Belize Participates In the Young Leaders Of The Americas Initiative

In March 2024, four representatives from various Belizean organizations journeyed to America to participate in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative. This program was launched by the U.S. Department of State in 2015, with the mission to empower emerging entrepreneurs and business leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. This year, over two hundred and sixty entrepreneurs spent four weeks with various U.S. organizations nationwide. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with two of these participants today, to learn more about the experience. Here’s that story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

The Leaders of the Americas Initiative is a five-week program for entrepreneurs, funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In this annual fellowship, nearly three hundred promising leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada travel to the United States to expand their leadership and entrepreneurial skills and network through skills-building workshops and opportunities to learn from and exchange with U.S. counterparts. YLAI states that participants are selected via a competitive application process. We spoke with Iniki Zuniga, owner of Aesthetics Marketing Solutions in Belize, who was a participant in this year’s event.

 

Britney Gordon

“What is it that you do while a part of this program?

 

Iniki Zuniga, Owner, Aesthetics Marketing Solutions

“We basically get to be partnered with another organization that is similar to ours so that we can learn.  First of all, they ask us what is the major problem of our business. For me, it was scaling and expansion. So they found a company that was already in the process of scaling and expanding. And that way I could witness how they are doing it. And from there, I feel like I’m more equipped now to scale and expand my business here in Belize.”

 

Zuniga explained that he had previously applied for the fellowship in 2015, when it was first launched but was not selected. This year, he decided to try again as he is now doing business full-time, and his application was approved. He said that his program started off in Houston before moving over to Utah and finishing in Washington D.C.

 

Iniki Zuniga

“The main takeaway is sharing your business and networking helps a lot because now I have a lot more opportunities. And also, now I have a lot more resources that I could get, that I could use to expand and help my business. If I was offered to do it again, I’d definitely do it again. The program is very helpful, very useful and very beneficial to anybody that would join.”

 

Also participating in the program was Javier Saqui, owner of Ya’axkin Butterfly Farm in Maya Center, Stann Creek.  Saqui explained that he applied for the program after a colleague from the Department of Youth Services reached out to him about the opportunity.

 

Javier Saqui, Owner, Ya’axkin Butterfly Farm

“So Youn Leaders of the America’s initiative is it’s an exchange program. It connects young entrepreneurs from the Caribbean, Central and South America to US companies and organizations.  And they will place you with companies and organizations that align with your business. For example, in my case, I’m a butterfly farmer. I do butterfly farming. So they placed me with Butterfly Wonderland. It’s a butterfly conservatory in the United States, and it is the largest butterfly Conservatory in the United States. I’m very fortunate enough to work with the director side by side to teach me how to develop my business more.”

 

Much like Zuniga, Saqui stated that one of the challenges his company faces is expansion and through the program, he was able to learn how to overcome that. Another aspect of the program that Saqui enjoyed was the cultural exchange between other participants and friendships he was able to foster.

 

Javier Saqui

“I think the best part of the experience was connecting with the other fourteen fellows that was placed with me in Phoenix, Arizona. So they were from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. And we made long life friendships. We became a family and we connected so much. I know I have friends from different parts of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. So to me, that was the best part of the experience, the bond that we created. So, I think it’s a life changing experience for me, like I said, so when I came back, I have a different mindset now. I’m not the same person when I left. So when I came back, I am motivated more than ever to develop my business and to look for more opportunities. One of the things we also found is we found a market for our butterflies in the United States with Butterfly Wonderland. So there were some species that they’re very interested in and now we’re starting to work on those species. We’re starting to farm them so we can export them to the United States to Butterfly Wonderland. So other people get to see the Belize butterflies there and they learn which country they come from and part of the country they come from.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.