A Dumagueteña earned highest honors in a university in Spain after defending her doctoral thesis, contributing to the discourse of democratic governance on the role of NGOs in creating cultures of peace.
Jenny Lind Elmaco graduated with a PhD with Distinction (cum laude) from Jaume I Univerity in Spain, with her dissertation on Civil Society in Democracy and New Forms of Governance: Perspectives and Actions in Support of Creating Cultures of Peace.
“God is incredible. I cried a bit because of the lavish praise from all the members of the tribunal. They described my work as excelente, ‘wonderful work’ and ‘original’,” said Elmaco, who is currently in Madrid to continue her work as consultant on the Spanish Aid, a development arm of the Spanish Embassy.
Dr. Elmaco also handles human rights concerns in Europe, and is national coordinator of the Innovative Human Rights Initiatives, a multi-embassy strategy.
Dr. Jenny Lind Elmaco received the highest grade for the final defense for her International Doctorate Program in Peace, Conflict & Development Studies.
This doctoral program has become a national referent after the Agencia Nacional de Evaluacion de la Calidad y Acreditacion and the Ministry of Education of Spain awarded it with the Mention for Excellence in October 2011. The same program also received the Mention for Quality for the 2008-10 period.
In Europe, the thesis defense is a special occasion for the doctoral candidate. In very rare instances, they award the PhD with Distinction (cum laude), with no other higher award.
Aside from her consultancy work in Spain, Dr. Elmaco is adjunct professor at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City, and a research fellow at the UP College of Law.
She earned her Masters in Peace, Security & International Conflict Transformation from the University of Innsbruck in Austria, and Jaume I University. She went on to earn another European Masters in Global Studies from the University of Vienna in Austria, and Leipzig University in Germany.
In Dumaguete where she graduated magna cum laude in Political Science at Silliman University in 2002, Jenny is fondly known as one of two daughters of Judge Joseph Elmaco and Leonida Dales-Elmaco.
She is married to Dr. Alexander Cardenas from Colombia, an expert in Sports for Development and Peace. They have a daughter, Gabrielle Sofia.
