SAN JUAN−The Open Society Foundations are pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of the Puerto Rico Youth Fellowships, which support young Puerto Rican leaders working to elevate climate justice and food sovereignty, promote human rights, and decolonization efforts in Puerto Rico.
In its third and final year, the fellowship program will recognize eight recipients from all over the island focusing on a wide range of issues. Among the fellows’ projects: teaching young people about food sovereignty, community farming, archival initiatives aimed at documenting the histories of the archipelago, strengthening support for trans and nonbinary people, and an art project around menstrual and HIV awareness.
Karina Claudio Betancourt, the outgoing director of the Puerto Rico Project said: “The Youth Fellowship has supported 17 young people in either seeding new organizations or inserting themselves in critical social justice organizations and movements across the archipelago. This year, we have chosen eight fellows that are leading critical projects across Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra. Their innovation and creativity are what Puerto Rico needs right now to continue to inspire generations to stay on the island and fight for our resources and for our fundamental right to self-determination.”
Young people have been at the forefront of civil society accountability measures in Puerto Rico. They have led mobilizations to oust a corrupt governor in 2019; demanded that essential services—including the University of Puerto Rico—be protected under Puerto Rico’s fiscal plan; and ensured that women and queer people are protected from draconian measures that would take away their rights and impact their livelihoods.
Loidymar Duprey Gonzalez, who leads the fellowship said: “This third and last cohort of the Puerto Rico Youth Fellowship will benefit from the experiences of the 17 former fellows and projects. Our desire is to continue promoting a network of young Puerto Ricans who implement their work based on solidarity and the construction of power from and for their communities. We are very proud of the work we have managed to support and the network of strong youth-led organizations we’ve been able to weave together during these past five years working in the archipelago.”
Open Society has been actively involved in Puerto Rico since 2014, when we began supporting efforts to increase transparency and government accountability on the island. In 2017, we expanded our efforts through a five-year $20 million initiative, the Puerto Rico Project, which launched as an urgent response in the wake of the collapse of Puerto Rico’s economy and the destruction wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Over the last decade, we have helped build and bolster the organizing and advocacy capacity on the island, supported diaspora efforts in the U.S., made more visible Puerto Rican priorities in Washington, D.C., and launched a youth fellowship to build leadership pipelines.
2023 Puerto Rico Youth Fellows
Dana Esquilín Rosario (she/her/he) will work on La Brecha, a project that intends to offer healing tools and resources for communities and relatives of those behind bars.
Nicolás X. Gómez Andújar (he/him) will facilitate the self-management of an inclusive, educational, and cooperative space through the Culebra Fishing Association to address the problems of the fisherfolk on the island.
Carlo André (they/she, him/us) will develop the queer Barrioization cultural platform and help build the community archive of the town of Manatí, in collaboration with the José S. Alegría Cultural Center.
Yira M. Rodríguez Martínez (she/her) will participate in the development of La Aldea, an initiative that works to preserve and rescue disused spaces in Ponce, from an agroecological, artistic, and educational perspective.
Jade M. Algarín Corcino (they, them) will organize the farming communities of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and Santa Cruz, Virgin Islands, to create an alliance centered on solidarity and resistance.
Lale Namerrow Pastor (they/he) will work on the Transmasc Network of Puerto Rico, an initiative that proposes to develop links between trans and non-binary people whose gender identity or expression is male.
Stephanie Monserrate Torres (she) will create spaces on the Guakia farm for community empowerment and produce agroecological food with agroforestry practices.
L'orangelis Thomas Negrón (she/they) will work on Matrilíneo, a project on menstrual and HIV awareness, through art, documentation, and narrative justice.