Concordia is partnering with Innovadores de América and Xcala this year to explore how to foster a more effective environment for innovation and entrepreneurship across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Leveraging the strengths and networks of all three organizations, the partnership will strive to elevate the dialogue surrounding the impact of entrepreneurship and innovation on Latin American culture. Through robust and action-oriented programming, both during the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit and beyond, the partnership will examine how to create an environment that inspires and cultivates cross-sector partnerships for action.
Central to the partnership, the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit will provide a platform to announce the esteemed 2018 Innovadores de América Prize in front of a diverse, international audience of cross-sector leaders during United Nations General Assembly week. Widely recognized as the most important innovation award in Latin America, the 2018 Innovadores de América Prize celebrates the most outstanding Latin American innovations across three categories: Business and Industry, Science and Technology, and Social Development. The winners of the award—selected by a multidisciplinary team of researchers and jurors both from the region and outside—are distinguished for their ability to transform the society in which they live through their innovations.
In addition to disseminating the achievements of outstanding Latin American innovators, the 2018 Annual Summit’s more intimate and in-depth programming will closely examine the new models, values, and ideas being introduced in the region. These case studies will be analyzed and promoted, and will help provide an educational tool that can serve as a reference in order to strengthen the development of Latin American culture going forward.
Innovadores de América is a communication platform and regional integration movement dedicated to creating social value and continental development through promoting innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. The partnership with Xcala, a platform that seeks to catalyze early-stage investment by promoting dynamic businesses to angel investor networks in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlights the importance of cross-sector collaboration in Innovadores de América’s work. By drawing on the private and public sectors, academia, the media, and NGOs, Innovadores de América aims to popularize innovation so that countries may increase their innovation budgets, therefore benefiting populations that lack access to necessary resources.
Set within the framework of Concordia’s Education, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development Programming Pipeline, the partnership will build on Concordia’s work in areas ranging from employment and skills matching within the job market to technology and access to education.
To learn more about Innovadores de América, visit www.innovadoresdeamerica.org/
To learn more about Xcala, visit http://xcala.org/en/
For information on the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit, visit www.concordia.net/annualsummit/2018annualsummit/