IESC Hosts Participant in President Obama’s 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative
Luz Zuñiga Gonzalez
November 24, 2014 – IESC is hosting Luz Zuñiga Gonzalez, a third-year undergraduate student from Pénjamo, Guanajuato, Mexico, through the Mexico 100 Program. Gonzalez is working as a business development intern through the fall of 2014.
Mexico 100 is a 15-week professional development program for youth that is focused on learning about and developing cross-sector partnerships to strengthen civil society and address social challenges. It is part of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative, which was launched by President Obama in 2014 to increase educational exchange in the Western Hemisphere and strengthen U.S. relations with the countries of the Americas through student mobility.
Gonzales is currently pursuing a degree in administration and management at the Universidad Politécnica de Pénjamo and hopes to earn a graduate degree in management.
A budding entrepreneur, Gonzales would one day like to launch a biofuel company so that people in her home community of Pénjamo can use organic residues such as livestock manure to create their own fuel.
“I wanted to participate in the Mexico 100 program because Mexico, and especially my community, needs leaders that can improve lives and change things,” Gonzalez said. “I wanted to be that leader for my community, to be the girl that people say, ‘Oh, she helped us.’”
During her internship at IESC, Gonzalez is working on a proposal for a new project in Latin America as well as providing assistance to IESC’s current volunteer program in China.
The 100,000 Strong Initiative and the Mexico 100 program were both established to facilitate the education of cross-cultural skills, and to grow a generation of leaders who can reach across borders and look toward the future. Gonzalez is one such leader who is enthusiastic about sustainable development and green practices, and is gaining experience in a new culture.
