AGLN Blog

In 2004, several entrepreneurs aware of the problems of corruption, poverty and inequality that affected the Central American region had the vision to create a leadership program modeled after the Henry Crown Fellowship. They founded the Central America Leadership Initiative (CALI) with the mission to foster inclusive development in the region by promoting values-based leadership. Claudia Salmerón is the new executive director of CALI, and her diverse professional career, as both a business leader and an educator, has provided her with the experience needed to collaborate with Fellows from a variety of different backgrounds. A CALI Fellow herself, Claudia built a venture to provide low-income children Central American with shoes to improve their quality of life. Claudia joins the CALI Foundation after spending 15 years developing and promoting Nicaraguan industry in the outsourcing sector while also providing marketing and program development consulting for the School of Graduate Studies of Universidad Americana.
 
Tell us about your passion for social change.
I was raised by a family who believes that everyone has the obligation to be an active and engaged citizen. They keep me grounded, but they also taught the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone. I am very grateful for the values my family instilled in me, and how they encouraged me to collaborate with others to accomplish something good for our community. Holding true to these values, I have committed myself to being a part of the solution to Central America’s problems. Pursuing professional opportunities that allow me to accomplish this is very important for me.
 
The Aspen Global Leadership Network’s mission refers to high integrity, entrepreneurial leaders. What is the relevance of those qualities in Central America? How are you Fellows showing this kind of leadership? 
Central American is a region with many advantages in terms of geography and natural resources. Our people are among the most innovative and entrepreneurial, always finding creative ways to overcome our limitations with determination and a positive outlook. On the other hand, politically and socially we are a polarized people. Since the wave of independence swept over Central America, each country has faced struggles to govern themselves justly. Achieving this has been an immense challenge. Each country’s story is different, but they are all dealing with corrupt or broken systems. This struggle has left the majority of our population alienated and impoverished.

Our hope for progress and the construction of a strong civil society lies on experienced, visionary and engaged citizens: leaders with a solid values structure, who are committed to exploring new alternatives to bring progress and wealth to the rest of the region. CALI Fellows, for instance, are realizing that it’s not enough being successful and sympathetic; it takes courage to move out of their comfort zones to become active social agents of change through their own lives and the ventures they launch. If you look at the fruits of their cumulative effort, you will see that CALI Fellows are catalyzing significant progress.

What was your Fellowship experience like?
During the selection process, up to when you get selected, many times you hear other Fellows say, “this will change your life,” “it is magical experience,” or the best one, “we are a big family, I am closer to my Fellows than to my own friends back home.” You listen and you don’t quite understand. But then you finish your first seminar. I remember driving back to Nicaragua from Costa Rica (an eight hour drive), all I could speak about were those same feelings. How amazing and how different I felt. That long car ride was merely the beginning of the introspection and reflection process that I began with CALI. For me, it was as if someone had taken me to my real home. I realized how much more I could do with my life, and how much more I could be doing for others. To be surrounded by so many amazing souls was a humbling experience. The CALI Fellowship has given me so much, and taking on the MD role is my way of saying “thank you.” It is my labor of love to serve and support my dear Fellows in any way I can. But working with them is also my own personal journey to learn, to be inspired, and to grow.

How did living outside of Central America shape your perspective on your home?
I lived outside of Nicaragua for more than seven years. I went to college in North Carolina and stayed there working for a nonprofit dedicated to helping at risk youth and their families. Falling in love with Asheville was easy: beautiful scenery, the great outdoors, folk culture, excellent gastronomy, diverse people, healthy lifestyle, entertainment, you name it! It’s a little piece of heaven on earth. Part of me wanted to stay and establish myself there, but another part of me wanted to leave and do something for my country and my people. I was in the nonprofit sector, I was helping others, but in the end that was not what filled my heart, so I went back home. The contrast became too apparent for me, I was uncomfortable living a life away from the reality I had grown up with, and this made me realize I had to do something about it. Perspective is a powerful mind changer and my perspective certainly shifted when I lived those years away from home.
 
What are some of the ventures of current CALI Fellows that inspire you?
That’s a tough question. There are so many unique ventures and it feels unfair not to mention all of them. Two success stories that come to mind are Maria Pacheco’s and KC Harding’s.

Maria, through her venture Kiej de los Bosques, designs and exports fashion accessories made by rural communities under the brand Wakami. Its profits go to the NGO, Communities of the Earth, whose mission is to end social and economic underutilization of women across Central America. She has a formula that has proven effective and that can be replicated to improve the livelihood of many families in the region. I admire Maria’s dynamism.

KC, through his venture Esperanza, works to re-integrate ex-gang members and at risk young adults into Panamanian society, through a personal development program and entrepreneurship. It’s a comprehensive program that targets the different necessities of a rehabilitation process. Maintaining this sort of multifaceted project is very difficult. It requires keen vision, as well as discipline and determination. But KC’s passion and brilliance has empowered Project Esperanza to succeed. 

What is one fun fact about you that is not in your bio?
When I’m feeling stressed, I pretend I am an opera soloist and sing loudly to blow off some steam.