Professional Workshops

IOA summer workshops attended by 130 Latin American professionals

About 130 professionals from twelve Latin American and Caribbean countries participated in nine summer workshops in La Jolla during 2009 on subjects such as science journalism, public health, freedom of expression and violence against journalists, investigative journalism, pandemics and climate change.

The Institute also offered for a third year workshops on the geopolitics of energy, migration policy and innovation against poverty.

The Institute’s intensive workshops serve as effective catalysts for professional growth and social change.

“We’re happy when our visitors go home with doubts about certitudes they believed when they arrived here,” said Lee Tablewski, director of the Institute’s professional workshops.  “They take away a vision of new possibilities from other places that will enrich their work and professional friendships that will breed new collaborations.”

Migration Policy Workshop Spotlights Policies of Several Nations

For a third summer, the Institute gathered policy makers, scholars and journalists to discuss migration in their own countries and to study migration in the U.S. with experts offering a wide variety of perspectives.

“This year, I was impressed especially with the presentation by our two workshop participants from Ecuador of its problematic, progress and possible solutions to address its outflow of citizens and inflow of foreigners and, more recently, returning migrants,” said workshop director Isabel Escalle.   

Sonia García Alvarado, an advisor to the assistant secretary of foreign relations for migratory affairs, and Mónica Maldonado Aguirre, a scholar at the Centro de Planificación y Estudios Sociales (CEPLAES), a highly respected think tank in Quito, represented Ecuador.  Their participation was made possible by a grant from the Andean Development Bank (CAF).

The workshop had one bittersweet highlight: Dr. Wayne Cornelius, the founder of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies, both at UCSD, opened with the final talk before his retirement.

Other highlights included conversations with Cecilia Romero Castillo, the commissioner of Mexico’s National Migration Institute; human rights advocate Víctor Clark Alfaro and Lilia Velásquez, the migration attorney known as “The Flame of Justice” for her vigorous defense of migrant rights.

The workshop included a private tour of the San Ysidro Port of Entry at the border with Tijuana to understand the point of view of those tasked with enforcing U.S. migration laws.   According to Escalle, “Our participants were extremely knowledgeable but I was surprised that even they had misconceptions about  how migration is dealt with in the U.S.”

Workshop on Innovative Anti-Poverty Strategies Builds Bridges

The highlight of the poverty workshop was the presentation by Dr. Rochelle Beck, a Harvard-trained Ph.D. who grew up as a socialist in New York but became a capitalist in the Andes mountains by necessity.  Her presentation, “Seven Tricks They Don’t Tell You for how to Compete in the Global Marketplace,” shared what she had learned in helping thousands of poor artisans become sustainable micro-entrepreneurs over two decades.

Rochelle’s presentation was followed by a talk with Manuel José Moreno, the business development manager of Artesanías de Colombia, the Government of Colombia’s highly innovative initiative to build brands, foster training and improve the lives of its many artisans.  Both continue to exchange ideas and plans after the workshop.

The representation from Peru was particularly strong.  Hernan Lázaro Cabello, a senior manager from the government agency to fund innovation against poverty (FUNCODES), offered insights from his experience to help participants from other countries with their problems.  The challenge of finding alternative sources of economic development in the Puno region, beyond the raising of alpacas, was discussed by Santos Senón Choquehuanca, whose participation was supported by the U.S. Embassy in Peru.

Israel Moreno Barceló, founder and general manager of Patrimonio Hoy for CEMEX, a progressive housing program serving low-income communities, promised potential replication of the program in other countries where CEMEX operates and where the socio-economic conditions could make possible its financial viability.

Miguel San Juan, U.S. Executive Director at the Inter-American Development Bank, encouraged attendees to share with him successful case studies of poverty alleviation initiatives, something he said that development bank leaders don’t see frequently enough.

For a second year, María Elisa Bernal, founder of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s “Social Innovation” competition, closed the workshop with an uplifting presentation on cases of marginalized women who have changed the lives of their communities.

Field trips included a visit to the International Community Foundation to discuss the outlook for private philanthropy for pro-poor projects, and a tour of Chicano Park with a young artist responsible for one of the most recent and moving murals painted on the concrete bridge piers that cut across San Diego’s historic Barrio Logan.  The participants also attended a San Diego Padres baseball game.

Group discussion and strategic exercises formed a central part of the workshop.  They were lead by Maria Aurora Garza of Fundación para la Protección de la Niñez and workshop co-organizer Denisse Fernandez of UCSD.

Commitment to Press Freedom Central to Investigative Journalism Workshop

Perhaps the most popular of the workshops launched during 2009 was the program on investigative journalism.

Eighteen seasoned journalists from nine countries attended the workshop.  They spoke eloquently and at great length during daily sessions about the need for freedom of expression in their countries.  During a final session, the journalists from Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Mexico resolved to pursue investigative stories despite the obstacles they often face.

Institute Vice President S. Lynne Walker called upon her 33 years of experience as a journalist and assembled an experienced lineup of instructors. Catalina Botero, the OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, conducted a daylong workshop on international guarantees for reporters in the region. Eduardo Garcia, founder of the Mexico City-based web site Sentidocomun.com.mx conducted a session on financial investigations and “interviewing the numbers” to find critical information for stories that is tucked away in statistical data. 

Speakers at the workshop included a homicide detective from Baja California who talked about conducting a murder investigation. Frank Smyth, adjunct professor of journalism at American University in Washington, D.C., and the Journalist Security Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, spoke about safeguards for journalists conducting investigations in Latin American countries. 

Leslie Berestein, immigration reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune and former investigative reporter at People Magazine, conducted a session on investigative reporting on a competitive breaking story like the Columbine massacre. Walker led a session on organized crime investigations.

A highlight of the workshop was a reporting trip to Tijuana lead by Walker.

Summer workshops focus on energy, poverty,
journalism, migration and HIV/AIDS

Registration Form |  Formulario de Inscripción

Join us for our summer workshops on journalism, energy, HIV/AIDS, migration and poverty. Led by the Institute’s program directors and their skilled teams, the workshops offer content-rich, hands-on sessions for mid-career professionals. 

You'll hear the latest research and opinions from public, private and academic experts working in the region. Then you'll head for the U.S.-Mexico border and Tijuana where you can see firsthand the massive flow of trucks, cars and people that make San Diego-Tijuana the world’s busiest border crossing. But that’s not all. We’ll host social events, too, so you can meet the vibrant people who live and work in our border region.

At the Institute of the Americas, we conduct our workshops in Spanish and they are designed especially for Latin American participants. You’ll meet journalists, legislators, non-profit leaders, academics, researchers, government officials and company executives from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua.

For more information about these workshops This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Violence against Journalists as a Threat to Democracy (May 4-8) will focus on the essential value of a free press and the threat posed to fragile democracies by the rise in violence against journalists. The seminar will include presentations by journalists who have confronted attacks or worked in violent environments.

The Geopolitics of Energy (May 8-13) is timed to coincide with the Institute's 18th Annual La Jolla Latin American Energy Conference. The participants discuss with experts the new realities of the global energy market, alternative energy prospects, the rise of resource nationalism and attend the Energy Conference where they will meet with Latin American government officials, and energy company representatives.

Public Policy and Migration (June 22-26) . Will look at immigration as a dynamic force in national and international politics. The role of remittances, labor flows, assimilation and other issues are discussed with relation to their impact on both sending and receiving countries. .

Jack F. Ealy Science Journalism Workshop (July 7-16) convenes for the sixth consecutive year with reporters and editors from around the hemisphere spending nind days learning about recent scientific developments relating to the environment, medical research, and pubic policies to promote innovation and public/private partnership.Journalists may apply directly to the Institute for scholarships.

Investigative Journalism (July 20-24) will offer journalists new tools for conducting investigative reporting and will focus in part on“following the money” and strategies for revealing corruption and graft through press-induced transparency.

The Migration of HIV/AIDS (Aug. 3-6) gives reporters a first-hand look at the pandemic from both sides of the border. Journalists will spendone day in north San Diego County, where migrants work in the fields, and a second day in Baja California, Mexico, where the HIV/AIDS rate is the second-highest in Mexico.  On the third day, the journalists will hear presentations from researchers on their ground-breaking work on the escalating rate of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis at the San Diego-Tijuana border.

Innovative Strategies to Reduce Poverty (August 17-21) will focus on successful programs to improve the lives of Latin Americans living in poverty. This program will bring together practitioners, academics and leading experts from multinational institutions to review best practices in poverty alleviation. Previous attendees from Mexico and andean and Central American countries used the tools and financial leads discussed at the seminar to benefit their anti-poverty programs.

For additional information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Director of Professional Workshops or call (858) 453-5560 x116.