The Untold Benefits of the Young Leaders Program
By Leah Klass, USSC Young Leaders Program Alumni, 2008 Cohort.
Note: This Article was originally published by Leah on her LinkedIn page, you can view that original post here.
Back in 2008 when I was awarded a coveted spot in the U.S.-Spain Council’s Young Leaders Program of these two things I was sure: Spain was a gateway to renewable energy technologies and a wine lover’s paradise. At the time I enthusiastically represented the State of Colorado as the Director of International Trade for South America and the Caribbean. On the governor’s economic development team, I helped Colorado citizens and companies connect with the world.
I was selected to participate in the Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU.’s program shortly after returning to the U.S. from graduate school. The weeklong experience promised to connect young American leaders with business and government leadership in Spain. The learning and networking that resulted from that trip would influence the international relations of the two countries for many years to come. Twelve years later, I can say without a doubt that Spain has found a permanent place in my heart.
On a video chat with other YLP alumni, the most recent recipients of the award were eager to learn what they could expect on their trip. The agenda, as always, is packed full of high-level meetings with Spanish leadership, exhilarating cultural experiences and tours of two cities. Some of the important memories that stand out in my mind from over a decade ago include the warmth and friendliness of our hosts; the scent of oranges in the streets of Valencia; that city’s preparations for the America’s Cup; and Calatrava’s architecture built upon lifelines to the ancient city.
I returned to my Colorado job with a new understanding of Spanish culture and history. I was able to put my new contacts to good use too. Not long after my return, Colorado hosted a Spanish trade delegation, identifying potential business partners and creating opportunities. That was in 2008 and I did not imagine how far out into my future that single trip would influence me.
Given that the upcoming fellowship trip will be delayed due to Covid-19, I wanted to pique your interest with some examples of how that one trip has enriched my life:
- I kept notes of the contacts I made in Madrid and Valencia, always writing on that back of business cards who I’d met and some juicy fact about that person’s favorite pastime, a colorful memory about their employer or an opinion they had shared. I made sure to follow up with these new friends and colleagues once home in the U.S. This led to a job offer in Madrid not a year later.
- I became friends with Consejo staff!
- I gained a mentor from a Spanish renewable energy company who is still a friend and now a friend of my family!
- In 2010 I visited Madrid on my honeymoon and was gifted tickets to an incredible flamenco show by my YLP friends.
- In 2016 I completed my first home exchange with my small children, spending 5 weeks near the beach in Málaga, learning about the history and food of Andalucía.
- Each summer for the past four years, while on house trades in Andalucía, I have sent my children to summer camps in Spain. These excellent and affordable day camps allow me and my husband to explore and relax while our children make friends and learn to speak Spanish.
- I have advised local U.S. college students about studying abroad in Spain.
- I have hosted a family from País Vasco during the solar eclipse when their accommodations fell through. They turned about to be friends with a Basque politician whom I had hosted for a dinner party in Denver a decade earlier!
- I keep in touch with the business contacts from the YLP trip, including a colleague who helped us decide to move to Oregon.
- My children have teachers who live in Spain and thanks to video conferencing, they can take virtual cajón and language lessons.
- I have attended the local celebration of Federico García Lorca in the yearly stage performance about his life and works in the gardens of the Generalife at the Alhambra Palace in Granada. Ahhhh, The Alhambra.
- In our household we regularly eat Spanish cheeses and olives, drink incredible Spanish wines and make our own homemade tomato, garlic and olive oil breakfast treat: the Pitufo.
- I have taught Spanish in a first grade classroom here in Oregon.
- I watch Spanish television shows on Netflix and read El País online.
- We have helped friends and neighbors plan trips to Spain.
- I have kept up and improved my Spanish, and now act as a community advocate for Spanish-speaking migrants and refugees in Portland.
- Everyone in our family maintains friendships with Spaniards we have met on our trips, both while at camp and on business.
I am sure that there are more ways that one week as a Young Leader for the Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU. has turned into a lifetime of connections. I’ll be writing more about my encounters with flamingoes and flamenco; my strong belief that formal Spanish language classes should be available nationwide in the U.S. and the knowledge that the friendships you make while studying abroad, even as a professional, will not only broaden your world, they will make it a better place for all of us.
I am ever grateful to the Consejo for their continued commitment to building international ties with the United States. The Young Leaders Program is a gift to our citizens, adding music and flavor to our lives and strengthening our country’s relationship, one friendship at a time. These individual and family experiences are worth far more than the promise of an amazing summer. If I am an example, you can only guess what economic and academic growth participation in this program may lead too.
Who knows, maybe some day soon we can try living in Spain all year round…
