A Conversation That Blossomed Into a Collaboration

Article by Allie Dalola, intern with the U.S. Department of State, currently studying Business Administration and Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill.

In April 2023, over 400 women from nine countries in Central and South America convened virtually for “Entrelazando Experiencias,” a virtual event that brought together alumni from the U.S. Department of State’s Young Leaders of the Americas (YLAI) and the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) exchange programs.

The idea for the event, which began as a conversation between two exchange alumni and female entrepreneurs, Cathy Perugachi and Micaela Castro, resulted in an opportunity for hundreds of women to explore networking, empowerment, and economic development.

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The “Entrelazando Experiencias” event created virtual networking opportunities for 400 alumni of YLAI and AWE from 9 Latin American countries. (Photo courtesy of Micaela Castro).

The collaborative summit showed the power of the Department of State’s many unique exchange alumni networks.

Micaela Castro is a 2022 YLAI Bolivia alumni and a social entrepreneur. Her business, Bolivian Concept, incorporates indigenous Bolivian textiles into contemporary fashion. By sourcing the fabrics directly from artisans in rural regions, Bolivian Concept works to promote economic development and cultural heritage.

Cathy Perugachi lives in Ecuador and participated in AWE in 2018 and YLAI in 2021. Through her business, Handmade LATAM, Perugachi is empowering Ecuadorian artisans by helping them launch their products in broader markets.

As alumni of U.S. Department of State programs, social entrepreneurs, and fellow fashionistas, Perugachi and Castro became fast friends after they met at the YLAI Fellowship Closing Forum in Washington D.C. in 2022.

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Cathy Perugachi of Ecuador who is an alum of both YLAI and AWE used her networking skills to create wider alumni engagement across Latin America. (Photo courtesy of IREX)

As they talked, they began to wonder if AWE or YLAI alumni from their respective countries were taking advantage of the massive international network these programs create.

“The most important part of my experience was meeting and connecting with other people,” Castro said. “We wanted to provide other women entrepreneurs with the opportunity we had.”

Their vision was to bring together AWE and YLAI alumni for a virtual event to grow their businesses, hear from inspirational speakers, and take advantage of the resources afforded to them as U.S. Department of State exchange alumni.

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The Entrelazando Experiencias initiative is a way to virtually recreate the intense networking of in-person alumni events, like the YLAI Fellowship forum in Washington D.C. (Photo courtesy of IREX)

After receiving a $2,000 YLAI Fellowship Impact Grant to fund the event, Perugachi and Castro worked hard to plan it and ensured it would be successful. They decided that the summit would cover social impact, mental health and entrepreneurship, and would feature a special keynote address from Josephia Urziaz, an alumni of Vital Voices who gave expert advice about entering the U.S. market as a Latin American entrepreneur.

“We hoped this event would create economic growth and exchange opportunities between the female entrepreneurs,” Castro said. “We hoped they would feel very connected personally and emotionally.”

The pair said the event was a massive success. More than 150 women attended each day of the summit, and over 400 women have since joined the Entrelazando Experiencias Facebook group. Castro and Perugachi said they have also received glowing feedback from several participants about the positive impact the summit had on them.

Since the event, Castro said she has heard several instances of women from both the AWE and YLAI programs collaborating with one another. She described the summit as part of the “multiplying effect” of passing on the knowledge she gained from the YLAI program to other women entrepreneurs.

For example, Castro described meeting one woman who had been looking for business partners in Mexico. At the summit, Castro said that the alum was able to meet another entrepreneur in Mexico who is going to connect her with potential buyers for her product. Perugachi said stories like that have made it clear that finding ways to traverse national borders and bring together ExchangeAlumni from all over the world is worth it.

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The virtual event was amplified on social media, and helped women make valuable connections between countries. (Photo courtesy of Micaela Castro)

“These connections will have a positive impact on their ventures and their communities, and it will help them cultivate a sense of identity as State Department Alumni,” Perugachi said.

Perugachi and Castro said they plan to make the summit an annual affair and hope to have the event in person in the future.

“We hope that the Department of State can foster more similar initiatives to keep growing the AWE and YLAI communities to help bring them closer,” Perugachi said.

The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) equips enterprising women with the skills they need to launch and scale successful businesses. In partnership with Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, AWE has empowered more than 25,000 women in 100 countries with knowledge and networking opportunities.

Launched in 2015, the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) empowers emerging business and social entrepreneurs from across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States. Combining an annual fellowship, an active online network, and continuing activities organized by U.S. embassies and consulates, YLAI fosters prosperity, inclusive development, and democratic values.

For more information about AWE, visit: https://eca.state.gov/awe.

For more information about YLAI, visit: https://ylai.state.gov/.