The story of CollectiveUP: transforming society from shadows to light
This journey began as a response to the universal quest for collective meaning and the challenge of overcoming personal hurdles, as our CEO and founder Liliana Carrillo found pathways to deeper self-understanding and purpose within our modern world. This solo adventure to build a brighter future, grew into a collective quest to transform society together.
Although CollectiveUP was officially founded on the 2nd of April 2021, the core soul of this project was born many years before. Such inspiration was seeded in Liliana’s mind between 2011 and 2016, during a challenging period of her life. Originally from Colombia but based in Europe, Liliana was moving from Switzerland to Belgium, where settling as a foreigner represented considerable challenges, such as lack of funding for underrepresented entrepreneurs, integration difficulties, and mental health struggles. Liliana was searching for a space to create meaning within her own life and meaningful social impact. The first years were tough but enlightening.
Back in 2016, Liliana was a researcher for the University College Artevelde in Ghent, an inspiring experience which exposed her to a world of creativity and social impact, leading her to work with and for youths—the next generation of decision-makers. Her children were a huge motivation to delve into self-directed education, peer-to-peer approaches to education and the Agile Learning Centers. Moreover, the Build Peace Conference in North-Ireland, and the Democracy Earth Foundation through her role as an Ambassador for liquid democracy were stepping stones and then the path was clear: it was time to upgrade our society, thus CollectiveUP was born.
In 2019, Liliana was invited by TEDxAntwerp to give a speech on Human trust - The Missing UPgrade for Our Democracy.
The global COVID crisis also put things into perspective: Should we compromise and just do what keeps us in the job market without motivation? Or should we strive for creating something that holds real value for us and for the world? – This powerful reflection and wanting to create something meaningful on a personal and collective level is what attracted other enthusiasts to join Liliana’s path.
Liliana started this journey alone, motivated by her knowledge, sensitivity, travel experiences, and personal challenges. But as soon as CollectiveUP was born, she was thoroughly supported by her life partner Frederick Ducatelle, and soon they were joined by other innovative, interdisciplinary and multicultural professionals who shared that same passion and inspiration for creating a real positive impact. At CollectiveUP, we always align our minds with our hearts, pursuing our passions and supporting those of our colleagues, letting our hands and bodies bring this vision to life.
CollectiveUP then tapped into the competitive EU funding framework, a decision that has played a pivotal role in our growth. Current pressing subjects, such as the need for more ethical use of technology in our society, youth participation, and inclusive education marked our motivation for creating projects such as Fostering Artificial Intelligence in Schools, Youth 4 Bauhaus, and Agile 4 Collaboration. Today, our CUP Team aims at reducing biases in the digital and social realms, providing better and more just solutions for the representation of genders, races, and diverse backgrounds in Europe’s digital, green and social transitions.
CollectiveUP envisions a society thriving on inclusion, equality, diversity, and harmony with nature and the planet. Our mission is multifaceted, focusing on supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a guiding star for CollectiveUP’s vision. Due to Liliana’s background working in technology and her passion for social impact, this project was born as a way to foster the Collective UPgrading of our societies – a way to enhance and boost a human transformation of the world were we all live in.
CollectiveUP has successfully completed several Erasmus+, Horizon Europe and local Belgian projects, impacting hundreds of young people, communities, and educators. Furthermore, we started an online community which grows everyday, and we are now launching LearnUP, an educational branch through which we want to offer back to society what we have researched and developed through our previously funded projects. CollectiveUP continues to grow and now moves forward with the motto #TransformingTogether.
This journey is ongoing, it is a testament to resilience, innovation, and a deep-seated desire to learn and make a difference. As we continue to impact more lives, we remain committed to our vision, and because of that we welcome anyone who wants to join this community and be part of a personal and collective transformative journey.
