From Berkeley to Bogota: Maureen Orth's Six-Decade Crusade for Education Reform in Colombia

May 6, 2026 - 10:19

In the fall of 1963, a man with a bullhorn showed up at Sather Gate and changed Maureen Orth's life. He was recruiting for the newly minted Peace Corps, and Orth, then a political science student at UC Berkeley, signed up without knowing it would set the course of her next 60 years. She was sent to Colombia, a country she had barely heard of, to teach English in a small town. What she found there was a broken education system that barely served the rural poor. She stayed for two years, then returned to the United States, but Colombia never left her.

Decades later, Orth channeled that early experience into a relentless push for educational innovation in Colombia. She founded and funded programs that brought technology, teacher training, and new curricula to underserved communities. Her work focused not on charity but on systemic change, helping schools adapt to the needs of a modern economy. She pushed for bilingual education, digital literacy, and critical thinking skills, often clashing with bureaucrats who preferred the old ways.

Now in her 80s, Orth still travels to Colombia several times a year. She visits classrooms, meets with education ministers, and nudges local leaders to try new approaches. She says the fight is far from over, but she has seen real progress. Students who once had no textbooks now have laptops. Teachers who once lectured from yellowed notes now lead project-based learning. For Orth, the bullhorn at Sather Gate was just the beginning of a long, unfinished story.