Technology | Meridian Blog

YLAI Pilot Alumni Continue to Make Progress

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By BrendaHali / July 13, 2016

In February and March 2016, Meridian was proud to welcome 24 entrepreneurs from 20 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean as part of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Pilot Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Meridian is always happy to hear from its alumni, and is particularly proud to share what Luis Loaiza, Alejandro Carbonell, and Triston Thompson have been up to since the conclusion of the program. Continue

Tragedy and opportunity | Reflections from a YLAI fellow

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By eoconnor / April 1, 2016

Kheston Walkins is a young entrepreneur from Trinidad and Tobago who was selected to attend the 2016 Young Leaders of the America’s Initiative (YLAI) pilot program by the U.S. Department of State. This presidential initiative supports social and business entrepreneurs from across Latin America and the Caribbean. Here are some of his reflections on his experience attending this prestigious U.S.-based exchange. Tragedy and Opportunity: it is a strange courtship that is as clumsy as a duck’s waddle, yet the two travel abreast almost inseparably. My name is Kheston Walkins, and I am from Trinidad and Tobago. Let me tell...

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Bringing People Together Through Affordable Internet

Posted under: Center for Diplomatic Engagement By Monique McSween / January 23, 2014

Meridian International Center Board Member, Marie Royce and Florence Gaudry-Perkins from Global Government & Public Affairs at Alcatel-Lucent wrote a phenomenal blog about the power of technology in bringing people together. This blog was orginally posted on Alcatel-Lucent’s Blog:

“Many of us have spent much of our lives without access to telecommunications or information services, and many of us will not live to see the flowering of the information age. But our children will. They are our greatest asset. And it is our responsibility to give them the skills and insight to build the information societies of the future.”

These were the words of Nelson Mandela, whose presidency of South Africa was widely hailed for bringing the nation together through common understanding. “The young people of the world must be empowered to participate in the building of the information age. They must become the citizens of the global information society. And we must create the best conditions for their participation”.

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IVLP Impact Awards Perspectives: Building Bridges for Women’s Political Empowerment

The Impact of Exchange: Changing Race Relations in South Africa

IVLP brings former white supremacist, Auschwitz Museum workers together

YLAI Pilot Alumni Continue to Make Progress

Bringing People Together Through Affordable Internet