The Latin American impact ecosystem is vibrant and growing. Despite the recent political climate and troubling events happening on both sides of the U.S. – LatAm border, entrepreneurs are innovating new solutions and investors are finding incredible opportunities to fund ventures and projects that are creating impact at scale. Resources, talent, and dreams flow across that invisible yet tangible border that has been central to so many debates, political agendas, and human rights violations.
To help spark necessary conversations and facilitate new cross-sector collaborations, a content track focused on LatAm is being curated for SOCAP19. To bring together the LatAm ecosystem at this year’s flagship conference, and to provide a dedicated space for those conversations to develop, we are also creating programming for a LatAm Lounge @ SOCAP.
LatAm Lounge Conversations
The LatAm Lounge @ SOCAP is a space where people can come together to engage not only with the incredible entrepreneurs that are coming out of the LatAm region, but also with investors, foundations, ecosystem mappers, and fund-of-funds who are based in LatAm, or in the U.S. but with their work focused in Latin America.
From gender lens investing, to reports on the entrepreneur ecosystem, to locally-focused incubators and community-led development projects, participants who wish to be immersed in this small cross-border experiment can come to the LatAm Lounge to meet and speak with actors and players from all over the Western Hemisphere.
Dedicated programming (some in Spanish!) will take place in the lounge on Wednesday, October 23rd and Thursday October 24th. Speakers and presenting organizations that are leading sessions in the lounge include:
- Sonen Capital
- ANDE
- Balloon Latam
- Capria
- New Ventures
- ProMujer
- The Palladium Group
- Linked Foundation
- William Davidson Institute
- Alterna Impact
My Hope
I have been working as the Scholarship Entrepreneur Coordinator since SOCAP15, with this year being my fifth SOCAP, all while living and working from Guatemala. While I am a San Francisco-born gal, I have been living in Guatemala, making a life for myself, for the past four years. I have been steeped in both worlds of the U.S. and Latin America, in terms of social entrepreneurship, impact investment, and the culture and history, so this year I’ve been excited to create an experience at SOCAP that would really showcase the innovative, inspiring, and persevering nature that is so integral to Latin America.
I hope that in the coming years at SOCAP we won’t just have a LatAm Lounge, but also an African Lounge (as at SOCAP18!), Asian Lounge, Middle Eastern Lounge, and more so we can have space to celebrate the ways in which these regions of the world are so unique, and at the same time, have so much in common.
You Are Invited
Please join us in the LatAm Lounge. No matter where you are coming from, we invite you to be part of this experience. Come listen to LatAm experts and entrepreneurs from our SOCAP Scholarship Program and see the inspiration, passion, and commitment coming out of this amazing and diverse region.
The LatAm Lounge @ SOCAP will be open to all attendees of SOCAP19. To join the conversation, register for SOCAP19.
