ABOUT ME
Adriana Jaramillo Aguilera is a Fulbright Scholar at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, born in Bogotá, Colombia. Her life and work have been shaped by a deep curiosity about the human experience — how we feel, how we communicate, and how we find understanding, even in the most difficult circumstances.
With a background that spans psychology, education, fine arts, and social development, Adriana has spent her career exploring the ways in which creativity and emotional expression can open paths to dialogue and healing. She studied Psychology at Universidad de los Andes, earned an MSc in Clinical Psychology from the University of Manchester, pursued Educational Planning at Penn State University, and studied Fine Arts at the Corcoran School of Art and Design.
Beyond academia, her professional journey has taken her into complex and fragile contexts around the world. She has served as a professor at Universidad de los Andes, Deputy Director of Family Welfare in Colombia, and Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, working in conflict-affected regions such as Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Palestine, and Gaza. These experiences profoundly shaped her understanding of how people communicate when words are no longer enough.
Today, Adriana leads research on art as a medium for dialogue, understanding, and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on music as a universal language. Her book, Music Healing Journeys, emerges from this research — a deeply human exploration of the elements that allow music to facilitate communication, foster empathy, and support connection in divided societies.
AN UNFORGETABLE
STARRY NIGHT
As a Fulbright/Kennedy Center Fellow I had the opportunity to attend the Kennedy Center Honors, a tribute to American Culture and diversity.
The selection of the honorees for this year recognized the work of wonderful artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Arturo Sandoval, Francis Ford Coppola, rock band The Grateful Dead, and The Apollo Theater. But what this careful selection of honorees also did, was to tell a story of how artists over a century built a multicultural and diverse society, and showed it to the world.
As a Fulbright Fellow, I had the privilege of attending this meeting of the stars, accessible only to personalities and celebrities, under one condition. Together with a group of staff from the Kennedy Center, we had to follow the Black Tie dress code, which is when the fun started! We gathered in advance to receive our sitting arrangements, and in many cases we could not recognize each other!
The show started with Queen Latifah welcoming the audience, and keeping all of us focused on her singing, while President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden entered the theater and found their way to the Presidential Box. Their entrance was staged with the national anthem performed by the U.S. Marine Band. The Honors started with paying tribute to Bonnie Raitt, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosting as masters of ceremony "It's her old soul that just grips us," she said.
We were delighted with Sheryl Crow´s singing. She also emphasized with her remarks, Raitt´s role not only as a singer and songwriter but as a widely respected blues guitarist in a male-dominated field. Crow was joined by James Taylor, Emmylou Harris and Dave Matthews, generating a highlight moment of homage, friendship and admiration.
Arturo Sandoval’s tribute had Andy Garcia as masters of ceremony and featured his Cuban origin with remarkable Latin jazz versions from an all-star band featuring Trombone Shorty and pianist Chucho Valdez from Sandoval’s original band. I was lucky to be seated in an area where I was able to stand up and dance to this out of this world salsa performance! And as if this weren’t enough, Chris Botti renowned Trumpetist filled the Kennedy Center playing Smile leaving all of us in awe…
Harlem’s famed Apollo theater was the recipient for the first time of this award granted to an institution. Its role supporting Black artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Gladys Knight was recognized. The tribute to this iconic theater highlighted the diversity of art forms showcased over the past 90 years.
Savion Glover did a formidable tap dance routine; husband and wife duo The War and Treaty performed a medley of hits by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The highlight for me was Ain’t no mountain high enough. Actress and singer Queen Latifah presided this acknowledgement and delighted the audience with her singing, and bringing attention to The Apollo´s role in launching some of the greatest artists of all time. Queen Latifah reminded the audience about how artists “find hope in heartache and hard times, and now more than ever, we need artists to help us uncover our shared truths, one story, one rhythm, one lyric at a time.”
Francis Ford Coppola received a tribute filled with previous Kennedy Center honorees. One of the highlights was Robert De Niro alluding to Coppola´s dreaming and fulfilling the impossible dream, over and over again. Coppola´s Italian heritage was beautifully staged with a dinner table overlooking his Sonoma´s vineyard, joined by Laurence Fishburne, De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino, George Lucas and Coppola´s granddaughter.
“What Francis does creatively is jump off cliffs,” Lucas said. “When you spendenough time with Francis, you begin to believe you can jump off cliffs, too.”
The show concluded with a tribute to the Grateful Dead by performers including Dave Matthews, Maggie Rogers, and Derek Trucks. David Letterman was masters of ceremony for this segment of the show. He cracked jokingly “I was talking to people backstage, and they’re going to try to get as many of these Honors in place now before the inauguration,” to what the audience roared in laughter.
I´ve never seen so many artists performing in a single show! It was an unforgettable starry night. Thank you Fulbright/Kennedy Center for this once in a lifetime.
EXPLORE HER PATH
WORLD BANK
PUBLICATIONS
She is a Senior Education Specialist and Human Development Coordinator with decades of experience in global education policy and higher education reform.
Her work spans conflict-affected and middle-income countries, and she currently leads programs on governance and higher education quality.
