Katherin P. Tairo Quispe is a Quechua activist and scholar, born and raised in Sicuani, Cusco, in Southern Peru. She is the co-founder of the Quechua Tinkuy, an organization dedicated to teaching Quechua language and culture. Her work primarily involves working with girls and women living in Quechua territories in Cusco and Apurimac. Her research focuses on Indigenous peoples, gender, and environment, particularly examining the significance of earth ovens in Peru and Bolivia. She closely engages at the Quechua yachay, ontologies, and epistemologies they represent, and their potential to reshaped what is known as "green development.”
Katherin worked in public sector as a consultant for nonprofit organizations, which motivated her to pursue a PhD in Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to completing her master’s degree in Public Policy from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, she also obtained a master’s degree in Social Companies for Innovation and Local Development from Universidad EAFIT in Colombia. Her undergraduate degree in Journalism is from Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. Throughout her career, she has actively involved in socially and environmentally engaged programs and projects in Indigenous territories in the Andes.
Interests: Quechua language and culture; Critical Indigenous Studies; Women and Gender Studies; Indigenous politics; Indigenous culinary practices; environment and ecology