Nongovernmental organizations play a critical role in breaking the cycle of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Their effectiveness is greatly increased when their leaders are skilled in public policy negotiations, building social alliances, strategic planning, and other competencies that enhance their capacity to encourage positive change.

To this end, LASPAU and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) have embarked on a series of initiatives to provide training for NGO leaders. A component of this effort, the Social Leadership Workshop, was held at Harvard University in August 2004 for current and former grantees of the LASPAU Leadership Fellowship Program, which supports advanced degree studies for leaders of development projects funded by WKKF. The workshop brought together fourteen grantees from seven countries for a week of lectures, discussions, field visits, and cultural activities.

Workshop speakers included Kenneth Maxwell of Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (keynote address); Blas Santos, WKKF Leadership Fellowship Program coordinator (WKKF strategies for promoting social leadership); John Ickis of INCAE (social alliances for change); Patricia Deyton of the Center for Gender in Organizations at the Simmons School of Management (women in leadership roles); Alvaro Lima of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (the non-profit sector in the United States); Michael Chu of the Harvard Business School (microfinance); and David Brown of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (strategic planning). The presentations featured simultaneous translation between English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The participants also made field visits to NGOs, including the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) and two organizations working with Boston’s Hispanic population: Urban Edge and Nuestra Comunidad. In preparation for the visits, presentations were given by leaders from MAPS, Urban Edge, and Ecologic, a Cambridge-based environmental NGO that works in Latin America.

Reactions to the workshop were extremely positive. Commented one participant, “For me, to get to know the other participants, their work, and their organizations was a high point of the seminar. I believe in exchange and interaction in order to strengthen action and generate new alliances."

If you are interested in further information about this or any other program administered by LASPAU, please see the Programs section of LASPAU's website.