Paula Porras Reyes is a senior program officer with the youth, peace & security team in USIP’s Center for Thematic Excellence. She leads the Institute's youth portfolio, which aims to elevate the experience and voices of youth in conflict-affected communities so they are seen as crucial contributors to the field of peacebuilding globally and in their communities.  

Reyes manages the Generation Change Fellows Program, a core program of the youth portfolio, where she started as a fellow in 2017. She also serves as a trainer for the program, which strengthens youth leaders’ peacebuilding skills and brings them together in a community to help them achieve social change.

Prior to joining USIP in 2020, Reyes worked for eight years in the peacebuilding field and spent three years as director of the nonprofit organization Somos CaPAZes, which aims to educate and innovate for peace. There, she conducted conflict management trainings and lead the design of educational curriculums and online courses on peacebuilding and leadership. She also was a co-founder of Educacionenpaz—a virtual platform for promoting peace education and reconciliation in Colombia and Latin America—and was an innovation advisor at The National Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation in Colombia.  

Reyes holds degrees in industrial engineering and business administration from the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.