Felix Maradiaga

• Founder and Executive Chairman
  Fundación Libertad (FL)

Felix Maradiaga is the Founding Director of Instituto de Liderazgo de la Sociedad Civil (ILSC, Civil Society Leadership Institute), a non-profit centre affiliated to Movement for Nicaragua, one of the largest civic movements in Central America. ILSC offers an innovative programme on leadership development and peacebuilding that trains democracy activists how to deal constructively with conflict. Previously he was the youngest-ever Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense (2004-2007) an institution he helped co-found in 1997. During his ten-year tenure in civil service (1997-2007), he also led the country's Office for Combatant Reintegration and presided over several inter-agency initiatives on disarmament and arms control. His work in peacebuilding has resulted in several international recognitions such as International Youth Peace Prize (2000) and United Nations Disarmament Fellow (2003). He received an MPA (with Honours) from Harvard University and was a Yale World Fellow in 2008.