“Our Warm Welcoming to Portland” by the Portland Cohort of YLAI Fellows

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YLAI Portland Cohort Diversity

14 Young Entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean are placed in Portland. They are part of the 248 fellows participating in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program, which brings entrepreneurs and civil society leaders to the United States for a five-week program.

This U.S. Department of State-sponsored program empowers these young entrepreneurs to strengthen their capacity to launch and advance their entrepreneurial ideas and to effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities.

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“YLAI Begins Today!” by Luis Martin del Campo YLAI Fellow from Mexico

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Maegen form the YLAI Team at Meridian recieved Luis at the airport
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Luis Martin Del Campo YLAI Fellow From Mexico

Luis Martin del Campo is the Founder of Sphora in Mexico, and he is one of the 248 fellows participating in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program, which brings entrepreneurs and civil society leaders to the United States for a five-week program.

This U.S. Department of State-sponsored program empowers these young entrepreneurs to strengthen their capacity to launch and advance their entrepreneurial ideas and to effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities

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On the value of networks

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YLAI Professional Fellows Program 2016

As a new intern and a young professional in the making, one is always made aware of the multiple networking opportunities that arise in any given environment. We are encouraged to network, to update our LinkedIn profiles, and make eye contact when firmly shaking people’s hands. Flash forward a month into my summer experience interning for Meridian’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative  (YLAI), I have learned the true value of creating a network. Needless to say, my networking awareness was not exclusively informed by my peers, colleagues, or from my fellow interns. Rather, it came from reading more than 300 applications out...

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Into the Heart of Europe (From Right Here in Washington, DC)

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Networking at the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative

45 European entrepreneurs. 41 different countries. 2 days in DC. 1 marketing and communications intern (me). Last week was my first week interning at Meridian, and I was immediately immersed in European culture and all its diversity with my first project: the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative. I arrived at the State Department for day one of the program. A minute later, a large crowd of people came walking over and waited in line at the security check. Many looked over at me with curiosity, and some came right over, introduced themselves, and asked about my background. I expected...

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Entrepreneurship: A Means for Global Change, Access, and Security

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Russian Social Entrepreneurship Exchange

Entrepreneurship has been hard to define. Today, the word suggests choice, diversity, and opportunity. It is used to describe the common thread between the greatest business leaders, inventors, and movers and shakers of the century. In the past, it has been associated with the spirit and will of capital gain and greed. It was also understood as the doctrine of the business-savvy, powerful, and the well-connected. While the image of entrepreneurship has often appeared to be a tall, western man in a business suit –today’s entrepreneurs represent a collective community of people of many genders, ages, races, classes, and...

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