My experience in CGI 2023.
“You are the walking ambassadors of the future, and it is your responsibility to return the privilege you have had, however small, so that future generations may have the opportunities you have earned.”
William Jefferson Clinton.
In the Vanderbilt College auditorium, 500 entrepreneurs from around the world gathered, each with an idea to transform their country, city, and society. There were projects from Africa aimed at fighting AIDS and preventing it from remaining the leading cause of death on the continent. Companies from Asia provided clean water to the poorest areas of India using low-cost technologies. In Latin America, entrepreneurs used different business models to combat violence through ideas of inclusion and education and to promote culture, science, and hope in the most violent areas of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.
I represented Mexico with an equally ambitious idea: to bring art, culture, books, and education to the country’s rural areas. I was impressed to be among the best minds of my generation and young people fighting for an inclusive society. For instance, a young man from Egypt is fighting for the rights of sexual minorities in a country where it is illegal for two men to have a romantic relationship. Women were also opening doors to funding for other women in the poorest areas of Nepal, where over 50% of the population is malnourished.
Suddenly, Bill Clinton stepped in and received a standing ovation from the audience. He wore a black suit and blue tie and smiled as he accepted the applause from the auditorium. After about 40 seconds, he began his speech.
Clinton Global Initiative University is a Clinton Foundation initiative that selects profiles of high social and academic value to launch and scale companies to receive funding and capital from venture capitalists, angel investors, and international foundations over 10 months. These 10 months effectively represent an apprenticeship that matches those involved in key social change processes in their regions with mentors to build a global collaboration that can create significant change.
Each year, the Foundation expects each project to crystallize into a high-impact development. Therefore, it stipulates that upon completion of the program, you sign the CGI U Commitment to Action, a commitment to measurable, achievable, and improvable change. This ensures that the project or company has the necessary methodology to bring about global, regional, or local change.
Bill Clinton spoke with his characteristic cadence. He referred to the challenges facing the world, such as protecting democracy, freedoms, and the rights of minorities, which are threatened by wars obscuring the possibilities of the future. He accurately expressed that geopolitics today poses a challenge to cooperation against authoritarianism and dictatorship.
I found his speech highly cautious, measured in form but comprehensive in purpose. What we are witnessing in the world is not simple: the conflict between the two most essential mega-narratives of the last 30 years is escalating to immeasurable proportions.
The old allies of the United States (India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt) are moving to a more aggressive posture in their efforts to defend their interests. On the other hand, the United States’ traditional rivals (China and Russia) are expanding their opportunities for cooperation, influence, and power. As Europe sinks into the chaos of economic instability, with complex repercussions for its former power, the United States itself is in the midst of a political conflict that threatens to destroy its fundamental spirit as a liberal democracy. These are not peaceful times, and they are by no means easy moments for the world.
Moreover, the United States itself is in the midst of a political conflict that threatens to undermine its fundamental spirit as a liberal democracy. These are not peaceful times, and they are by no means easy moments for the world.
That is why the Clinton Global Initiative meeting was full of global challenges. The conversations with my cohort colleagues were also full of inevitable debates. As the only Mexican representing a Mexican University (Tecnologico de Monterrey), I was convinced to talk about what was happening in Latin America: political prisoners in Nicaragua, social polarization caused by populism, the government’s inability to propose possible futures, drug cartels’ violence against civilians, and, most importantly, how extremely difficult it is to be an entrepreneur in countries where excessive paperwork, poorly designed tax systems, and existing educational models are insurmountable obstacles.
Several speakers left me in awe with their words. Pete Buttigieg, the current United States Secretary of Transportation, candidly shared in dialogue with Hillary Clinton that, as a member of the military, he had to hide that he was gay to avoid being discharged from the Army. The second was Georgina Pazcoguin, who spoke about accepting hundreds of rejections from the most important ballet companies in the world because, although she did well in all the evaluations, she is Asian (half-Filipino), which the choreographers did not like.
Another impressive speaker was Reshma Saujani, an Indian-American lawyer who ran for a seat in Congress but lost and lost a lot of money after a failed campaign. During her campaign, she discovered that girls were not signing up for computer technology in New York City schools because the public schools gave preference to boys since there were few computers. As a result, she founded Girls for Code, a non-governmental organization designed to help women gain access to technology development and narrow the gender gap in the field.
The beginning of the program was also an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to develop a business model that will take shape in the coming months, ready to be shown to the world and, most importantly, create real change in my country.
Above all, surrounded by all the social entrepreneurs of the world, I understood that every privilege comes with a responsibility more than ever. Precisely because, like me, each of them has faced institutional inertia, problems with the status quo, and resistance from people who have little imagination to bring about the changes society demands.
The experiences that brought us together (and for which we were chosen) are proof that, despite everything, we have learned to raise our voices and openly confront those who prevent the future from being better for minorities.
Hundreds of times frustration and exhaustion threaten to overwhelm ordinary people trying to make a difference. Perhaps because it is easier not to try, we remain silent. But beyond that struggle, there is what women’s rights activist Ai-Jen Poo (who was at the event) told us: “No matter how tired or overwhelmed you feel, that is exactly when you need to keep going. Because at that very moment, the human spirit can change its reality and overcome forever.”
The stories of my colleagues in the 2023 CGI College cohort are proof of that. Above all, despite everything, even the slightest privilege brings with it a responsibility: to pave the ground so that in the future, opportunities exist for all and success depends on work and talent, never luck.
