by Dimitri Antoniou, Aspire Institute Chief of Staff
Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Colombia for the first time. I landed in Medellín, the city of eternal spring. I was immediately enamored by the lush plant life, friendly people, and lively streets. Further explorations in Cartagena, a finca in Fredonia, and the vibrant square at the heart of Jardín all further solidified my new love of this beautiful country. But, the best part of the trip was meeting a group of alumni and learners from the Aspire Leaders Program.
A Warm Welcome in Medellín Among Aspire Leaders Program Alumni and Learners
Aspire has over 500 alumni throughout Colombia, with nearly 50 in or near Medellín. But until now, we never had the chance to host a meetup in the country. So, in advance of my trip, I reached out to ask if anyone wanted to get together. Within hours, I had 15 responses expressing interest, excitement, warm welcome, and offers to help organize. The alumni self-organized a lunch, and within a week, a group of nine alumni and one current learner all met up at Restaurante Aula.
Building Community
This group was nothing short of amazing. Each person was friendly, well-spoken, passionate, welcoming, intelligent, and engaging. They represented a wide range of careers, academic backgrounds and passions. One alum works with a city program supporting youth leadership, citizenship education, emotional well being, and other areas of education across public schools in Medellín. Another alum hopes to get her C1 English certification while learning German in order to pursue a master’s degree in Biotechnology in Germany. I also met a psychologist, computer scientist, economist, and leaders in public finance, education, and environmentalism.
Insights as Aspire Leaders Program Alumni
One of my favorite parts of the conversation was hearing directly from these alumni about their favorite experiences and key takeaways from the Aspire Leaders Program. They reflected on:
- Experiencing cross-cultural learning with learners in other countries, and being able to learn from other people’s lived experiences, local contexts, challenges, and work. This exposure and exchange showed them ways to apply different lessons and solutions to their own local contexts.
- Overcoming imposter syndrome and learning to trust yourself, your experiences, and your competence. Like professor Khanna speaks about in the curriculum, they emphasized pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
- Taking action now – not waiting for tomorrow – to be a leader and change maker in your community. The program helped them see themselves as leaders.
- Practicing English. The program offered a supportive environment to continue to develop their English language skills through the curriculum, peer-to-peer interactions, and live masterclasses.
Looking Ahead and Growing Communities Around the World
As we look to the future of the Aspire Institute community in Colombia, I am inspired by the passion these leaders have for impacting their communities. I am excited by the community that has come together in Medellín, the opportunities for partnership with local agencies, and the potential to empower more individuals to be changemakers inside of such a welcoming, beautiful, and vibrant country.
