Rosa María Payá is a Cuban activist for human rights, democracy, and freedom. Payá is the founder of Cuba Decide (Cuba Decides), a nonviolent, nonprofit, nonpartisan, and plural grassroots campaign organizing for freedom in Cuba. She is also the honorary president of Red Latinoamericana de Jóvenes por la Democracia (Latin America Youth Network for Democracy). Payá has been active in the promotion of democracy in Cuba for over a decade and has received numerous recognitions and awards including People en Español’s one of the 25 most powerful Latin women of 2014, the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) Ileana Ros-Lehtinen International Leadership Award, Morris Abram Human Rights Award granted by UN Watch, the Casa Cuba Award, and the Keys to the City of Miami.
Payá holds a degree in physics from the University of Havana and is a graduate of the Global Competitive Leadership program at Georgetown University.
Payá was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
