TAMIU Hosts Harvard Kennedy School’s Latino Leadership Initiative

A select group of 36 students from across the nation will be in Laredo June 8-13 for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI), hosted by Texas A&M International University (TAMIU).

Launched in 2010, the LLI is sponsored by the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the Harvard Kennedy School. It is a weeklong program that prepares rising college seniors for the opportunities and challenges they will face in the coming decades.

The eight participating Initiative schools are Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles); University of California, Merced; TAMIU; the University of Houston; the University of Massachusetts–Boston; The University of Texas–Pan American; West Texas A&M University and Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México.

Students were all chosen through a competitive and highly selective application process.

The LLI curriculum includes classes on public narrative, community organizing, negotiation, moral leadership, emotional intelligence and critical thinking, networking, and public speaking. LLI participants will also have opportunities to build relationships with respected Latino mentors from government, non-profit, and business sectors.

Among LLI organizers and guest lecturers participating are Kaleb Canales, offensive coordinator, Dallas Mavericks; Marshall Ganz, Harvard senior lecturer in Public Policy, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations; Cristina Diaz, Senator, México; Mark Menaldo, TAMIU assistant professor, international and American politics; Al Silva, chief operating officer and general manager, Labatt Food Service, Inc.; Judith Zaffirini, State Senator, Texas and Andy Zelleke, senior lecturer, Harvard Business School and LLI academic program head.

TAMIU is a lead partner in this, the fifth offering of the LLI. This is the first time the Initiative has been held off campus from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

For additional information, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services, 956.3265.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu