#10. Education as Empowerment & Empathy: How This Global Advocate Is Decolonizing Academia & Spreading Quality Teaching

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In this episode, we meet an anthropologist, teacher trainer, and civic advocate whose mission is to ensure that education becomes a tool for equity, empathy, and empowerment. From a childhood in a Wi-Fi–less Mexican village to leading service-learning initiatives across Europe, Diana Chavez’s story reveals how privilege, sacrifice, and purpose can transform not only individual lives but entire communities.

She explains what it truly means to decolonize academia—from rethinking the language of history to recognising multiple narratives—and why apologies from colonising nations remain crucial for healing. We also explore her vision for ethical volunteering, designed to dismantle the “saviour complex” and foster genuine cultural exchange, as well as her work spreading quality education through teacher training and NGO leadership.

We explore:

• A life shaped by service: Thailand (youth development), India (public health in the Himalayas), and Europe (teacher training & NGO leadership)
• Why quality education matters in an information-saturated world—critical thinking, media literacy, and empathy
• Decolonizing education: the power of language, multiple historical narratives, and why apologies matter
• Ethical volunteering vs. the “saviour complex”—how to empower communities through true exchange
• Travel with context: richer ways to experience Mexico and Amsterdam (including decolonial tours)
• Diana’s current roles: Director, VIA Netherlands (SCI), and Teacher Trainer/Mentor at Europass Teacher Training Academy

Diana Chavez is a Mexican-American anthropologist, teacher trainer, and cultural advocate based in the Netherlands. With over fifteen years of global service-learning experience, her work spans youth development, gender and reproductive health, climate justice, and intercultural civic engagement.

She is the Director of VIA Netherlands (the Dutch branch of Service Civil International) and a mentor at Europass Teacher Training Academy, where she equips educators across Europe with tools for professional and personal growth.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/diananchavez
• Europass Profile: teacher

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