In a landmark gathering marking a decade of investment in regional economic leadership, Belize is playing host to 25 emerging young entrepreneurs from across the Caribbean this week for a special regional alumni forum organized for the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI), a flagship program run by the U.S. State Department.
The three-day collaborative event, coordinated by the U.S. Embassy in Belize, brings together 20 to 25 program graduates from 10 different Caribbean nations including Jamaica, St. Lucia, Guyana, Suriname, and Antigua and Barbuda, alongside a cohort of 8 local Belizean entrepreneur participants. Unlike conventional business conferences, the forum is tailored to expand cross-border professional networks within the Caribbean, sharpen hands-on business management skills, and build on the foundational training participants received during their fellowships in the United States.
Katharine Beamer, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Belize, emphasized that the decade-old YLAI initiative embodies a sustained, long-term commitment to nurturing the next generation of business leadership across the Western Hemisphere. “In the United States, small businesses are the engine of our economic growth, and we are really committed to helping entrepreneurs in other countries succeed as well,” Beamer shared in remarks during the opening of the forum. “The United States considers our alumni to be a long-term investment in the future of those people and that country.”
For local participants, the forum represents a rare chance to connect with like-minded creative and business minds across the region who share similar challenges and goals. Ronelli Requena, a Belizean fashion designer and founder of the local apparel brand Zayvha Sarai, completed the YLAI fellowship program in 2021, and says the one-on-one mentorship she received through the initiative fundamentally reshaped her approach to business.
“A lot of us entrepreneurs feel like it is a lonely journey sometimes, but with the YLAI programme you get to be paired with a mentor. My mentor was phenomenal. She taught me how to get structure for my business and how to make it more of a sustainable venture and find balance between growth and personal well-being,” Requena explained. She added that the most impactful skill she gained from the program was learning to leverage digital technology to streamline operations and build more scalable, organized business processes.
The forum is expected to wrap up with actionable partnerships between regional entrepreneurs, with local outlet News 5 set to air a full recap of the event’s outcomes on News 5 Live this evening at 6 p.m. for audiences interested in learning how these emerging leaders are turning regional connections into tangible economic opportunities.