Las mujeres podemos hacer el cambio, en la administración pública | Rocío Serrano Merchán | TEDxESAP
Rocío Serrano Merchán shares her personal journey from economic hardship and family separation to becoming a public administration student and community activist in Colombia. She recounts how she overcame self-doubt and poverty to pursue education and engage in social work with orphaned children, elderly citizens, and the homeless. Her talk argues that real change comes not from policies or speeches, but from acts of love and human connection.
Summary
Rocío Serrano Merchán opens her talk by affirming that women are already making change happen every day, framing her story as representative of many women who have transformed their lives through education and determination. She begins with her difficult childhood, marked by her parents' separation when she was just 4 years old, which left a lasting emotional wound. Despite never seeing her father again, she found the strength to keep pursuing her dreams alongside her mother and sister.
At age 7, Rocío began working with her mother in a small bakery venture, her first exposure to both labor and the fragility of economic dreams. Though the bakery failed due to lack of resources, she held onto the belief that dreams do not have expiration dates. Upon finishing high school, she again faced the harsh reality that her economic situation seemed to make professional education impossible, and she battled inner voices telling her she would never succeed.
Her enrollment at the Higher School of Public Administration (ESAP) became a turning point. She describes how her classes transformed her understanding of civic life, including her relationship to Colombia's political constitution — a book she once dismissed as meaningless but came to see as foundational to social development.
Rocío's social activism began at age 18 when she volunteered at an orphanage, where she encountered a 4-year-old girl separated from her family. Moved by the child's sadness, she began taking the girl out on weekends and organized a birthday celebration by gathering donations from neighbors — a cake, a soda, a dress — to bring the child joy she herself had never experienced as a child.
By 2014, married with two children, Rocío continued her social work with her husband's support. She and her group began visiting a senior citizens' center, bringing chocolate, dancing, and sharing life stories. What started with four participants grew to a group of twenty people, which she describes as a personal blessing.
In 2022, she turned her attention to the homeless population — a community she notes is often rejected and forgotten by society. She researched how to reach them and found that despite their circumstances, homeless individuals displayed remarkable solidarity with one another, sharing basic necessities like soap and haircuts. This reinforced her belief in human dignity and mutual care.
She closes by asserting that true change is not found in speeches, policies, or public office, but in gestures of love — an embrace, a kind act, a word of encouragement. She credits her mentors at ESAP with pulling her out of darkness and giving her the tools to grow. She expresses pride in being a woman and in sharing a story she believes resonates with many women who dare to dream of becoming great.
Key Insights
- Rocío argues that dreams do not have an expiration date, a conviction she formed after her mother's failed bakery business and her own inability to attend university immediately after high school due to poverty.
- Rocío claims that studying at the Higher School of Public Administration fundamentally changed how she understood civic documents like Colombia's political constitution, transforming it from a meaningless book into a tool she now connects to social development.
- Rocío observed that homeless individuals, despite being rejected and forgotten by wider society, demonstrated strong mutual solidarity — sharing soap, bathing together, and cutting each other's hair — which she presents as a lesson in human dignity.
- Rocío contends that real societal change is not produced by political speeches, policies, or public office, but rather through personal gestures of love such as an embrace or a word of encouragement.
- Rocío credits her mentors at ESAP specifically with pulling her out of a personal darkness, arguing that women's advancement depends heavily on having someone who actively encourages them and says 'you can do it.'
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