Liliana Vélez Quintero is a manager of Cooperativa San Bartolo in Antioquia, Colombia. She got inspired to work in the cooperative as she likes to work with small producers. At the same time, she was as well a Technical Assistant. “I joined the cooperative 10 years ago,” said Liliana. “Then I was elected as manager. Two years later I also became a partner.”
Liliana Vélez Quintero, 32 years old
Cooperativa San Bartolo, Antioquia, Colombia
At first, it was not easy for Liliana to get involved, “At the beginning there was a certain fear because I was a woman. People thought that I could not carry out my job properly because I had to travel all over the area and especially through difficult access places. When I was starting as manager, there was a sector of the council that doubted my abilities. But the reason for this could be that I am a very young women, maybe too young in their eyes, to hold a management position.”
“There are some challenges that woman in leadership positions faces. Mainly, people do not acknowledge and recognize the importance of her work. So, a woman should be clear about her abilities and potential, and above all; have confidence to do her job. Therefore, I think the key to female leadership is to lose fear, have self-knowledge of individual abilities, and to do things with love.”
Nowadays, according to Liliana, the advantages of female leadership and women’s role are more visible. “Women can contribute a lot within organisations and the society. Men begin to recognize that we are more orderly, there is more accuracy in the processes and bring more transparency. For organisations, having women as leader can bring order and greater organizational harmony. Women naturally have the ability to manage resources and create harmonious relationships.” Involvement of young women in cooperative is also important.
“A young woman has more confidence in herself and wants to develop this further, which enables her to take leadership positions.”
It is essential to create a supportive working environment in order to strengthen female leadership and to encourage more (young) women to get involved in cooperatives. “An environment is needed where confidence is given in the skills of women. Cooperatives could contribute to this by, for example, making women’s work visible whether they are leaders or members. In addition to this, requirements could be developed for including female members in administrative and control functions. As well, cooperatives could give trainings and educate women to empower them.”
Nowadays Liliana is, despite her challenging start, very confident with her role and has a strong vision for her cooperative. “My role is fundamental for the development and sustainability of the organization. In my role as manager, I try to empower the members in their roles as this is the fundamental axis of the growth of the company. And in the coming years, I think the cooperative will be recognized as a commercially successful organization, that provides its partners with quality services and benefits to improve their living conditions. With taking into account a social and environmental responsibility.”
In the coming years, Liliana hopes she will be able to help thousands of rural people to have a good quality of life by improving their agricultural productivity.
