Next Generation of Leadership in the Americas Conference: Americas Quarterly Winter Launch

Welcome: Susan Segal, President and CEO AS/COA, publisher, AQ
Introduction: Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy AS/COA and Editor-in-Chief, AQ

Keynote Address: Alma Guillermoprieto, Journalist

Leadership Panel:

• Megan Leslie, (Canada) Member of Parliament
• Jenny Manrique Cortés (Colombia) Journalist, www.votebien.com
• Sebastián Mendoza (Panama) Chief Strategy Officer, Container Consultants & Systems
• Adrián Pérez, (Argentina) National Deputy, Republic of Argentina
• Paulo Rogério, (Brazil) Founder, Instituto Mídia Étnica
• Moderator: Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director AS/COA and Editor-in-Chief, AQ

Young Leaders Conference

A group of young leaders from 17 countries in the Western hemisphere attended a three-day conference at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas headquarters during the week of February 15 to share their goals for the region’s future. Business, political, and civic leaders discussed entrepreneurship, cooperation across sectors, new communications technology, and lingering challenges as they sought ways to ensure a future marked by greater intraregional cooperation.

The delegation, which drew from contributors to the Winter issue of Americas Quarterly, "Voices from the New Generation", included senators, social activists, journalists and business executives under the age of 40. In a series of meetings with business leaders, foundations, policymakers, media, and their counterparts in the United States, participants discussed the visions of a new generation of leaders in the Americas. Political and civic leaders discussed entrepreneurship, cooperation across sectors, new communications technology and lingering challenges.

The conference was publicly celebrated at the February 17 launch of the Winter issue. The evening program featured a keynote address from Mexican journalist Alma Guillermoprieto, who identified Latin America’s accomplishments to date, as well as lingering challenges for the new generation. After Guillmermoprieto’s remarks, five representatives from the delegation discussed their essays and their particular countries’ challenges in a panel discussion.

Lingering Challenges for the New Generation

Guillermoprieto opened her keynote address by reflecting on the changes she has observed over the course of more than 30 years as a journalist. “Latin America is a much better place, she said, “but it is still not possible to say we have reached our potential.” Specifically, she focused on the immensely destructive power of drug trafficking in her own country. Noting the White House’s recent decision not to use the phrase “war on drugs” as a positive development, Guillermoprieto posed the question: “is it possible to end drug trafficking?” to the audience. “We can’t have a reasonable discussion about this without asking the question,” she said.

Defining a Generation

AS/COA Senior Director of Policy Christopher Sabatini moderated a panel discussion with conference participants Megan Leslie, Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons; Jenny Manrique Cortés, a Colombian journalist; Sebatián Mendoza, chief strategy officer for the Panamanian company Container Consultants & Systems; Adrián Pérez a national deputy in Argentina; and Paulo Rogério, the founder of the Brazilian NGO Instituto Midia Étnica.

The participants discussed the challenges of passing meaningful legislation on global warming, education and other issues that directly affect younger voters as well as the need to better incorporate historically marginalized populations in the societies of the future. They also spoke of their generation's advantages, including access to new technology and a solid commitment to democracy across the region.

Sabatini opened the discussion by asking participants to describe what makes their generation unique in their countries. Pérez noted the significance of having lived most of his life in a democratic Argentina. “We have had crises, but nobody thought that the way out was to break constitutional order,” he said. Now, the challenge facing Argentina is social inclusion, ensuring equal opportunities in health and education as opportunities for private development become more common, he said.

Leslie spoke of the importance of engaging young people in policy debates that directly affect them, like education and global warming. She said she had always envisioned herself affecting change from outside politics, but that her experience as a community activist has trained her to become a better politician.

Technological for Change

When asked what distinguished their generation from that of their parents, many of the participants cited technology and increased communication. Mendoza explained how progress made in his native Panama, now “one of the most globalized countries in Latin America,” and technological development enabled him to pursue his passion: starting a business shipping containers. “To have access to technology is what makes my company possible,” Mendoza said.

Despite being raised in a country that is mired in more than four decades of civil war, Manrique, a journalist for an online publication, www.votebien.com, said technology has empowered young Colombians to seek truth. “In general what makes us different is that we have technology to track issues we did not know about before, we can track public records in a way that is more transparent and is available for everyone,” she said.

Rogério, whose organization trains journalists of African descent and works toward greater racial inclusion in Brazilian media, shared the panelists’ enthusiasm for the social media’s potential to affect change. However, he warned that such technology also brings a new challenge—lack of access. Noting that Brazil was the last country in the world to end slavery, Rogério said power in Brazil is traditionally concentrated in very few hands. “There’s still little possibility of people in favelas having computers,” he said.

Conclusion

The conference concluded the next day with meetings on U.S. foreign policy in the region with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and with three Congressional staffers who work on Latin American-U.S. relations. In parting, participants and the AS/COA committed to maintaining the network of young leaders and planning future meetings.