Professional Fellows Program

ITD's most recent Professional Fellows Program on Environmental Sustainability with Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay concluded this past November with a bang in Washington DC. The 14 Fellows participated with about 250 of their colleagues from around the globe in the Professional Fellows Congress, an inspirational four day conference including leadership workshops, inspiring speakers and networking events aimed at maximizing the program's impact. Over the past three years more than a hundred Fellows from Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and the U.S. have participated in this ambitious exchange aimed at improving the environment, creating long lasting professional relationships and building a network among the participating natural resource professionals from all four countries.  One of the highlights of the program are the individual action plans that the Fellows developed while they were in the U.S., then implement upon returning to their home countires. Their combined dedication has led to changes ranging from improved erosion control on the Grijalva River in Chiapas, Mexico to better solid waste management in Montevideo, Uruguay.  The success of this program would not have been possible without the cooperation from our committed and gracious fellowship host organizations who welcomed the Latin American  professionals into their daily routines for the four week fellowships. ITD will conduct the final phase of this program in January, and April 2018, which will consist of an exchange visit by the U.S. hosts to the three Latin American countries. The Professional Fellows Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department.