“LALA Turns 8: 8 Wishes for Our Future”
An open love letter to the work and impact of our community
Eight years can mean many things:
- It’s how long it took the New Horizons space probe to reach Pluto.
- It’s the time many students dedicate to earning a PhD.
- It’s longer than the reign of most Roman emperors.
- It’s one-third of a Saturn year, but an entire lifetime for some cicadas
For us, eight years mark a remarkable journey. Since our first Bootcamp in 2017, LALA has grown into a dynamic movement that has touched the lives of nearly 3,000 young changemakers across Latin America.
To celebrate this milestone, we’ve gathered 8 birthday wishes from voices across our community — LALA’s co-founders, David Baptista and Diego Ontaneda; LALA Global board chairs, Alejandra Mejía and Molly Efrusy, and Luiza Vilanova, LALíder. These wishes are more than dreams; they reflect the shared hopes and aspirations for LALA’s next 8 years.
8 Wishes for LALA’s Future
- An Evolving LALA: A vision that LALA will continuously refine and create new programs that address the ever-changing needs of LALíderes and our community.
- Commitment to Youth Leadership Development: a hope that every young person can know the importance of their life and find ways to contribute to a healthier world.
- A Wider and Deeper Net: a dream that one day our collective network of Hubs, LALíderes, and outreach partners shall weave such a net that no potential LALíder falls through the cracks
- Connected LALeaders: That our community of incredible LALeaders will grow stronger and continue to support and learn from each other as they work to achieve their goals and impact the region;
- Dream Big: That LALA continues to envision a better world for Latin America and takes bold steps to turn that vision into reality across as many countries in our hemisphere as possible;
- Deep conviction and results: That LALA continues to demonstrate the importance of investing in our youth — the catalytic force that will influence our collective future in the region;
- Confidence in our goals: That no LALíder doubts their transformative power, and may the impostor syndrome have no place in our community!
- 8. Growing community: That more young people from the interior of Brazil discover LALA and become a part of the community
Whether you joined us this year or eight years ago, this milestone is yours too.
We thank our donors, partners, team members, board leaders, and most of all our thriving community of LALíderes who continue to lead the way.
With love and gratitude,
Team LALA
