In 2022, Global Minnesota was delighted to host Fellows from the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) to Minnesota as part of our Professional Exchanges Program. The YLAI program gathers emerging leaders from all across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada to advance their entrepreneurial ideas and effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities.
One such visitor was Luis V. Villaherrera, who is fighting for democracy and human rights in El Salvador. In 2017, he co-founded TRACODA, which stands for transparency, social control, and open data, to create innovative projects that focus on technological tools to combat corruption and foster democracy. After the government banned his platform, he founded The Center for Democratic Strengthening. As part of this incredible work, he recently won a prestigious Obama Foundation Scholars award and hopes to use the program help build grassroots movements, deliver messages to a broader audience, and push for accountability in government throughout Central America and beyond. He joined the podcast to talk about his Minnesota experience with the YLAI program, his recent Obama Scholars award, and the important work he is doing to advance government accountability in Central America.
Listen below, or subscribe to our podcast on all major podcast apps.
Unable to listen to the podcast? You can also read the computer-generated transcript here:
Podcast Transcript Democracy in El Salvador
Hear untold stories of international connections with new monthly episodes by subscribing to The Global Minnesota Podcast. Now available on all podcast streaming apps!
Links
Global Minnesota Professional Exchanges
Upcoming Event: Global Social with YLAI Fellows
This interview was recorded on February 21, 2024.