Mauricio Albarracin

Mauricio Albarracín-Caballero

Deputy Director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program
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Mauricio is an expert on LGBT rights and constitutional law. He brings 20 years of experience in national and regional advocacy in Colombia and Latin America. He combines theory and praxis, basing his activism and advocacy on the foundation of two LL.M degrees, one from Universidad de Los Andes, in 2011, and another - as a Fulbright scholar - in International Legal Studies from American University, obtained in 2013. In 2019, he completed his Doctor of Law, with a thesis entitled “A Constitution of One's Own: Constitutional Mobilization for LGBTI rights in Colombia”. He has published extensively on LGBTI rights, social movements, and the law. Since 2010, he has been adjunct professor at Universidad de Los Andes, School of Law, teaching primarily on law and social movements. 

Mauricio spent 10 years at Colombia Diversa in various roles, including as researcher, attorney, and ultimately executive director. During this time, he pioneered reports on violence and discrimination in Colombia that informed advocacy and strategic litigation. He also contributed to the design and implementation of the most significant LGBT related cases to come before the Colombian constitutional court, cases that have significantly expanded family law for same sex couples, including marriage equality. 

In 2015 Mauricio joined Dejusticia, initially as Litigation Director and subsequently, Deputy Director. Dejusticia tackles a range of human rights issues, and Mauricio was responsible for conceptualizing and implementing the main constitutional cases brought by the organization in diverse areas, including climate change, the right to protest, drug policy, gender discrimination, the peace process, migration, and socioeconomic rights. 

Mauricio’s academically informed advocacy combines deep legal analysis with innovative strategies to pursue social change, rooted in his breadth of experience in Latin America. He is a native Spanish speaker, fluent in English, and competent in French and Portuguese.