Eric Friedenwald-Fishman
creative director | founder
Rodolfo Córdova Alcaraz
With patience and persistence, until dignity becomes a habit.
Rodolfo is a strategist and innovator who protects core societal values, including freedom, justice, equality, and family. He has created initiatives that have changed attitudes, behaviors, practices and policies, and social norms. His focus is on topics related to democracy and civic space, gender equality, environmental sustainability, anti-corruption, and human rights. By uplifting the voices of communities that have been historically impacted by unfair and unjust systems and institutions, his approach is rooted in transformative approaches, particularly the tenet “do no harm.” Rodolfo brings deep expertise that combines data-driven analysis and creative campaign design, coalition building, policy development and advocacy, and harnessing the power of pop culture and creative expression in campaigns.
He is a bi-cultural professional with over 20 years of experience in narrative development and strategic communication, strategy development and implementation, and organizational innovation. He has supported hundreds of groups on rapid response and crisis communication and on identifying and prioritizing key stakeholders to advance goals. As a mentor for social change agents all over the world, Rodolfo is adept at applying an intersectional lens and learning methodologies to refine and strengthen strategy.
His areas of expertise:
- Strategy and advocacy development and implementation
- Narrative development and strategic communication
- Social and behavior change (SBC)
- Crisis communication
- Organizational strategy and innovation
Experience
Rodolfo has experience in nonprofit organizations, international institutions, private consultancies, and academia in 12 countries, including high security risk environments in Central America and in Mexico. He has worked extensively on issues of global migration with a focus on human rights. Using mindfulness as a key tool to identify the levers of systems, he fostered the creation of SBC strategies and of public policies to protect human rights by building and working with multisectoral coalitions. He has held leadership and program leadership positions at Foundation of Justice and Rule of Law, International Network on Migration and Development and International Organization for Migration; has served as the chair of Civilian Advisory Board of the National Migration Institute, Mexico; and served as the Regional Ambassador for the Americas for the Global Leadership Academy of the GIZ. At ISMG/MG he leads the global challenges focus area and serves as the lead SBC strategist for the anti-impunity initiative. Rodolfo has led key influencer initiatives, analysis of political discourse, development of compelling narratives, and an innovative approach to the use of social media, arts, and pop culture to effect change.
Prior to joining ISMG, he held the following positions:
- Deputy director, Foundation of Justice and Rule of Law, Mexico
- Technical secretary, International Network on Migration and Development (INMD), Mexico
- Project coordinator and researcher, Fundar, Research and Analysis Center, Mexico
- Project officer, International Organization for Migration, Mexico City, Mexico
- Independent consultant: the Inter-American Development Bank; the World Bank; the International Organization for Migration’s Regional Office for the European Union, U.K. and Uruguay; Open Society Foundations; Sandblast Arts; and Sussex Center for Migration Research at University of Sussex, U.K.
Rodolfo has a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from ITAM University and a Master of Arts in migration studies from the University of Sussex.
In Community
Rodolfo enjoys spending time with himself. As a self-described introvert, he likes to connect with his deeper self and recharge batteries for continuing endless missions. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his family and his Shining Light. He is involved in the following volunteer positions:
- First chair and member, Civilian Advisory Board of the National Migration Institute, Mexico
- Board member, Centro de Derechos del Migrante, Inc., and Asamblea Popular de Familias Migrantes
- Regional ambassador, the Americas for the Global Leadership Academy of the GIZ.
