Accountability Lab Mexico is inspiring a national movement—led by civil society, on the ground, online and through the media—to celebrate, encourage and connect honest public servants. At a time when the national discourse has become distinctly negative, Team Mexico is flipping the script and moving away from naming and shaming corrupt leaders and towards naming and faming those public officials that are working with integrity to deliver and build honest public services in Mexico.  This year, we’re running two campaigns one focused on celebrating young people in public service and another on celebrating exemplary public servants working in sustainability.

Integrity Icon: Our recent winners of the women in public service edition have included, Andrea Gallegos Rodríguez, the Social Communication Coordinator and Head of the Gender Unit at the State Electoral Prosecutor’s Office (FEDE). She is a member of the Observatory of Women’s Political Participation in Nuevo León and coordinated the creation of the Protocol to address cases of gender-based political violence in Nuevo León. Irma Isabel Espinoza Gómez is the Secretariat of Public Works of the State of Hidalgo in the Undersecretary’s Office of Project Management and Evaluation. She is also the Counsellor of “Protocol O” to prevent and eradicate harassment in the workplace. Paulina Vallejos Escalona is a Political Scientist and Public Administrator. She serves as the Director of Monitoring the Implementation of Public Policies in the Executive Secretariat of the National Anticorruption System. María del Carmen Nava Polina is a political scientist. She has dedicated herself to being an observer of the public to guarantee human rights, the right to know, transparency, and access to information and to be a counterweight and balance of institutions to strengthen democracy. She was first recognised in our regional CDMX edition in 2020. Verónica Mendizábal López is a surgeon and midwife. She graduated from the Escuela Superior del IPN and specializes in family medicine. She has worked in healthcare for 28 years.

The recent winners of the sustainability edition included,  Efraím Castellanos Frayre, an Electrical Engineer in the Secretariat of Economic Development of the Government of the State of Durango. He is a pioneer in the renewable energy industry and is interested in encouraging and promoting the efficient use of renewable energies in the public, private and academic sectors. Kenia Montiel Pimentel is the Undersecretary of Social Development of the State of Hidalgo. She has established a sustainable house which she turned into a laboratory to educate members of her community to produce their food to reduce hunger and promote sustainability. Mirelle Segovia Martin is the Head of Renewable and Industrial Energies in the Undersecretary of Energy at the Secretariat of Economic Development of the State of Yucatan. She believes integrity means sharing knowledge to include everyone, including underrepresented people and youth. Monica Armas Zagoya is the Deputy Director of Information and Telehealth of Zacateca. She is dedicated to the innovation of telemedicine, tele-education and teleconsultation projects to bring health services closer to people in remote areas. Raúl Samuel Ulloa Herrera is a Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INAPESCA). He is a high-level researcher, and his work translates into services for the fisheries and aquaculture sector in his region, which seeks to care for the balance in marine ecosystems.

Accountability Incubator: The recent group of our Accountability Incubator program included three young people with strong ideas and projects that encourage open government, transparency and accountability related to Covid-19 and broader social accountability issues in Mexico.