Blanca Chancoso

María Blanca Chancoso Sánchez (born 1955) is an Ecuadorian educator and indigenous leader of the Otavalo people.

[1][2][3][4] Chancoso was born in Cotacachi, Imbabura Province, Ecuador in 1955, in an indigenous family which had moved from the countryside into the town.

[5] She studied in a rural college and has a bachelor's degree in educational sciences.

[6] She was unusual in being a teacher who spoke both Spanish and Kichwa language, and began to organise the local communities.

[6][7] Chancoso has written on the theme of Sumak kawsay, which can be translated as "the plentiful life".