Building Bridges: From Entrepreneurs to Exporters

The big question was: why don’t these entrepreneurs join chambers of commerce or business associations where they could find support?

The answer was simple: they saw it as a waste of time and resources. Chambers of commerce tend to focus on entrepreneurs who already have a basic understanding of local and international trade. But these small producers needed something else: a transformative vision. They needed someone to guide them from being small-scale entrepreneurs to becoming large-scale exporters.

That’s when I began thinking about creating a network that could connect these producers—who represent more than 60% of Ecuador’s exportable production—with business leaders and investors in the U.S. Midwest.

Reflexion: My purpose started to take shape: to build bridges between worlds that seemed distant but in reality depended on each other.

A Shift in Perspective: Sustainability as Seen from Latin America

That same year, I traveled throughout Ecuador, meeting with fishermen and farmers, listening to their realities, and learning how they understood sustainability. At the same time, I searched for opportunities to expand my impact.

I joined Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign as Midwest Director, believing that through Bloomberg Philanthropies, I could scale my projects in Latin America. But in March 2020, the arrival of COVID-19 halted that path.

Still, my commitment did not stop. I continued visiting communities, studying differences in how sustainability was perceived between developed and developing countries. I also began designing an educational curriculum for entrepreneurs, producers, distributors, and exporters. The goal was to provide learning tools adapted to Latin American realities and strengthen a support network that could unite cultures, businesses, and visions of growth.

Closing Reflection: The pandemic changed the plan, but not my purpose. In fact, it reinforced the truth that sustainability is not defined the same way everywhere—it’s lived differently depending on context and culture.