Maria Emma Mejía is president of the Board of the Directors of Fundación Pies Descalzos. Shakira recruited Ms. Mejía to be the Foundation’s cirector and to help expand its mission throughout Colombia. Ms. Mejía has dedicated her career to public service and society’s most vulnerable people. She met Shakira when she was the minister of education and they began working together. In 1999, she acted as peace negotiator in the peace process with the FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces). Ms. Mejía is currently a member of both the Civil Facilitating Commission, a group that deals with the ELN (National Liberation Army) and the Colombian government’s Foreign Relations Advisory Committee. She believes her work with the Foundation and as a negotiator will help bring peace to Colombia. Ms. Mejía also served as minister of freign relations for the Republic of Colombia from 1995 to 1998, and was nominated to the vice-presidential candidature in 1998. Before she began her career in public service, she worked as a journalist, bringing the forgotten stories of Colombia to the public eye.  Ms. Mejía specializes in media communications and journalism.