Viceprefecta de la Provincia de Imbabura | Vice Prefect of Imbabura Province
Paolina Vercoutère Quinche is a Kichwa leader from Imbabura, Ecuador, a politician, feminist, and human rights advocate whose career bridges community organizing, public administration, and political advocacy. As Vice President of Otavalo’s first urban Kichwa council and the current elected Vice Prefect of Imbabura Province, she has promoted participatory processes that connect local communities with the construction of Ecuador’s plurinational state.
She holds a degree in Social and Cultural Development Engineering and a Master’s degree in Gender and Public Policy from FLACSO. She was the first Kichwa woman to serve as Governor of Imbabura and has also served as an urban councilor in Otavalo.
A survivor of political violence, her advocacy contributed to reforms of Ecuador’s electoral framework that established sanctions against political violence. She was co-director of Kilago and served as a national spokesperson for gender parity, promoting women-headed electoral lists.
She currently leads Warmi Imbabura, the first public program in Ecuador dedicated to eradicating gender-based violence through a plurinational and intersectional approach. Through this initiative, she is advancing an agenda of justice, equality, and dignity from Imbabura to benefit Ecuador and the broader Latin American region.