Young Emerging Leaders of Central America

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Young Emerging Leaders of the Civil Society of Central America (ExCEL) - INCAE Business School and CLACDS (Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development)

In November 2019, Sara Hurtarte, our executive co-director participated in the first work module within the Young Emerging Leaders of Civil Society program offered by INCAE Business School in Managua, Nicaragua.

The program is offered by INCAE and CLACDS. INCAE Business School is a business school with high recognition in Latin America, for its diversity of business masters and executive programs. The Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development is the center of thinking and applied research of INCAE Business School. Its mission is to promote sustainable development in the region through research, capacity development, and dialogue.

Sara was chosen from hundreds of applicants at the Central American level, where only 30 young people were selected to participate in the program. The objective of the program is to train, motivate and connect leaders from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, providing them with tools that allow them to be agents of change and face the challenges of our changing environment.

https://www.incae.edu/es/clacds.html

The program is designed to have face-to-face and virtual participation to develop and design a nonprofit project that generates impact and provides tools to manage teams and organizations for a more challenging environment.

During the first classroom module, Sara had the opportunity to connect with young people from different sectors, from university students struggling in grassroots organizations, all the way to young people working in international cooperation, municipal government, and various foundations. This allowed a diversity of backgrounds and a very enriching exchange.

One of the sessions that can be highlighted is the Political Economy and the 2030 agenda, where participants were able to understand the big picture of the complex challenges we are facing and how adaptation is crucial, by addressing issues such as technological changes, climate change and sustainable development goals by 2030. As part of the session, participants were able to learn about the Social Progress Index and its mobile application and how to perform simulations to increase the social progress index for a country.

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“This exercise made us realize the impact that our public policies can have in the short term, but more important in the long term, and in this way assessing us how we could improve our social progress index. For me, the application seemed to be an excellent tool to share with future decision-makers (mayors, governors, community leaders, presidents), so they can analyze how their proposals and government and/or policies are addressing the social progress index indicators, which goes beyond economic (GDP). ”

Another aspect to highlight during the first part of the program is the use of a case method, developed by Harvard University and used as the main teaching methodology by INCAE Business School.

“The cases helped me to be able to analyze terminologies and new knowledge in a more practical way. Mainly the case of strategic planning, where I was able to identify areas of learning of what happened to the Bridge Adult Service Center with similar aspects within SERES. ”

At the end of the first module, each participant is dedicated to developing an impact project of their choice, applying project management tools, business model canvas, among others.

Based on that Sara, has developed in greater detail the Pathways to Resilience project, focused on supporting families and youth affected by the eruption of the Volcano of Fire, strengthening the areas where INCAE Business School can offer a different perspective.

The second module will be held from February 10 to 14, including topics such as ethics and leadership, teamwork, political parties, and conflict resolution.

Sara will be traveling to Nicaragua again and we hope to hear more news to continue strengthening the work of Central American leaders in the region. 

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