Three Presidential Precinct YLAI Fellows and Fellowship Hosts Selected for Reverse Exchange Opportunity

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The Presidential Precinct is pleased to announce that three Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellows and their Charlottesville-based fellowship hosts will participate in reverse exchange opportunities in Spring 2017. YLAI brought ten young business and social entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean to the Presidential Precinct in October 2016. The YLAI program comes out of a commitment to cultivating entrepreneurship and expanding opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs and innovative civil society leaders in the Americas, sharing the Precinct’s global focus on empowering next generation leaders through education, collaboration, and digital networking.

The YLAI Reverse Exchange Program was launched by the U.S. State Department in partnership with the private sector “to implement collaborative community projects and strengthen partnerships between companies and organizations in the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean.” Select fellowship hosts all across the U.S. will participate in the program thanks to U.S. Government funding of $125,000 and private sector cost-sharing of over $75,000. Fellowship host participation includes over a week of travel to the YLAI Fellow’s home country for collaboration on a particular initiative, conference, or entrepreneurial project.

“Back in October, our ten YLAI Fellowship host companies and nonprofits provided fantastic support for the YLAI Fellows during their one-month entrepreneur-in-residence placements,” said Nancy Hopkins, Director of Programs. “They were so generous with their ideas, time, and talents as they engaged with these dynamic young entrepreneurs. We are pleased that several Fellowship hosts will now have an opportunity to immerse themselves in their YLAI Fellows’ ventures and communities, and we look forward to seeing how their collaboration evolves.”

From the Presidential Precinct, Reverse Exchange participants are as follows:

YLAI Fellow, Mazal Blanco, will welcome Elaine Butcher, owner of Elaine B. Jewelry, to Barranquilla, Colombia. Mazal is the Founder of Mazal Blanco Eco Design S.A.S., a jewelry manufacturer with the mission to “design, manufacture and distribute avant-garde jewelry for those who enjoy alternative designs, preserving the artisan tradition of our country, implementing green production and creating jobs in vulnerable communities.”

YLAI Fellow, Liziane Silva, will welcome Cindy Colson, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, to São Paulo, Brazil. She is the Founder and CEO of Ink, a social impact consultancy with the mission to “support organizations that have focus on their impact to be able to deliver and expand it through project management and strategy.”

YLAI Fellow, Felipe Neves, will welcome Emily Voss, Education Director at the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison’s Montpelier, to São Paulo, Brazil. Felipe is a Constitutional Lawyer and Founder of the Constitutional Law in Schools Project, where he provides “public high school students knowledge and background regarding the constitution of Brazil, focusing on the individual rights guaranteed by the constitution, through the integration between law schools and public high schools.”

We look forward to the continued opportunities and innovations that come as a result of these collaborations. More information on these three specific projects will be shared at a later date.
For further information on the YLAI Professional Fellows Program, visit ylai.state.gov.

Press Contact:
Drew Precious, Marketing & Communications Manager
dprecious@presidentialprecinct.org

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