About us
From Soacha to Colombia: how CiudadanIA began
CiudadanIA is an AI-powered platform that explains the law in plain words and walks people through the hardest step: taking action, with a petition right (derecho de petición) or a tutela.
It was founded by Sharon Marroquín, a lawyer, and Edwin Vesga, a systems engineer. We met in high school, grew up in Soacha, and today we are the Colombian team that took first place at Voces Credicorp 2025.
- First place at Voces Credicorp 2025
- USD 15,000 in seed funding
- One Young World 2026 delegates
The problem we want to solve
Many people do not know their rights or the legal tools to claim them. We call this gap legal illiteracy: less knowledge means less participation, more frustration and less trust in institutions.
CiudadanIA turns legal language into everyday conversation. By voice or text, an AI assistant listens to your case, explains what the rules say and helps you prepare the document to act. It does not just inform: it accompanies you.
Our work contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 16: peace, justice and strong institutions.
How we got here, where we are and what comes next
2017–2018 · Achieved
Two scholarship students from Soacha
Sharon and Edwin met in high school. Both won the Ser Pilo Paga scholarship, in its fourth edition, and started university in 2018.
2018–2025 · Achieved
We stayed in touch
A coffee to catch up, a chat in the neighborhood. Each followed a different path, she in law and social leadership, he in technology, without losing sight of each other.
June 26, 2025 · Achieved
It all started with a message
Sharon invited Edwin over WhatsApp to submit an idea to Voces for Citizen Participation. CiudadanIA came out of that message.
2025 · Achieved
First place at Voces Credicorp
Out of more than 3,300 ideas from young people in five countries, three ideas shared first place equally: CiudadanIA (Colombia), Nuestra Voz (Peru) and VECI (Panama). We pitched at the final in Santiago, Chile. All three winning ideas received the same: USD 15,000, mentoring and a place at One Young World.
Today · We are here
Building the pilot
We are developing and testing the platform with invited users, starting in Soacha. Every conversation teaches us what to explain better and which procedures to solve first.
November 3–6, 2026 · Coming up
One Young World, in Cape Town
We are traveling to South Africa as part of the Voces Credicorp prize to learn from other young leaders, join the forums and build partnerships.
Next · Coming up
A legaltech company
We plan to launch a legaltech company to build more solutions where law and digital meet. CiudadanIA is the first step. The goal is to grow from Soacha to Cundinamarca, to the whole country and, later, to other countries in the region.
Voces Credicorp 2025
This is how it felt when CiudadanIA went from an idea to having the means to begin.
Monday, November 10, 2025
Welcome dinner
We arrived in Santiago, Chile, and met the other finalists, the judges and the organizing team.
Sharon at the welcome dinner, the first night of the experience. Meeting other finalists at the welcome dinner. The first friendships among finalists from five countries. The welcome dinner of “Voces por la Participación Ciudadana”.
Tuesday, November 11 · morning
Santiago tour
We toured the main cultural and urban landmarks of the city with the other teams.
Touring Santiago on an open-top bus. A selfie during the Santiago tour. Meeting the other teams was part of the experience. Walking together through the cultural and urban landmarks of the city. Young people from five countries sharing one cause.
Tuesday, November 11 · afternoon
Coffee with the Evaluation Committee
A close conversation with members of the Evaluation Committee, including Fernando Araya, CEO of Tenpo.
Coffee with the Evaluation Committee: listening and learning. A close conversation with members of the Evaluation Committee.
Tuesday, November 11 · evening
Awards ceremony
Three ideas from Colombia, Peru and Panama shared first place. CiudadanIA was one of them.
Official photo of Voces Credicorp 2025. Sharon with the trophy inside the Voces circle. A room full of ideas to get more people involved. The moment CiudadanIA received the prize. All three winning ideas received the same: VECI, Nuestra Voz and CiudadanIA. Celebrating with Nuestra Voz, from Peru, another winning team. Sharon and Edwin, from Soacha, with the Voces Credicorp trophy. The trophy: a circle that looks like a voice opening up.
The people behind CiudadanIA
We are co-founders with equal decision-making power. She leads the business and the legal perspective; he leads the technology strategy.
Sharon Marroquín
Co-founder and CEO · Lawyer
Sharon Nikol Marroquín Teusa is a lawyer from Universidad Santo Tomás (Bogotá, Colombia) with experience in oversight and control of public administration, out-of-court conciliation and legal guidance for citizens. She is especially interested in analyzing and implementing public policy.
She is a community youth leader and the founder of the youth organization El Parche Impacta. She has volunteered and led social work in Comuna 4 of Soacha, in the Cazuca area, where she has lived. At CiudadanIA she makes sure the law speaks clearly, and she brings the business side and the network in the legal world.
- Lawyer, Universidad Santo Tomás (Bogotá)
- Founder of El Parche Impacta
- Social leadership in Comuna 4 of Soacha (Cazuca)
- Out-of-court conciliation in law
- Ser Pilo Paga scholar
LinkedIn of Sharon Marroquín(opens in a new tab)Instagram of Sharon Marroquín(opens in a new tab)
Edwin Vesga
Co-founder and CTO · Systems engineer
Edwin Fabian Vesga Escobar is a systems engineer from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, from Comuna 5 of Soacha, Cundinamarca. He has more than five years of experience across the whole software development cycle, mostly in financial and legal-sector projects and companies in Colombia and abroad, and he is the founder of Turpial Digital Labs.
He sees software, data and project management as tools to put solutions at the service of people. At CiudadanIA he turns ideas into a relevant technology strategy. He teaches physics in community schools, supports community garden projects and is a musician: his Spanish-language rock project is called VESGA.
- Comuna 5 of Soacha
- Systems engineer, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
- Founder of Turpial Digital Labs
- 2nd place, Celonis Hackathon 2025 (Americas)
- Fintech and legaltech experience
- Ser Pilo Paga scholar
LinkedIn of Edwin Vesga(opens in a new tab)Instagram of Edwin Vesga(opens in a new tab)
We are not outside consultants; we come from the community we want to impact.
What we are building
CiudadanIA is the first step toward an accessible, large legaltech ecosystem for Colombia.
CiudadanIA
A web platform with an AI assistant that explains the law in plain language and helps prepare petition rights and tutelas. Currently in pilot with invitation-only access.
Legaltech company (planned)
A company to build more solutions where law and digital meet, with a sustainable model based on public-private partnerships and civic-innovation calls.
Turpial Digital Labs
Our technology partner. It builds smart, automated solutions and supports the construction of the platform.
In the press
“It is an immense opportunity for two people who come from Colombia, from Soacha.”
- Jóvenes latinoamericanos fueron premiados por impulsar la confianza ciudadana (Chócale, in Spanish)(opens in a new tab)
- Credicorp reconoció tres proyectos de jóvenes en la cuarta edición de Voces (Valora Analitik, in Spanish)(opens in a new tab)
- Talento ALL: liderazgo académico y participación en políticas públicas (ALL Abogados, in Spanish)(opens in a new tab)
Be part of this stage
If you have an invitation code, create your account and help us improve CiudadanIA with your questions. The platform is in Spanish.
Create my accountFollow us to see our progress: CiudadanIA on Instagram @ciudadania.co (opens in a new tab)
Want to write to us? Email: ciudadania.co@gmail.com