Founded in January of 2007, CALI Foundation is a non-profit private interest foundation based in Panama that seeks to help motivate effective and responsible leaders across Central America, who are capable of guiding their countries as they struggle to align the demands of globalization with local visions of a “good society”. The aim is to develop a new generation of value-based leaders in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The region is home to a growing number of competent young leaders in all sectors of society. CALI is designed to capture the energy, the talent, and the resolve of these leaders, who have already achieved a certain level of success in their respective fields, to inspire them to make a lasting impact in their region.

From 2007 to 2010, CALI has succesfully launched 5 classes. From 2011 to 2016, the Initiative will identify, strengthen and motivate 120 Central America Leadership “Fellows” from six countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama) to assume a more proactive stance in addressing the foremost challenges of their region – and their times.

The Fellows, between the ages of 30-45 years and drawn from business (50%), government (25%) and civil society (25%), are organized into five successive classes of 24 Fellows each. They come together four times over a period of 18 months to:  

• identify and address their personal strengths and weaknesses as leaders,
• share and refine their respective visions of the society they would like to live in, and
• lead by example by carrying out a self-designed, high impact Leadership Project.

The Leadership Fellows selected then participate in an 18-month program comprising four seminars and leadership development activities under the guidance of skilled moderators trained and certified by the Aspen Institute. The program requires a commitment by each Fellow to attend the four seminars plus the time allocated for individual leadership projects and periodic informal gatherings. The four sessions are:

• The Challenge of Leadership
• The Aspen Seminar: Defining the Good Society
• Leading in an Era of Globalization
• The Promise of Leadership

The entire orientation of the Initiative, as with the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Fellowship Program that inspired its creation, will be “thought leading to action.”

Through the readings that form the basis of the seminars, the Fellows will be exposed to a range of “thought leaders” and role models from around the globe and across the ages who have clearly articulated their visions for “a good society” and demonstrated their capacity for effective, enlightened leadership. As they read, the Fellows will be challenged to think about their own visions – and about how they measure up as leaders.

Through the dialogue and debate that is inspired by these readings and prompted by the moderators, the Fellows will be exposed to the values and beliefs of others from their own societies with whom they must learn to work if they are to build stronger economies and civil societies. Government and civil society leaders will learn how their counterparts in the business community think about concepts such as “efficiency” and “liberty”, how they respond to crises and critical challenges, and what their frustrations are as they try to create growth and jobs. Likewise, business leaders will learn how their counterparts in other sectors think about “community” and “equality”, and how they balance the demands of the marketplace with the needs of the less-endowed and the less-empowered.

But through their leadership projects, all of the Fellows will be compelled to put their own visions, passion and leadership styles into action.

Based on the results of the inaugural CALI class, the Henry Crown Fellowship program and the Africa Leadership Initiative, the types of actions envisioned for the Central America Fellows are:

• Greater engagement of business leaders in active policy dialogue with their governments, especially dialogue around creating the right conditions for growth and successful participation in the global economy.
• Greater engagement of business leaders – and the businesses they lead --in tackling social challenges – from HIV/AIDS to literacy, nutrition, housing, gangs, and youth unemployment.
• Greater engagement by government and civil society leaders with the business community in tackling these same social challenges.

To illustrate this point, the following is a partial list of projects that Fellows have commited to:

• Agora Partnerships: Poverty reduction through micro finance and entrepreneurship in Nicaragua.
• Switch: Young civic participation through journalism in Guatemala.
• Libras de Amor: malnutrition and health services to the rural poor in El Salvador
• Vital Voices Chapter Guatemala: Empowering and training for women.
• Association of Entrepreneurs for Development (AED): Public-Private Partnerships for education in Costa Rica
• Pro-Guatemala: Strengthening Guatemala’s electoral process through civic participation.
• CAPTA: Empowerment and training of urban women in Panama.
• Emanuel Project: Health, education and development for the Cabecar community in Costa Rica.
• Amigos del aprendizaje (ADA): teacher training and improving the quality of education in Costa Rica
• Central American dialogue: Multisectoral dialogues to reach consensus on priority issues for the region.

Each Fellow has committed to a project to help tangibly improve their society, and it is expected that they will continue to apply the lessons learned during these sessions to help solve the pressing issues they face. It is the hope of the Founders of this program that investing in greater leadership capacity will be the key to bringing forth the great potential they see in this region – both through the leadership projects, and the leaders themselves.

The CALI Foundation is also a member of the growing Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), a place where Fellows from all over the world keep connected.