Teaching Note: MAKAIA: the return of the co-founder

In June 2006, Catalina Escobar, alongside co-founders Maria Claudia Camacho and Camilo Mondragón, established Corporación Makaia, a Colombian NGO (Miskito for “to make” or “to build”) aimed at fostering human development through international cooperation and technology. For a decade, Catalina led the organization as Executive Director, building a culture rooted in social intuition and close-knit personal relationships.

By 2015, following a strategic renewal, Catalina expressed her desire to step away from day-to-day operations to focus on high-level strategy. She felt the organization needed a different type of leader to achieve “institutional maturity.” This led to a rigorous selection process, and...