Aurora Vergara Figueroa (born May 14, 1987) is a Colombian sociologist and academic, Vergara has been a tenured professor in the Department of Social Studies at the Icesi University and director of the Center for Afrodiasporic Studies. In July 2022, she was appointed to be part of the transition team of the Gustavo Petro government along with Mauricio Lizcano, Carolina Corcho and Daniel Rojas. In August of the same year, the newly appointed Minister of Education, Alejandro Gaviria, appointed her as Deputy Minister of National Education. On February 27, 2023, she was appointed Minister of Education by President Gustavo Petro, replacing the outgoing Alejandro Gaviria. Early life Aurora Vergara Figueroa was born in Cali, Cauca Valley but grew up in Itsmina, Chocó since she was four years old. She arrived there with her brother and her mother after the disappearance of her father when he was a telephone employee in Emcali. Due to the lack of opportunities to study in Istmina, Vergara thought about entering a convent since it could represent an opportunity to continue her studies but her mother did not give her the required permission.2 In 2003 she won the Convenio prize Andrés Bello in history, which allowed him to move to Cali and enter the Universidad del Valle to study sociology, despite the economic difficulties and having to work in various trades such as domestic service to pay his support, he was able to complete his studies . One of her professors who recognized her academic abilities encouraged her and helped her apply for a scholarship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States where she obtained a master's degree and a doctorate. Later she did a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University Notes References External links |- |- 1987 births Living people Cabinet of Gustavo Petro Government ministers of Colombia Women government ministers of Colombia 21st-century Colombian politicians 21st-century Colombian women politicians