Cordova y Fernos Students Dialogue with Puerto Rico's Public and Private Sector Leaders on Puerto Rico's Future

( Washington D.C) September 26, 2005 - Today, Puerto Rican students participating in the Cordova y Fernos Program gathered with representatives of Puerto Rico's public and private sectors for a conversation on how to better the welfare of Puerto Rico. The topic was particularly salient, as the students are participants in a program that aims to develop the future leadership for Puerto Rico.

The dialogue drew the participation of Baltasar Corrado del Rio, former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Arturo Garcia Sola, managing director of McConnell Valdes, Sandy Gutierrez, manager of corporate affairs at Philip Morris, Francisco Rodriguez, executive director of Federal Internships Program for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Luce Vela, spouse of the current Puerto Rican representative to Congress, Luis Fortuño.

The dialogue was structured in a way that overlooked professional hierarchies, and gave each participant equal opportunity to speak and contribute to the conversation. In the first round, participants took turns offering their personal views on how Puerto Rico's welfare could be improved. During the second round, the group voted for the top three issues that they felt most strongly about and furthered the conversation with an in-depth exchange of perspectives. Family values and education were two areas that were discussed at length. The participants felt that the two are interrelated and that the deterioration of both has greatly affected Puerto Rican society. The improvement of exchange between Puerto Rico's private and public sectors ranked third as a means for bettering Puerto Rico's society. During the third round of the dialogue, participants committed to specific action steps they would personally take to improve Puerto Rico.

All students and guests enjoyed the format of the dialogue, which transcended invisible barriers of personal politics, hierarchy, and one's comfort level toward public speaking.

“This activity was great. Even those who are a bit shy about talking had the opportunity to express their views. The Washington Center should organize more of these types of activities,” said Glendaly Elias, a law student at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and intern in the congressional office of Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX).

The Washington Center's Arleen Ramirez Borysiewicz, senior vice president, and Reynaldo Decerega, program manager, facilitated the two-hour dialogue.

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars is an independent, nonprofit educational organization founded in 1975. Its mission is to prepare college and university students for civic leadership through experiential education. In this way, The Washington Center seeks to promote future leadership for the public, private and nonprofit sectors of society. It has served more than 34,000 students from over 1,000 colleges and universities. Visit our website

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Competitive deadline for Spring 2009 Semester, Winter and Spring Quarters and Postgraduate is September 29, 2008.

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