CURACAO – Residents from Curacao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten are eligible to participate in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) and are encouraged to apply. In 2016 and 2017, a total of four young entrepreneurs from Curacao, three from Aruba, and one from Sint Maarten participated in the program that empowers entrepreneurs and innovative civil society leaders to strengthen their capacity to launch and advance entrepreneurial ideas and effectively contribute to social and economic development.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by Meridian International Center, the initiative will bring 250 young business and social entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean to the U.S. in September and October 2018 for a five-week fellowship which will include an opening program, an individualized Fellowship program with counterpart companies or organizations throughout the U.S., and a closing forum in Washington, D.C.
This professional fellowship will take place at universities, incubators, and non-governmental
organizations across the U.S., while follow-on exchanges will send Americans to Latin America and the Caribbean to continue the collaboration. Participants will benefit from interaction with entrepreneurship experts, participation in skill building workshops, and ongoing support through networking, mentorship, and investment opportunities.
This fully-funded fellowship is open to entrepreneurs between the ages of 25 and 35 with at least two years of experience as an entrepreneur in their own business or social venture as well as citizenship and residency in Aruba, Curacao, or Sint Maarten. They should be proficient in English. The application is available at https://ylai.state.gov and is open through March 4.
