Audrey Mena (Colombia) is an Afro-Colombian human rights lawyer who earned her law degree from the Technological University of Chocó in 2010. Inhabited largely by the descendants of African slaves brought by Colombia's Spanish colonizers, the department of Chocó is economically, ethnically and culturally distinct from the majority population in Colombia. Ms. Mena's research and advocacy focus on the human rights violations experienced by Afro-Colombians in Chocó, which result from crushing poverty, socio-environmental conflicts that result from illegal gold mining, and violence from guerillas and paramilitaries who seek to control this remote jungle for coca cultivation and drug smuggling routes. In 2009, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota awarded Ms. Mena the Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellowship for Young Afro-Colombian Leaders, recognizing her exceptional potential as an advocate for racial and environmental justice in Colombia.