WASHINGTON, D.C. /eNewsChannels/ — The U.S. Department of State has named Adriana Labardini Inzunza, a Mexican alumna of the Fulbright, Humphrey, and Voluntary Visitor programs, as State Alumni Member of the Month. Throughout July, her leadership and promotion of community service will be recognized on the State Alumni website (https://alumni.state.gov), the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ official website for the more than one million Department-sponsored exchange alumni worldwide. Each month, the Bureau’s Office of Alumni Affairs, which supports alumni as they build on their exchange experiences, confers the award on an outstanding alumnus or alumna.
Labardini studied at the Columbia University Law School as a Fulbright student from 1990 to 1991, completed a Humphrey Fellowship at the University of North Carolina in 2003, and in 2006 she participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program on non-governmental organization management and development. Beyond her exchange programs, she has had a wide variety of professional experiences ranging from being a partner in the Sanchez -Mejorada y Velasco law firm to the chief of staff at the Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission (COFETEL).
During her Humphrey Fellowship, Labardini focused on information technology, public policy, and rural development, and sought to create business models for less advantaged sectors. She returned to Mexico in 2006 concerned about the situation of consumers, law enforcement, and access to justice. Labardini started a public interest law firm for consumers, and also founded Mexico’s first advocacy non-profit organization, ALCONSUMIDOR, A.C., and a research center on consumption and consumers (Centro de Investigación del Consumo y el Consumidor, A.C.).
Her initiatives have elevated the consumer protection agenda at the federal level in Mexico. ALCONSUMIDOR, is devoted to assisting, informing and empowering users of services such as energy and telecommunications. The company also acts as watchdog for pro-competition law enforcement, rules, and policymaking. As executive director, she organized the first International Congress on Class Action Regimes for Consumers and co-authored a bill on class action legislation in Mexico.
Labardini is a founding member of the Fulbright-García Robles Mexican Alumni Association and, as a lawyer, assisted in writing its bylaws. She served as secretary of the association’s first board of directors from 1996 to 1999. She is also an active member of the Mexican Fulbright Commission’s (COMEXUS) selection committee. In this role, she interviews Fulbright and Humphrey candidates from Mexico.
For more information, visit the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ website at http://exchanges.state.gov/alumni/alumnus.html.
