About
JoselynNicoleFranco Ocaña.
“I grew up in one of the most extraordinary places on Earth — and that changed everything.”
Born in Ecuador, resident of the Galapagos Islands, Joselyn Nicole Franco Ocaña is a professional in International Relations and Tourism, projecct manager, and a trained performing arts practitioner. Her work lives at the intersection of uniting Galapagos with minds of the world to create: responsible tourism, and sociocultural leadership.
Ecuador and living in the Galapagos
Ecuador is one of the most pluricultural places in the world. The Galapagos Islands are not just a backdrop — they are a living teacher. Living in a place, surrounded by marine iguanas, giant tortoises, and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet shaped Joselyn's understanding of what it means to belong to a place, and to be responsible for it.
Academia, traveling and culture
Joselyn grew up in the US. with her mom which help shaped her mind about pluriculturality very early in her life. Later on she pursed her degrees abroad in Russia, where she learn russian language and achieved the degree of International Relations. Working in the Galapagos Islands made her pursue an MBA of the University of Cadiz to increase her knowledge in business administration while managing a ecofriendly hostal in Puerto Ayora. While traveling and volunteering abroad she was able to study a Masters in the field of Diplomacy, which gave her a multicultural way of viewing life. Tourism has been her passion and she was able to attained a Bachelors Degree in Tourism in the University of touristic specialities of Ecuador. Alongside her academic path, she trained in the performing arts, finding in music and dance a language for the things that policy cannot fully express.
Where it all converges
Today, Joselyn works to connect these threads: managing a sustainable hotel in the Galapagos Islands while living the challenge of empowering her community. In this way creating concience of how humans can live in harmony with nature. Conducting alongside projects related to Galapagos, sustainable tourism to fund and dignify local communities, and art and culture to empower women and youth. Her conviction is that conservation and human development are not opposites — they are the same project.
Sustainable business is identity
Protecting Galapagos is not only an ecological act — it is a cultural and political one. The land shapes the people who live on it.
Women and youth lead change
When women are equipped with tools, information, and opportunity, entire communities transform. Empowerment is not charity — it is strategy.
Art humanizes
Music, dance, and culture are not decorations on top of serious work. They are the serious work — the way communities build identity, resilience, and belonging.
Academia is a tool
Education and international cooperation, and policy are instruments. The question is always: in whose hands, and toward what future?
Ready to collaborate?
If you're working on conservation, women's empowerment, or sustainable development — I'd love to hear from you.