Eisenhower Fellowships has selected 23 ascendant leaders for its Fall 2019 Latin American and Caribbean Fellowship program. These trailblazing Fellows hail from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela, and represent a broad range of public, private and nonprofit fields.
These Fellows from across the Western Hemisphere include a best-selling children’s book author building an online resource for social and emotional learning, a professor of structural engineering designing dynamic disaster response plans and a start-up co-founder investing in sustainable Jamaican small businesses.
“These innovative leaders are committed to effecting real change and making a positive impact in their countries and across the region. I’m delighted to welcome them into the influential global network of Eisenhower Fellowships,” said Dr. Robert M. Gates, chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships.
The nearly two dozen new Fellows will gather in Philadelphia for an opening seminar this October before fanning out across the country to each visit 8-10 American cities and meet with scores of experts in their chosen fields. They will then return to Philadelphia for a closing seminar of events in November before returning to their home countries to carry out concrete projects with a real-world impact on their societies.
The program is Eisenhower Fellowships’ first to focus exclusively on Latin America and the Caribbean in more than a decade. A similar program in 2008 brought 21 Fellows to the United States.
Since then, the organization has deepened its engagement in the region. In 2017 Eisenhower Fellows in Chile organized Next Challenges for Latin America, a regional conference held in Santiago, and the eighth Latin America regional gathering since 1994.
Following on this specialized regional program this fall, EF will convene thought leaders from around world in Cartagena, Colombia, in February 2020 for a three-day global conference on the Future of Education, to explore this vital subject of intense importance in every corner of the globe.
“These exceptional leaders from across the hemisphere are coming to the United States at a time of great political, economic and social disruption across the region and around the world,” said Eisenhower Fellowships President George de Lama. “We are excited to help them expand their professional and personal horizons and apply what they learn on fellowship to better their societies.”
The 2019 Latin America and Caribbean Fellows are:
Francisco Buchara | Argentina
Secretary of Productive Development, Municipality of San Nicolas
Ramiro Lopez Saubidet | Argentina
Architect, General Administration of Ports
Gabriela Oliván| Argentina
Communications Senior Manager for Hispanic South America, Accenture
César Zarrabeitia| Argentina
Manager, The Development Agency of the City of Corrientes
Gustavo Almeida | Brazil
Chief Planning Officer, State Secretariat for Social Development of Minas Gerais
Tonia Casarin | Brazil
Founder, Fireworks Education
Bruna Silva dos Santos| Brazil
Knowledge & Innovation Director, Comunitas
Luiz Carlos Vieira, Jr. | Brazil
Professor of Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Campinas
Andrés Barriga | Chile
Managing Partner, Portola Growth Partners
Eugenio Rengifo | Chile
Executive Director, Corporación Amigos de los Parques de la Patagonia
Nadya Blel Scaff | Colombia
Senator, Republic of Colombia
Camilo Fonseca Velásquez | Colombia
Director Advisor for Public Policy, Private Company Supervisor (PCS)
Saffrey Brown | Jamaica
Co-founder and Head of Innovation, The Leap Co.
Javier González Gómez | Mexico
National Officer for Effective Governance and Democracy, United Nations Development Program
Daniela Segovia | Mexico
Columnist, Subrayado.mx
Jorge Gross Brown | Paraguay
Managing Partner ∙ Estudio Juridico Gross Brown
Carolina Luzardi | Paraguay
Innovation Analyst, Presidential Delivery Unit Office of Paraguay
Federico Nelson Mora Peralta | Paraguay
General Coordinator, National Scholarship Program for Study Abroad (BECAL)
Juan Carlos Pane | Paraguay
Doctoral Researcher, Institute of Development Studies, the University of Sussex
Jonathan Castro | Peru
Co-founder, Lima Emprende
Ursula Harman | Peru
District Councilwoman, Municipal Council of San Bartolo
Clarissa Rios Rojas | Peru
Founder and Director, Ekpa’palek
Angel Cardenas Sosa | Venezuela
Director of Infrastructure, Corporacion Andina de Fomento