who we are
the fundation
TAAP Foundation is an organization driven by researchers, artists and teachers who care deeply about working with communities affected by violence to create change from within. As a social innovation organization, we believe that by removing barriers to training, and promoting access to opportunities and resources, everyone in communities can develop their own creative solutions to the fundamental challenges that fuel violence.
Our vision is of a world where communities, especially children, youth and women, can live in peace and realize their creative potential.
Our mission is to transform the realities of communities through the arts and social innovation so that they can live free of violence and achieve wellbeing.
our team
“I have always believed that dreaming and capturing what we long for through art is a way to create a reality. That is why in TAAP we will continue dreaming, creating and being grateful for the spaces of collaboration, and the fortune of being able to share them with communities, allies and unbeatable volunteers.”
– Gaby Arenas de Meneses –
Gabriela Arenas
Co-founder
& weaver
Gaby is a Social Communicator graduated from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello with a specialization in Journalism and a Masters in Communication for Development. She is a Rotary Peace Fellow with a specialization in Peace from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
She is leader of the Art Team at RoundGlass, where she develops art for wellbeing programs.
For her work as a social entrepreneur Gaby has been recognized as a Rotary Peace Fellow, CAFAM Atlantic Woman, Ashoka Fellow, Perenial Fellow, winner of the Ideas Contest in the Social Entrepreneurship Category and finalist in the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award of the Schwab Foundation and Venezuela Without Limits Foundation. She was recognized by She Is as Social Woman of the Year 2022 in Colombia.
Social entrepreneur, researcher and professor of Communication Research. She has been a coordinator and speaker at various forums and meetings on issues related to peace building and social and educational innovation.
Since 2008 I have conducted several research projects in communities, all of them related to the analysis of violence, peace building and the use of communication and art for social development.
Co-founder of Weaving Lab, Catalyst 2030 and Colombia Cuida Colombia.
Carlos Meneses
Co-founder & artistic pedagogical Innovator
Carlos is an Illustration and Comics Technician graduated from the Escuela de Historietas López y Acosta in Caracas. He later studied Plastic Arts, mention in Mixed Media, at the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Superiores de Artes Plásticas Armando Reverón (IUESA- PAR).
In 2008 he created the TAAP Foundation and developed a learning methodology for peaceful coexistence through art that has received several international awards, including being part of the Nexso initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, being invited to the Biennial of Art and City of Florence 2015 and the FIA 2013 – 2014 and 2015.
Carlos is a photographer and visual artist specialized in Art and Pedagogy and in the development of learning ecosystems in communities.
María Fernanda Sánchez
project coordinator
Degree in Social Communication from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello with a major in Advertising and Public Relations. She has a master’s degree in Digital Marketing and specialized in strategic marketing for channels.
She has more than 20 years of experience in the development of BTL marketing projects and strategies for mass consumption and services companies.
She has developed regional campaigns for Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Chile. She is currently the Project Coordinator of Fundación TAAP and works in the development of communication strategies for all our initiatives.
María Eugenia Juárez
pedagogical coordinator
Degree in Education, major in Social Sciences from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, she is a social leader and passionate educator who has worked to improve education and the social sector in Venezuela.
She has experience in the development of learning experiences and management of social projects. Working with children and adolescents, she has incorporated different pedagogical tools for teaching content in the areas of Spanish and social sciences. Among them constructivism, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, inverted classes, among others.
This helps students to be active and develop knowledge on their own, guaranteeing respect for individual differences and autonomous learning.
María Camila Piñeros
communications coordinator
Social communicator – journalist from Politécnico Grancolombiano, specialized in Project Management with focus on management skills from Universidad de La Sabana. With experience in research, communications, content generation, social networks, coverage of events and social projects.
laura vanessa castaño
process facilitator
Surgeon, entrepreneur, in love with life and its difficulties, director of the Airs of Hope Foundation located in Manizales Caldas Colombia. Protection referent and defender of the rights of migrant children and adolescents in the coffee region.
Counselor of the PAZo a PAZo program of the High Commissioner for Peace in Manizales Caldas, diploma at the University of Manizales “Women and gender equity”, diploma at the Autonomous University of Latin America “More justice less barriers”. She was part of Doctors Without Borders in Venezuela for 3 years, she is moved by the love of serving others and helping the needy with a career of more than 8 years in the social field, volunteer and focal point of TAAP Foundation in the coffee region.
Natalia Caicedo Mosquera
communitary liaison in Chocó
Social worker, graduated from the Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó Diego Luis Córdoba. She is President of the Public Policy Committee on gender equity and a specialist in children and adolescents. She has experience in the coordination and monitoring of social programs.
Natalia also uses the power of radio to address issues related to youth and the possibility of being an agent of change within their communities.
Iván Rivas Asprilla
communitary liaison in Chocó
Early childhood educator and teacher in elementary and primary education. San Pío X Higher Normal Educational Institution. Teacher of the “Escuela de Refuerzos Naty”. Director of the martial music band of IETEC. Coach of the Oro y Platino Soccer Club and local liaison for the execution of the Goleadoras Program in Condoto, Chocó.
Aminta robinson
communitary liaison in providencia & santa catalina
Raizal woman from Providencia, elementary school teacher and creator of the Miss Raxi Corporation that promotes the preservation of the Raizal culture. Collaborator of TAAP in the community strengthening project on the island.
KAren Molina
communitary liaison in cúcuta
Araucana by birth, but currently lives in La Fortaleza, Cúcuta. She is a proud homemaker and mother of four children whom she affectionately nicknames “My tender version” “Hicha,” Oppa” and “Hasaam.”
She has dedicated herself to tutoring children. She is also known for doing community work with different NGOs and being a great activist within her community. She is passionate about soccer and, for this reason, is one of our local liaisons for the implementation of the Goleadoras Program in Cúcuta.
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our
collaborators
Erasmo Ferrante
Visual communicator graduated from the Instituto de Diseño de Caracas in 2002, with more than 19 years of experience focused in the area of illustration, graphic design, 2D animation and for almost 5 years as a teacher in the same institution where he obtained his degree as an Illustrator. He has worked as a permanent employee and also as an Independent / Freelance for different companies throughout his career, assuming important challenges and meeting the deadlines for each project, leaving satisfied customers.
Andrés Silva
Publicist / Graphic Designer and Web Developer, with more than 17 years of experience in advertising graphic design (ATL – BTL – Trade Marketing), digital marketing, networking and web development. Self-taught, curious and enterprising. Music is part of my life and I take it everywhere I go.
P&T Contadores
P&T Servicios Contables S.A.S. is a company linked to Paniagua & Tovar Abogados S.A., a prestigious firm with more than 40 years of experience in providing tax advisory services.
The firm has an excellent team of professionals in Public Accounting, specialized in the services of Tax Auditing, auditing, accounting advice, implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), horizontal property accounting, assistance in employee recruitment and payment of social security contributions, among other services.
our volunteers
Natalia Suárez
Daniela Páramo
Constanza López
Luisa Rodríguez
Marcela Salazar
Nataly Peña
Olga Rubiano
Sara Cuesta
Celinda López
Carlos Rivas
Laura Castaño
Grecia Ferrer
Adriana Tabares
Andrea Tabares
Emilia Forero
Alejandra Bejarano
Cristina Buraglia
Omar Figueroa
Alexandra Ramírez
Volunteer doctors
Camila Duque
Sara Velez Leal
Nicole Builes
Sara Villegas Molina
Tatiana Pizarra
Daniela Gutierrez
Jackie Arroyo Sierra
Volunteer photographers
Santiago Marquez
Juan Carlos Lenz
Nohemí Ascanio
Francisco Contreras
Jesús Yaleison Mosquera
Volunteer artists and influencers
Alejandro Riaño
María Riaño
Carolina Guerra
Goyo
Christian Byfield
Diego Camargo
our allies
our history
TAAP through the years
2008
We began our workshops in Turgua, in the rural area of Hatillo in Venezuela, serving 60 children from the Mano Amiga La Montaña School.
These workshops were the result of a process of research and analysis on the use of art and communication for development as tools for the reduction of violence.
2009
We expanded our programs to children, adolescents, parents and teachers in four communities in Venezuela, reaching 1200 beneficiaries. This expanded impact was the result of a research process that allowed us to identify that in order to achieve the pacification of the communities it was necessary to work in an integral way with children, youth, their families, schools, organizations and local authorities.
2010
We participated in the International Meeting of Peace Builders and joined the Network for Peace, in an effort to articulate actions to reduce violence in Venezuelan communities.
By 2010, the statistics included in the Mortality Yearbooks of the Ministry of Popular Power for Health confirmed that more than 136,568 Venezuelans died between 1999 and 2010 in homicides committed with firearms. For this reason, the creation of this network and joint actions between organizations and academia became a priority to achieve systemic changes in the communities.
2011
We were invited by UNICEF to be the organization that received its Goodwill Ambassador, David Bisbal in Venezuela. We were finalists for the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Schwab Foundation and Fundación Venezuela sin Límites. And we consolidated our programs in communities by initiating the Peaceful Coexistence program for teachers.
2012
We were appointed Ambassadors of Peace by UN Venezuela. We held the first Artists on Artists Meeting to promote art as a tool for social change.
2013
We were winners of the Ideas Contest. We carried out our first Mobile Toy Library for Peace, training educators from more than 20 public schools in Venezuela.
2014
We were selected as Ashoka Fellows. We started our programs in Colombia. We started our first cycle of ArteTecas for Peace training more than 3,000 parents and teachers in education methodologies through art and play.
2015
We were selected as part of the LEGO Foundation’s Re-Imagine Learning Network. We participated in the Fiis Social Innovation Festival and initiated our teacher training program in Chile.
2016
We launched the book La Perfecta Niña Imperfecta and expanded the reach of our program to women victims of the armed conflict in Colombia. We were part of Ashoka’s Globalizer Program. We were selected as Global Change Leaders. And we participated as teachers in the Viva Network for Social Entrepreneurs. In #ChangeMakered Ireland we had the opportunity to share with innovative schools from around the world keys to promote peace building and peaceful coexistence in schools.
2017
Our Director was selected as a Cafam Atlántico woman. We co-created the 1st Latin American Meeting on Transformative Education. We conducted the first training cycle for educators in Qatar as part of the Wise Summit. The CEMEX award from the Technological University in Monterrey granted us recognition as “Outstanding Project” in the category Social Entrepreneurs 2017 Edition.
2018
We were Co-creators of the first Global Change Leaders Meeting in Lyon, France and Co-founders of the Weaving Lab. We presented the TAAP methodology at the Skoll World Forum and conducted the first training for educators and entrepreneurs in England and Ireland. We participated in the first Character Development meeting in Bahamas and organized the Colombia chapter. Co-facilitated the Weaving Learning Journey in Maastrich and Russia. We participated in the Minka Institute’s program for social entrepreneurs in Jujuy, Argentina and supported the formation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. We co-created the Net-Edu program.
2019
We co-created the 2nd Latin American Meeting of Transformative Education. We participated in the Latin American Impact Investing Summit and conducted our first entrepreneurship training in Ecuador.
2020
We participated in the Change the Script Meeting in Bangalore and conducted the first training cycle for young entrepreneurs and educators in India. Co-facilitated the RoundGlass Learning Summit in Jaisalmer, India. Co-founded the Catalyst 2030 Network to promote the achievement of the SDGs worldwide. Co-founded the Colombia Cuida Colombia movement to support the most vulnerable communities during the pandemic. We impacted more than 3 million beneficiaries through our programs and projects.
2021
FWe were selected as Perennial Fellows and Rotary Peace Fellows because of the impact of our peacebuilding and collaborative impact programs. We reached more than 4,900,000 beneficiaries since our inception as an organization. Our co-founder was named Woman of the Year in the Social Impact Category at the She Is Forum.
2022
We were selected by Louis Vuitton as one of 25 social organizations in the world that inspire visionaries and social change through art.
