[2] Alicia Arango studied business administration at the College of Advanced Management Studies [es] at Bogotá and specialized in public administration at the University of the Andes.

Arango was an adviser to Adelina Covo when she was the Colombian Minister of Education in 1995 and in 1997 to 1998, Arango was a delegate for Cesar and Cundinamarca Departments (respectively) before the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, also while Covo was head of that entity.

[3] During the first term of Enrique Peñalosa as mayor of Bogotá, Arango was the director of the city's District Institute of Recreation and Sports.

[4] Arango was appointed to replace Angelino Garzón as Colombia's ambassador to the United Nations, taking her office 9 June 2010.

[5] In July 2015, Arango was appointed director of the Democratic Center Party, founded in 2013 by Álvaro Uribe.