Alixon Chiluisa is from Latacungueño, Ecuador. He graduated with a degree in Social Communication. Alixon is currently studying for his master's degree in Economics, Politics and Philosophy at the University of the Americas. Alixion worked as a columnist in alternative media for a global educational magazine. Alixon is a fighter for just causes. Previously, he was the National President of the Ecuadorian University Students Union and has been a lecturer on educational and youth issues in several countries. He is currently focused on the free exercise of journalism and in social and political activism.

IVLP Impact Award Project: Social and Educational Leadership Center for Adolescents at Risk in the Canton of Latacunga

The project was an educational program for 100 adolescents, fifteen to eighteen years of age in situations of economic and family vulnerability, that trained them on technological skills and critical thinking. The project created spaces for education and discussion allowing participants to develop skills to improve their living conditions. The trainings emphasized civic engagement and humanistic values to generate a network of contacts to assume leadership positions in their community and to lead the emergence of a new generation of leaders motivated to contribute to the development of their localities.

Three workshops were held to train young people on empathy with the environment and emotional management. Participants learned about the adversities that adolescents face and were advised on appropriate mechanisms to solve their problems. The training also provided adolescents with orientation tools for university and their career. The project prompted the participants to create a pitch presentation for a social entrepreneurship project.

"My aspiration [was] to be able to apply the knowledge acquired in the IVLP and to be able to make a real change in my community... [I hope] that the project that I develop[ed] is not only carried out once, but that it can be permanent and help many more teenagers." - Alixon Chiluisa

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Alixon was a participant in the IVLP Project Addressing the Needs of Underserved and At-Risk Youth, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education.

Alixon's exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "During my visit to Los Angeles, I was very impressed by the work carried out by The Actors Gang, giving young people who had legal problems or were in prison tools to be productive people for society, listening to their testimonies of improvement and that it is necessary for them."

U.S. Communities Visited

Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; Pensacola, FL; Milwaukee, WI

"[IVLP motivates me] to carry out a project focused on adolescents in similar conditions." - Alixon Chiluisa

Country: Ecuador 

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