Vision and Goals

We live in an ever-changing time, one where our vision of the world around us must necessarily be a global one. We are past the stage of being static passengers and have moved on to that of being the dynamic driver of our own developmental processes. Like it or not, and without a doubt, globalization is not a choice and doing business with Latin America is a need.

Understanding international relations and multicultural encounters is essential to a global business education that meets the challenges of a contemporary international marketplace. Southeastern's College of Business has played an important role in the establishment of new models for global transformation and renovating vision towards Latin American Business Education.

Developing global competencies, especially within the business community, is essential and improves our capacity to understand international relations, to grasp important social changes, and to integrate smoothly into the globalization process. The Latin American Business and Development Initiative embraces enduring cooperation and resolves to work closely with the Hispanic community and in alliance with Southeastern's Division of Extended Studies, the Study Abroad and Global Engagement, the e-Government Initiative, the Institute for Global and Domestic Development and other units, departments and colleges.

Resources outside college boundaries are also employed, involving regional, national and international agencies and institutions such as, CASTLE2002, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana, the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica, the Organization of American States, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the World Trade Center of New Orleans, the Catholic Charities of New Orleans, and many more.

The Initiative is devoted to an appreciation of the rich Latin American heritage that is an important part of Louisiana culture. We believe in the modernization of higher education and the strengthening of international cooperation as fundamental pillars for better inter-American understanding and hemispheric growth.

Participants in our programs and activities may genuinely benefit from the real world education, the unique pragmatic nature of our quality instruction and the business relations and opportunities we offer. Our seminars, commercial missions, training and capacity building programs, study abroad programs and consultant services use varied of methods to achieve an optimal mix to better achieve our goals, produce positive results, and fulfill our mission.

Our Initiative purposefully seeks to open new pathways for Latin America business development, to create and diffuse new business educational models and to preserve existing alliances for a better regional and national understanding.

Some of the goals of Latin American Business and Development Initiative are:

• Support the work of the College's International Programs, especially those aimed at the Latin American community

• Promote local, regional and worldwide leadership practices.

• Examine the role of international business practices as a way to succeed in today's marketplace.

• Develop partnerships for cooperative programs and activities with recognized regional, national and International Latin American institutions.

• Provide seminars, courses, workshops, and commercial missions with high quality instruction and a holistic orientation.

• Promote a permanent cross-cultural dialogue that stimulates business development and technical assistance between U.S. businesses or government agencies and their Latin American counterparts.

• Promote and coordinate business and education programs abroad in Latin America.

• Encourage faculty to explore their possible involvement in academic programs, research, services and activities associated with Latin American business.

• Identify and promote links to regional, national and international Latin American (public & private) agencies to develop a network of strategic alliances.

• Create, promote and maintain relations with Latin American government agencies, embassies, consulates, chambers and centers, among others.

• Promote cross-cultural Latin American understanding and social responsibility.