A. Contact information
B. Experience by geographic region
C. Areas of expertise
D. Gender expertise
E. Other relevant information
<section aria-label="Short bio">
<p><strong>Melissa Puerto Aguayo</strong> is an Erasmus Mundus Scholar in the Software Engineers for Green Deal (SE4GD) program, studying at Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, LUT University, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She previously worked as an Application Developer at IBM, where she led a multilingual document-generation automation project on Salesforce (50+ templates) and served as one of three L2 engineers supporting Nespresso’s ERP across the U.S., Brazil, and Canada.</p>
<p>Her practical background spans sustainable software and data visualization—currently through a capstone with Elisa (Finland)—as well as AI-for-impact work at the UN Environment Programme. She is a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador and has represented youth at global forums (YOUNGO/UNFCCC, World Bank Youth Summit, ECOSOC).</p>
<p>Beyond her technical and academic work, Melissa is deeply involved in grassroots activism in her home region of Cozumel. Through <strong>CIMAC Cozumel</strong>, she collaborates with local and Indigenous communities to defend territories, promote digital inclusion, and advocate for environmental and cultural rights in the Caribbean. Her efforts integrate technology with social justice and sustainable development.</p>
<p>Melissa’s recognitions include the IBM Bravo Award, ECCEDU International IT Scholarship, and Mexico’s Municipal Youth Award; she also captained Mexico’s delegation at the OAS DiploHack Challenge. She holds Azure certifications and is fluent in Spanish and English.</p>
</section>