Sale of Indigenous Art to Help Wayuu Community

A French citizen and Sorbonne PhD recipient, Sarah Moya Machado has spent more than a decade in the oil and gas industry. Outside of her professional life, Sarah Moya Machado has devoted herself to philanthropic initiatives. Among other efforts, she founded Ventana Magica, a project to assist children in Colombia. In recognition of her efforts, she received an award from Colombia’s Wayuu indigenous community. 

For nearly 2,000 years, the Wayuu people have lived in the deserts of Colombia’s La Guajira region. The community members live in thatched huts and survive through a mix of farming, aquaculture, and traditional crafts. However, the traditional ways of the Wayuu are increasingly susceptible to malnutrition, threats to their aquaculture industries, and climate change.

As the story of the Wayuu becomes more well-known outside of Colombia, individuals like Ms. Machado, as well as nonprofit groups, have launched initiatives to support the tribe. One of the most recent efforts involves a duo in North Vancouver, Canada, who are importing handicrafts from Wayuu artisans to sell to Canadian buyers. 

Valentina Pinzón and Paola Perdomo, two Colombian natives, came up with the idea when trying to find charities to help people from their native country. Currently, the team donates a percentage of every sale to Munai, a Colombian nonprofit group that works with children in impoverished areas.

Cirque du Soleil Raises Curtain on Ice Show

A French citizen, Sarah Moya Machado received a PhD in political science from the Sorbonne in Paris. She also stands out as the founder of Ventana Magica, a special project directed toward helping underserved communities in Colombia. During her free time, Sarah Moya Machado enjoys traveling, dancing, and attending Cirque du Soleil shows.

Founded outside of Quebec City in 1984 by a small group of 20 street performers, Cirque du Soleil has grown to one of the most successful performance groups in the world. Today, more than 1,300 performers in dozens of countries around the globe entertain audiences with the company’s trademark circus-inspired artistry. The company has been inventing and re-inventing itself since its founding and continues to find new ways to inspire and engage audiences.

In December 2017, Cirque du Soleil presented the debut performance of its new show on ice, Crystal. The show combines the traditional circus arts of the stage show with the grace and elegance of world-class ice skaters while following the story of Crystal, an adolescent struggling with self-acceptance. 

Cirque du Soleil plans to tour the new show around North America for the majority of 2018. To learn more about the show or to see tour dates, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/crystal.

Sorbonne University System

Sarah Moya Machado has worked in the energy sector for more than a decade. Before beginning her career, Sarah Moya Machado attended Sorbonne University in Paris, earning a doctoral degree in political science and diplomas in business and economics. 

Sorbonne University comprises several schools, many of which were universities in their own right before merging into Sorbonne. Paris-Sorbonne University and Pierre et Marie Curie University are the two most prestigious member schools, as France's largest and highest-ranked institutions of higher learning, respectively. These schools cover the humanities, literature, civilizations, science, and medicine between them, and form the core of most Sorbonne offerings.

Other member schools specialize more narrowly. INSEAD, for instance, focuses its efforts on business, with an emphasis on cross-cultural exchange in the business world. Those interested in music, drama, and dance can attend Pôle Supérieur d’Enseignement Artistique Paris Boulogne-Billancourt, which offers professional degrees in those fields. These partnerships enable each school to provide more specialized instruction and improve student outcomes.

2018 International Oil and Gas Conference Occurs in London

Sarah Moya Machado recently served as country manager for PDVSA Gas Columbia in Bogota, where she oversaw trading operations for natural gas export and sale to Venezuela. To help her remain current with industry trends, Sarah Moya Machado belongs to the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and attends industry events.

Begun in 1981, AIPN supports international energy negotiators across the globe. Today it serves more than 4,200 members from more than 110 countries. The nonprofit professional membership association helps these members through networking forums, educational programs, and conferences.

One of the organization’s 2018 events takes place Oct. 25-26 at the Corinthia Hotel in London, titled Dispute Resolution in the International Oil and Gas Business. A similar event in 2017 featured speaker panels representing advocates, experts, and arbitrators in the energy field. Attendees, including independent practitioners, law firms, and in-house counsel for gas and oil companies, participated in roundtable discussions as well as question-and-answer sessions.

AIPN Talks Future of Angola Oil Market

An experienced professional working in the oil and gas industries, Sarah Moya Machado has served as an analyst for companies in Europe and South America. Active in her field, Sarah Moya Machado maintains membership in the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN).

Last September, upwards of 150 oil and gas industry professionals attended an event sponsored by the Europe-Africa chapter of AIPN called “Back to the Future: Capitalizing on Angola’s World-Class Oil and Gas Assets” that was held in Luanda. Increased demand and lower prices have had a damaging effect on Angola, even though the country has plentiful oil deposits. There are still ways that the country can effectively leverage its natural resources, however, into a prosperous formula, and the event was held to brainstorm some of those possibilities.

Two discussion panels were held at the event. One focused on luring investors back to Angola and another was devoted to ways to more effectively monetize the country’s oil. AIPN considered the event a success based on how it was able to bring both industry and government to the table to talk about a shared vision for the country’s oil market and it may hold similar events in the future.

About TED and Its Mission

A French citizen, Sarah Moya Machado earned her doctor of political science from Paris-Sorbonne University in 2004. Always seeking to stay engaged in the forefront of cultural thought and innovation, Sarah Moya Machado frequently watches TED talks. 

More than three decades ago, a conference based on the intersection of technology, entertainment, and design was formed to help foster conversation and forward-thinking action in these areas. That event would turn into the brand now known as TED - a lecture series that spans topics from nearly all walks of life in upwards of 100 different languages. 

Above all, TED is an organization that seeks to promote greater understanding of the world around us through the sharing of thoughts and ideas. Some of the foremost thinkers in the world have graced the TED stage, sharing their stories and inspiring a new generation of change-makers to dream bigger and bring new ideas to fruition. To learn more about TED and its mission, visit ted.com.

Three Must-Watch TED Talks of 2017

French citizen and accomplished oil and gas veteran Sarah Moya Machado has extensive experience in negotiating large-scale contracts for both the importation and exportation of natural gas and gasoline. In her free time, Sarah Moya Machado enjoys watching TED talks, which are talks sponsored by the TED organization on a broad range of subjects and chosen on the slogan “ideas worth spreading.” 

2017 had many memorable TED talks. Here are three that were among the most popular and informative:

1) "The future we are building – and boring," by Elon Musk 

In this talk, Elon Musk opens up to TED’s Chris Anderson about the future the world is heading toward. He talks about driverless cars, how boring tunnels in underground Los Angeles will solve traffic problems, and humankind’s future multi-planetary existence.

2) "Why you should define your fears instead of your goals," by Tim Ferriss

Author and investor Tim Ferriss traces his biggest successes to fear setting, a practice where he vividly details his fears. In this TED talk he teaches the practice and elaborates how doing it can help individuals find success in high-stress environments and get beyond self-paralyzing behaviors. 

3) "Thoughts on humanity, fame, and love," by Shah Khan 

Bollywood star Shah Khan opens up about growing up as an orphan in India, moving to Mumbai, and finding success. He combines charm and humor while sharing his stories about life in the spotlight, aging, and the hard truths he has learned.