About YABT
The Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) is a nonprofit international organization that works in cooperation with the Organization of American States (OAS) to promote social and economic development of young people around the world. While building entrepreneurial capacity and creating opportunities for future business leaders, the YABT community advances the global goals and strengthens youth-led initiatives for sustainable development.
YABT has four focus areas to support youth ventures, especially those working on poverty reduction, employment, climate change, peace and democracy.


Leadership

Business skills and Training

Competitions

Resources and Alliances
+31,950
Young people Involved in the Summits of the Americas process and other policy-making forums
+3,000
Attendees in BootCamp training and mentoring sessions
+51,433
Young entrepreneurs registered in Innovation Competitions
21,000
Participants in Capacity Building Programs
+250
Interns and professional trainees involved in global youth scenarios
YABT programs have a positive impact on all aspects of young people’s lives. Since its creation, it has bolstered more than 100,000 young people in 75 countries through programs and activities that permit young people to be productive members of their communities. YABT creates participation programs for young people to become partners in the development of programs and policies at national, hemispheric and global levels.
Our Team

Chief Executive Officer

Luis Viguria
Chief Executive Officer
Luis Viguria is the Chief Executive Officer of the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) an affiliated nonprofit corporation to the Organization of American States with the objective of supporting the social and economic development of young people in the Western Hemisphere and around the world.
With more than 20 years of experience on youth development at the international level in areas such as sustainable development, innovation, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, citizen participation among other priorities of the region. Among his responsibilities are the strategic planning of the organization, the development of alliances and the definition of priorities to be addressed through the different programs and activities developed by YABT.
Luis Viguria firmly believes in the role of youth as partners for development and the importance of creating spaces for their effective participation in the decision-making process at all levels. His experience has allowed him to work and coordinate programs in all the OAS Member States, working directly with governments, private sector and civil society organizations and international development agencies and organizations, always connectingyouth and sustainable development. Through programs such as the Eco Challenge, the Talent and Innovation Competitions of the Americas (TIC Americas), the Business Labs or the Young Americas Forum, he supported thousands of young people in the Americas in their professional and personal development.
Luis Viguria has been a speaker at global and hemispheric forums organized by organizations such as the European Union, The United Nations, The World Bank, The Inter-American Development Bank, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Organization of American States among others, where he presented not only his vision on development, entrepreneurship, and youth, but also shared his perspective as young entrepreneur and Latin American professional in the international arena.
Luis studied economics at Pontificia Universidad Cattolica del Perú, obtained a certification on Business Administration at Georgetown University and a master’s degree in international development at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He currently lives and works in Washington, D.C, together with his wife and two kids.

Executive Director

Valerie Lorena
Executive Director
Valerie is responsible for design, implementation and expansion of youth entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation programs involving multiple sectors and international stakeholders. Prior to joining YABT in 2005, Valerie worked in the International Relations department of the UCO University in Queretaro, Mexico where she was responsible for the international mobility of students and global institutional agreements.
She has been invited as judge and mentor for global initiatives to promote youth entrepreneurship such as the UNESCO and the Startup Weekends of the Inter-American Development Bank. Valerie holds a trilateral masters degree in Business from the following universities: Western Illinois University of the United States, Université de Moncton in Canada and from the Autonomous Querétaro University in Mexico.
She also contributes as a judge, mentor and advisor of the Goi Peace Foundation Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition, UNDP’s Youth-IN, Demand Solutions and Corporate, the World Bank’s Young Entrepreneurs as Drivers of Sustainable Growth Flagship Event and Campaign, among others. Valerie actively serves as spokesperson for the organization; displaying strong initiative, communication and teamwork skills as a speaker and representative of the youth strata at high-level events such as the Summits of the Americas and OAS General Assemblies.

Program Director

Edgar Maestre
Latin America Program Director
Edgar has international experience in managing programs and initiatives in the field of youth entrepreneurship, business development, international cooperation and public-private partnerships. Edgar holds a BA in Business Administration with minor in Marketing from Universidad Latina de Panama, and Master candidate in International Relations from Universidad de Panama.

Program Manager

Cecilia Vilchis
Program Manager
Cecilia Vilchis is a Mexican professional who holds the position of Program Manager and Coordinator of the Americas Young Americas Forum at the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT). Cecilia is leading a series of activities aimed at encouraging youth participation in decisionmaking processes around the hemisphere. Her professional experience includes serving as a member of the Youth Council of Plan International, a humanitarian and development organization that promotes children’s rights and gender equality.
Throughout her career, she has helped to bring together a diversity of voices to broaden youth representation in regional public policy matters. Cecilia holds a bachelor’s degree in International Economic Relations from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.

Program Manager

Eduardo Elías
Program Manager
Eduardo Elías was born in Mexico and graduated in Bilingual International Business from the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de México . His work at YABT is focused on coordinating the implementation and development of TIC Americas. He is also in charge of the entrepreneurial training platform for young people: the YABT BOOTCamp.
YABT Fellows

Raphaella da Silva Dias Costa
Raphaella Costa is from Brazil, graduated in International Relations from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and in Geography from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Her work at YABT is focused on the area of International Development, supporting the development of youth leadership programs and projects in Latin American and the Caribbean.
She is a scholarship holder in the XVII Edition of the Young Ibero-American Leaders Program of the Carolina Foundation and Santander Universities, as part of the Ibero-American Leadership Program based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Similarly, she has carried out academic exchanges at the European School of Political and Social Sciences (ESPOL) / Université Catholique de Lille, France; and at the International Summer School (ISS) Universitetet i Oslo (UiO), Norway (2018), obtaining a full scholarship.

Erika Galeano
Erika Galeano is from Paraguay, graduated in Accounting from the Catholic University of Our Lady of the Assumption (UC) with the distinction of Outstanding Student and Valedictorian of the Class. In addition, she has a Specialization in University Level Teaching from the National University of the East.
Before joining YABT, she worked in the private sector and completed a Professional Internship at the Office Executive of the Secretariat of Administration and Finance of the Organization of American States (OAS). She is a Global Youth Ambassador at Theirworld and participated in the Youth Delegate Program of UNITE 2030. Her work at YABT focuses on Administration and Finance, supporting budgetary, accounting and finance management of different programs and projects to benefit young leaders and entrepreneurs from Latin America and The Caribbean.
YABT Interns

María Victoria Moreno Serrate
Originally from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Victoria is currently a law student at the Private University of Santa Cruz (UPSA). In regard of her role in YABT, she works at the International Relations area supporting with the content for the newsletters, event proposals, reports and all other related tasks to the area.

José Andrés Cifuentes
José Andrés is originally from Quito, Ecuador and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Universidad de las Américas. He also has specializations in project management and youth leadership. At YABT he supports the International Development area in the drafting of concept notes, reports, among other inputs and materials aiming at the organization's international development.

Jackeline María Guerra B.
Jackeline is from Panama and studies a B.A. in International Relations at the University of Panama. As an intern in the International Relations area, she currently supports the participation of youth at the framework of the Young Americas Forum.

Karen Carpio
Karen Carpio was born in El Salvador and recently graduated in Graphic Design in Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador. Her work at YABT focuses on developing graphic pieces for the promotion of the different youth programs led by the organisation.
Board of Directors

Mr. Luis Nino
Chair

Ms. Yadira Pinilla
Vice Chair

Mrs. Georgina Nunez
Vice Chair

Mr. Renato Paredes
Treasurer

Mr. Francis McBarnette
Secretary

Mrs. Araceli Azuara
Director

Mrs. Glynis Long
Director

Ambassador Denis Antoine
Director

Ambassador Jacinth Henry-Martin
Director

H.E. Sherry Tross
Director

Ms. Lizette Huezo Ponce
Director

Mr. Jeronimo Augusto
Director