Maria José González

Colombian educator who built Latin America's first AI-powered rural education network

Maria José González (b. 1990) pioneered Educar Con Alma, an AI-driven education platform that has connected 250,000 rural students in Colombia and Peru since 2021. Her system uses solar-powered tablets with offline-capable AI tutors delivering personalized curricula in Spanish and Indigenous languages like Quechua and Wayuu. The "Rainforest Classroom" (Vice documentary) initiative provides bi-lingual education to 80+ remote Indigenous communities.

González's Nature paper revealed how her platform closed the urban-rural education gap by 40% in pilot regions. Her "Teacher Training Neural Network" trains educators through VR simulations of diverse classroom environments. The 2024-launched "Science in the Sierra" program brings mobile labs to mountainous regions using drone-delivered equipment.

In 2025, her Open Source Education Framework was adopted by 15 countries in Latin America. Over 50% of Educar Con Alma students now pursue STEM fields, compared to 12% regionally. Her "Digital Storytellers" initiative empowers students to create multimedia projects preserving Indigenous knowledge. A 2025 UNESCO report highlighted her work as a model for post-pandemic education recovery. González's "Schools Without Walls" concept allows students to earn credits through community service projects like reforestation and water conservation efforts.