SIF Partners with the IIE to Launch New Program for Central American Leaders
July 29, 2015
This innovative program seeks to develop a professional network of high-impact, social change leaders throughout Central America, and support them in leveraging their expertise to attain greater impact in their community and country.
Seattle International Foundation (SIF) is partnering with the Institute of International Education (IIE) to create a prestigious new leadership development program to support high-impact leaders driving change in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. SIF’s core approach to development in Central America includes investment in leadership programs, organizational capacity building, and creating networks of social change agents with the ability to transform economies, communities and societies. SIF also recognizes partnerships and local leadership as critical elements to successful development efforts. Since 2008, SIF has provided over $1.5 million in grants to organizations promoting grassroots leadership development.
This innovative program seeks to develop a professional network of high-impact, social change leaders throughout Central America, and support them in leveraging their expertise to attain greater impact in their community and country. IIE’s teams in Mexico City and New York will manage the program in collaboration with SIF staff in Seattle and Mexico City, and all training activities will take place in Central America. In its first year, this new program will reach 100 mid-career, influential leaders (25 from each of the four countries) who are working in senior-level positions in nonprofit organizations, as well as other important sectors such as the judicial system, mass media, and business.
Leveraging more than nine decades of experience overseeing leading scholarship and training programs, IIE will partner with SIF to conduct outreach to potential applicants, survey leading nonprofit leaders to identify their professional development needs, and implement a year-long program consisting of workshops, coaching, networking, in-person experiential learning and online skills development for the Fellows. The language of instruction for the program will be Spanish; however, Fellows interested in improving their English skills will be given the opportunity to do so.
SIF looks forward to not only working with IIE in the years ahead to support these Central American leaders in driving change in their societies, but also drawing on IIE’s contacts and expertise to help our Fellows be even more impactful in their home countries. We believe the complex problems of Central America are best addressed by local leaders. By investing in local leaders, we are investing in the social change agents that are best positioned to make long-lasting change in their communities.
“On behalf of the entire team at IIE, we are honored to partner with Seattle International Foundation on this bold new initiative,” said Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education. “It is our privilege to be able to work together to advance the Foundation’s vision that promoting individual and collective capacity building of leaders, such as those working in human rights, women’s equality, and environmental justice, can bring about lasting social change within a community or country.”
IIE has extensive experience assisting community organizations around the world to build their capacity and expand their reach, and ultimately improve their ability to aid underserved populations across the globe. IIE will leverage its network of dynamic trainers, alumni, consultants and professionals at universities, foundations, corporations and civil society organizations to reach out to a wide audience of prospective participants, develop the curriculum, and deliver high quality, dynamic seminars and trainings.