
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: Connecting young entrepreneurs and national organizations in a vibrant community of global actors supporting youth development, the citizen participation and the learning and exchanges opportunities, to form a new generation of responsible business leaders.

Business skills and Training: Emphasizing practical experience to generate an entrepreneurial spirit and foster innovation in young people, while motivating and leading them through a “real life” business experience.

Competitions: YABT Competitions operate as business accelerator platforms in which young entrepreneurs develop their business ideas and startups. These hemispheric programs connect private sector, investors and governments seeking to support business proposals with scalable innovations in different sectors.

Resources and Alliances: Working through international and national alliances that provide technical and financial support to young entrepreneurs programs and initiatives.
+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
Harumi Kasay
Perú
Juan Carlos España
Perú
Karina Bonilla
El Salvador
Patrick Navia
Bolivia
YABT Interns
Antonio De la Garza
México
Carlos Alberto González
México
Débora Dos Santos Pereira
Brasil
Diego Ramírez Pérez
México
Erika Galeano
Paraguay
Fiorella Osorio
Perú
Raphaella da Silva Dias Costa
Brasil
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