Latin America Leadership Foundation

LALA's mission is to promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing and connecting a new generation of principled and socially innovative leaders. Latin America has struggled to achieve sustainable and shared prosperity. As the current pandemic has highlighted, much of our population lives in real vulnerability, and our leaders have been unable or unwilling to tackle our biggest challenges. Unfortunately, we do not currently have an intentional pipeline of the representative, diverse, ethical, purpose-driven and innovative leaders we need. LALA exists to develop a new generation of such leaders. We search the entire region f... read more LALA's mission is to promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing and connecting a new generation of principled and socially innovative leaders. Latin America has struggled to achieve sustainable and shared prosperity. As the current pandemic has highlighted, much of our population lives in real vulnerability, and our leaders have been unable or unwilling to tackle our biggest challenges. Unfortunately, we do not currently have an intentional pipeline of the representative, diverse, ethical, purpose-driven and innovative leaders we need. LALA exists to develop a new generation of such leaders. We search the entire region for young leaders with a demonstrated sense of purpose and the potential to solve the biggest problems in their communities. Then-through holistic educational programs, partnerships, community-building, mentorship and access to opportunities-we accompany them on their leadership journeys. LALA develops and connects a new generation of principled, inspirational, and socially innovative leaders through one-week Bootcamps, the Leadership Academy, and alumni engagement initiatives; these leaders will, in turn, create positive impact in their communities and a better future for Latin America. Programs and Services Leadership Bootcamps are intensive one-week holistic leadership development and social innovation programs, targeted at young Latin Americans with a passion for the region, demonstrated leadership and vocation for service. Bootcamps are the entry point of students to the LALA Community. LALA has delivered 25 Bootcamps to date, hosted in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and three virtually in response to Covid-19. Over 500 students have participated, representing 17 countries and ranging from the ages of 14 to 18 years. The Bootcamps cost $1,500 per student, with 90% of participants receiving financial aid to attend the program. LALA Bootcamps attract an extremely diverse group of young leaders, coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds, countries, regions within countries, and ethnic groups. Students expand their network in directions that were previously unlikely, marking the beginning of deep values-based relationships among people from very different walks of life with shared passions. You can learn more about LALA Bootcamps by watching this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=34NQyd2fhSw&feature=player_embedded Only Bootcamp graduates may apply to our Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy is our residential program based in Medellin, Colombia. It is an innovative gap-year program that brings our students the best global content and methodologies focused on leadership, social innovation, entrepreneurship, social emotional learning, and critical thinking. Unlike the week-long Bootcamps, the Leadership Academy is a permanent fixture which currently offers a three month program. The Academy allows us to develop exceptional young leaders in much more depth and our focus is to grow it into our flagship program with offerings as long as 12 months over the next three years. We ran the first 3 month pilot of the Academy in Medellin in 2020 and will continue with roll-out in 2021 for another 3 month program. In 2020, 22 students from five countries participated in the Academy. This program costs $6,000 per student, with 50% of costs underwritten by US-based donors. The other 50% were provided by student tuition payments and student-led fundraising. Curriculum Our curriculum is designed to help students build social capital and access global resources. At LALA, young leaders learn interpersonal skills such as connecting at the level of values, seeking mutually-transformative win-win relationships, telling their story to inspire, leveraging active listening and questions to connect with others, and more. The LALA Bootcamp Curriculum covers: Public Narrative: learning to engage others o Related topics: Leadership, organizing and inspiring others. o Influences: Public Narrative: Self, Us & Now, Marshall Ganz, Harvard Kennedy School. Accompaniment: partnering with and empowering communities o Related topics: Team-building, human-centered design. o Influences: iLab at the Keough School of Global Affairs, Notre Dame. Bridging the gap between traditional goal-setting and new-age gamification o Related topics: Game design, Goal-setting, Feedback: S.B.I. (Situation, Behavior, Impact), ERGO, Flow. o Influences: Lectica, Inc, Project Zero, "Touchy Feely", Stanford GSB Analogous Inspiration: Education lessons from the public, private and social sectors o Example: Public Health, Corporate culture, Educational Psychology, Behavioral Economics. o Influences: Partners In Health, The Behavioural Insights Team. BUILD: from ideation to implementation o Related topics: Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, Implementation Science. o Influences: African Leadership Academy, Stanford d.school, ALA BIAB. Self-care and others: cultivating reflective dispositions and social moral emotions o Related topics: Strength-based Assessment, Gratitude, Self-care inventory, Prosociality, Compassion, Self-compassion, Mindfulness Influences: Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, CASEL, Tania Singer, Dr. Leah Weiss. LALA participants learn critical skills such as analytic problem-solving, professional networking, and community impact creation. Additionally, they learn self-management techniques, such as developing personal resilience, encountering fears, overcoming failure, and challenging self-defeating narratives. Through LALA training, students proactively connect with others and access local and global resources to create positive change in their communities. As a result of LALA's programming and curation of a strong alumni and mentor network, our vision is that Latin America will have thousands of impactful, principled leaders working across borders, industries, political leanings and socioeconomic levels, united by a common purpose-tackling the region's most pressing challenges.