reflecting a spirit of service. As a public administrator, I have worked in the public service for more than 15 years, in different areas.

My first steps as a professional were in the United Nations Development Programme, specifically in environmental issues. From there, my interest in caring for the environment arose, which I was able to deepen thanks to the Luksic Fellowship, which allowed me to pursue the MPA program in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University. Currently, I work in the Climate Change Office of the Ministry of the Environment of Chile, in charge of the area of ​​international financing and negotiation, in a challenge that invites us to work together in the face of a global problem, contributing with domestic actions.

I sincerely appreciate the support received to generate this change in my life, and thus contribute to this collective effort in pursuit of sustainable development for our society, both for current and future generations, and especially thinking about the future that holds for my daughters.”

The support of the Luksic Fellowship was fundamental to achieve a change in the course of my professional career. The first-level training provided by Columbia, allowed me to deepen my knowledge in some areas of environmental sciences, which complemented my training as a public administrator. Specializing in public policies allowed me to make a transition to the area of ​​international financing and negotiation in climate change.

That year at Columbia was a wonderful experience. Being with students of the most diverse nationalities, with very different life stories and academic formation, with professors and researchers of the highest level, helped me to open my own horizons. All this in a city like New York, one of the most cosmopolitan in the world, in which we embarked on a family adventure with my wife Leila and my two daughters, Isidora and Florencia. We remember that stage as a small treasure in our lives.

Today I work on a subject that I consider relevant, with a public service purpose of the highest level, transcending national boundaries and working towards common global objective. My service vocation can be complemented with a new challenge in my life, which I am very proud of, since as of October 24, 2018 I am a volunteer of the Third Firefighters Company of Ñuñoa, the Los Guindos Pump, in Santiago. I am starting what I hope will be a long journey of service to the community, motivated by philanthropy and fraternity.

I sincerely appreciate the support received to generate this change in my life, and thus contribute to this collective effort in pursuit of sustainable development for our society, both for current and future generations, and especially thinking about the future that holds for my daughters.