Juan Cruz Sanchez Freytes

Academic Background: Lawyer, graduated from the National University of Córdoba.

Languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Areas of Interest: Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping, Conflict Management and Resolution, Gender and Diversity, International Relations, Sustainable Development.

Juan Cruz was born in 1991 in Argentina and, after a few years as a member of the National Swimming Team, he studied to become a lawyer and mediator. He followed the family tradition and had experience in labor law and taxes, but in later years he has been focused on mediation and alternative practices of dispute resolution.

He works for the Ombudsman’s Community Mediation Center (CMC), where he is in charge of coordinating special projects, the certification of international quality management standards and providing continuing education and training for mediators.

The CMC has been the perfect place for Juan to promote the culture of peace and mediation as a social practice that contributes to the creation of spaces and processes for participatory dialogue in the community. Over the last years he has been working on the decentralization of public mediation services and public conflicts; however, he is most passionate about the development of access to justice, inclusion and empowerment of vulnerable communities such us sex workers, the trans and diverse collective, the elderly and rural or low income sectors.

Finally, he enjoys being in front of the classroom. Juan is an Assistant Professor for “Theories of Conflict and Decision. Methods of Conflict Resolution” and “Labor and Social Security Law” at the National University of Córdoba. He has also volunteered by teaching at local schools in Tanzania and Malawi.