Washington Lawyer - September/October 2024 - 34

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Sandra Castañeda
EMBRACES A RESET
TO FOLLOW HER DREAMS
By Jeremy Conrad
G
rowing up in the working
class Fontibón district of
Bogotá, Colombia, Sandra
Castañeda had few role
models to chart her course as an
attorney. Confidence in her abilities,
a willingness to work toward
her goals, and good fortune have
helped in making her aspirations
a reality, though the journey hasn't
been an easy one.
Castañeda's maternal grandfather provided a
model for her tenacity. " He was a gardener at
a school and learned how to write by looking
through the window, " Castañeda says. " The
teacher allowed him to do that. He was born in
1911, and at that time, school was only available
for rich people. "
Although her grandfather was never able to
progress beyond the elementary school education
he got at the schoolhouse window, his involvement
in Colombia's political turbulence
in the mid-1940s put him in contact with politicians
and lawyers, igniting a lifelong passion
for politics and law that he sought to pass on
to his children and grandchildren.
" When I was a kid, he bought two copies of the
Constitution of Colombia, one for me and one
for him, " she says. " I learned how to read [it] with
him, and I think that impacted me. " Castañeda
recalls paying particular attention to articles on
the rights of kids. " I was always quoting the Constitution
when someone came to me with some
injustice. Since forever, I have known that I was
34 WASHINGTON LAWYER
* SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
going to be an attorney, even though no
one in my family had higher education. "
Castañeda's grandfather died when she
was 14 years old. " [He] was my inspiration.
It's a shame that he never knew I was entering
into law school, " she says.
CHASING THE IMPROBABLE
To become a lawyer, Castañeda first
would have to surmount her own challenges
obtaining an education given the
continuing stratification of Colombian
culture. Public schools in Colombia are
severely underfunded and provide a poor
standard of education, says Castañeda,
so her parents sent her to a private school
that was marginally better. But she knew
that it would still be difficult to secure
admission to a university.
Fortunately, the Universidad Manuela Beltrán
established its first law degree program
around the time that she finished
her secondary school education. Castañeda
was admitted with a scholarship on
the basis of her strong test scores.
After acquiring a law degree in 2009,
Castañeda faced a new set of barriers.
Major companies in Colombia were hesitant
to hire an attorney who did not attend
one of the top law schools there, and
her university was still developing its reputation.
Castañeda provided legal services for
a business that owned parking garages and for
an accounting firm while taking classes at Universidad
del Rosario, where she got master's
degrees in contracts law and corporate and
financial law. Her attendance helped her secure
more attractive employment.
Around this time, Castañeda also discovered a
passion for hotels. Growing up, her family rarely
traveled. An early position with a financial institution
led to her first hotel stay for a company
Christmas celebration. " I was amazed. We had
a pool. The beds. The sheets. The nice pillows
. . . it was something I never experienced, " she
says. Consequently, she decided to pursue
work in the hospitality sector.
Castañeda's first job in the industry was at
Hoteles Estelar S.A., where she negotiated contracts
and oversaw the company's many properties.
Shortly after taking the position in 2014,
she invited her family for a stay at a property
that she had been involved in establishing.
" I was part of all the legal [work], the construction,
the opening . . . all the permits and contracts
that you need to build a hotel, " she says.
Her family stayed the opening weekend. CastaEthan
Yusheng Tian
Washington Lawyer - September/October 2024

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