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Johana Bahamón

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Johana Bahamón
Born
Johana Bahamón Gómez

(1982-07-27) 27 July 1982 (age 42)
Cali, Colombia
EducationColegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración [es]
Occupation(s)Actress, activist
Spouse
Juan Manuel Salazar
​
(m. 2014)​

Johana Bahamón Gómez (born 27 July 1982) is a Colombian actress and activist. She is president of the Internal Action Foundation, which she created in 2012 to improve and dignify the quality of life of prison inmates in Colombia. As of 2024, it has benefited more than 150,000 people across 132 facilities.

Since 2014, she has overseen the annual National Prison Theater Festival. She was also a promoter of the Second Chances Law, passed in 2022, which established economic incentives to strengthen access and opportunities in employment and training for people leaving prison.

Forbes magazine named her one of the 50 "Powerful Women of Colombia" in 2020. In 2024, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women list.

Biography

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Johana Bahamón was born in Cali on 27 July 1982, the daughter of María Mercedes Gómez and Héctor Bahamón.[1][2]

She holds a professional degree in business administration from the Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración [es] (CESA). In 2000, she began her career as an actress, and later complemented her training with acting courses and workshops in Bogotá and at the New York Film Academy. In 2004, she made her television debut in the RCN telenovela La viuda de la mafia.

After appearing in 15 productions – her last leading role was in the series Tres Milagros – she retired from acting to devote herself to working in prisons. In 2012, she created a theater group in El Buen Pastor women's prison in Bogotá, with which she began her involvement in the prison sector. Since then, she has been a promoter of second chances for the prison and post-prison population of Colombia.[3][4]

In 2008, she had a child with singer Andrés Cabas. They broke up the following year.[4]

She married stockbroker Juan Manuel Salazar in 2014.[5]

Internal Action Foundation

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The Internal Action Foundation (Spanish: Fundación Acción Interna) is a nonprofit organization created in 2012 by Johana Bahamón to contribute to the family, social, and labor reintegration of the prison and post-sentenced population of Colombia, and to the reduction of recidivism.[6]

The foundation has initiated several projects for the reintegration and resocialization of the prison population. One of the most prominent was Interno, the world's first restaurant open to the public inside a women's prison. It was selected by Time as one of the 100 best places in the world to visit in 2018.[7] It was closed due to the transfer of the women's prison in Cartagena, Colombia. Another is the Internal Agency, the first advertising firm to operate inside a prison. In 2022, Bahamón promoted the Second Chances Law – passed as Law 2208 of 17 May 2022 – which aims to create greater opportunities for access to the labor market for the post-sentenced population, people under house arrest, and those on parole. In turn, it grants tax, economic, corporate, and other benefits that positively impact the cost structure of companies in relation to the hiring of these workers.[8]

Bahamón established the annual National Prison Theater Festival in 2014.[9]

According to its global compact, with its social productive projects and its methodology, the Internal Action Foundation has had an impact on "the public policy that impacts all persons deprived of liberty, post-sentenced persons, and their resocialization, restorative, and reintegration process."[10] As of 2024, it has benefited more than 150,000 people across 132 facilities.[11]

Publications

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In 2021, Bahamón released her first book, Historias Privadas de la Libertad (Private Stories of Freedom), with the publishing house Planeta, which discusses the change in her life's focus, as well as the stories of eight inmates and post-sentenced prisoners.[3][12]

In 2022, she published Segundas Oportunidades (Second Chances), also with Planeta. It follows five women through the difficulties they encounter after leaving prison.[13]

Awards and recognition

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Johana Bahamón es premiada como Mujer Cafam 2020" [Johana Bahamón is Awarded as Cafam Woman 2020] (in Spanish). W Radio. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  2. ^ Noguera, Natalia (5 March 2020). "'Espero con este premio llegar a las 134 cárceles del país'" ["I hope to reach all 134 prisons in the country with this award"]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b Guerrero, Natalia (10 February 2021). "Johana Bahamón, la famosa actriz que abandonó la televisión para darles 'segundas oportunidades' a los presos en Colombia" [Johana Bahamón, the Famous Actress Who Gave up Television to Give "Second Chances" to Prisoners in Colombia] (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b Montes Rueda, Juliana Andrea (17 November 2020). "Johana Bahamón, la mujer de las segundas oportunidades" [Johana Bahamón, the Woman of Second Chances] (in Spanish). Universidad Externado de Colombia. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  5. ^ Martínez, Sandra (January 2015). "Johana Bahamón Gómez cambió en la cárcel con trabajo y teatro" [Johana Bahamón Gómez Changed in Prison With Work and Theater]. Revista Diners (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  6. ^ "Quiénes somos" [Who We Are] (in Spanish). Internal Action Foundation. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  7. ^ Mateo, Ashley (2018). "Interno". Time. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  8. ^ Suárez, Catalina (1 March 2022). "Johana Bahamón lo logró: Segundas oportunidades será ley de la República" [Johana Bahamón Did It: Second Chances to be Law of the Republic] (in Spanish). W Radio. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Johana Bahamón anunció la quinta versión del Festival Nacional de Teatro Carcelario" [Johana Bahamón Announces the Fifth Edition of the National Prison Theater Festival]. Infobae (in Spanish). 17 March 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Fundación Acción Interna: Segundas Oportunidades" [Internal Action Foundation: Second Chances] (in Spanish). Pacto Global Red Colombia. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  11. ^ a b "BBC 100 Women 2024: Who is on the list this year?". BBC. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  12. ^ Posada J., Margarita (4 December 2024). "Johana Bahamón, la mujer de las segundas oportunidades" [Johana Bahamón, the Woman of Second Chances]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  13. ^ "Segundas oportunidades" (in Spanish). Planeta. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Los otros 20 líderes de Colombia" [The Other 20 Leaders of Colombia]. Semana (in Spanish). 6 September 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Mujeres que le aportan a Colombia" [Women Who Contribute to Colombia]. Semana (in Spanish). 6 March 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  16. ^ "A sus 98 años el fundador de Haceb es premiado por dedicar toda una vida al emprendimiento" [At Age 98, Haceb's Founder is Awarded for Dedicating His Entire Life to Entrepreneurship]. Semana (in Spanish). 13 October 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  17. ^ "La actriz que fundó un escenario para las segundas oportunidades" [The Actress Who Founded a Stage for Second Chances]. Portafolio (in Spanish). Colombia. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  18. ^ "Meet the 11 emerging leaders who joined President Obama for a conversation in Bogotá". Obama Foundation. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  19. ^ "Mujeres poderosas | Johana Bahamón" [Powerful Women | Johana Bahamón]. Forbes Colombia (in Spanish). 3 September 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Senado otorgó la orden Mujer y la Democracia 'Policarpa Salavarrieta' a entes territoriales y organizaciones sociales" [Senate Awards the "Policarpa Salavarrieta" Women and Democracy Order to Territorial Entities and Social Organizations] (in Spanish). Senate of Colombia. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  21. ^ Meléndez, Alejandra (10 March 2021). "Johana Bahamón: 'Uno puede estar privado de su libertad, pero no de su dignidad'" [Johana Bahamón: "One can be deprived of their freedom, but not of their dignity"]. Revista Alternativa (in Spanish). Colombia. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  22. ^ "Meet our Young Global Leaders for 2020". World Economic Forum. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
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