Leaders of Tomorrow is the Tec’s program to support young people with social leadership skills so that they can study throughout their degree courses at the university.
“Leaders of Tomorrow has changed my life since I was a student and is continuing to change it as a professional,” says Jesús Hernández, who is currently working at Heineken.
He is one of 1,345 young people whose academic talent and potential for social leadership qualified them for a 100% scholarship to study for a degree at Tec de Monterrey.
“In addition to receiving a high quality academic experience, the skills and attitudes that Tec and its program instill have more value than we can imagine,” adds Jesús, who is the operations coordinator of the packaging area at Heineken’s Orizaba plant.
The Leaders of Tomorrow program seeks out young people who are dedicated to creating positive change in Mexico, said José Antonio Fernández, Chairman of the Board at Tec de Monterrey.
“Committing to a program like Leaders of Tomorrow is the most extraordinary investment we can make in our society.
“The young people who receive such great opportunities and their families are all winners, and growing circles of social mobility are generated throughout Mexico,” he said in welcoming the seventh cohort.
“This program, which was founded seven years ago, strengthens the meritocracy, inclusion, and social mobility promoted by Tec de Monterrey,” said David Garza, the Tec’s rector and executive president.
THE SEVENTH COHORT
“This is much more than a scholarship: it means being part of a community of transformative leaders who have training in positive leadership,” said Laura Ruiz, director of the Leaders of Tomorrow program.
This August, 185 new scholarships were awarded in addition to those already awarded in the six previous cohorts, so there are now 1,345 young people who have been supported since the founding of this program.
Each scholarship is equivalent to the total value of an undergraduate degree at Tec de Monterrey.
“It’s not a student loan. What we want from the students is that they take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and multiply it, and that they don’t forget their families, classmates, friends, or their communities,” Ruiz clarified.
The director of the program recalls that in 2014, there were only 2,500 applicants to the program. Now, for the 2020 round, there were 14,608 young people who aspired to this scholarship.
The welcome ceremony for the seventh cohort of Leaders of Tomorrow was held on August 10. For the first time, it took place virtually as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Getting here is the result of your effort and tenacity; but also of the unconditional support you’ve had from your family and the people who have inspired you to work to achieve your goals,” Garza told them in his message.
Also present at the virtual event was Eduardo Osuna, director general of BBVA Mexico, who was the official supporter of the seventh cohort.
“From now on you will have to face many more challenges, especially throughout your studies. But we know that you yourselves are looking for that: greater challenges to continue overcoming, and we are sure that you will overcome them,” shared Fernández.
WHAT MAKES A LEADER OF TOMORROW?
Making use of artificial intelligence to train life-saving personnel; creating sustainable gardens from scratch; and helping reduce childhood obesity are just some of the projects developed by the young people who have just begun to participate in the program.
Demonstrating commitment to your community is an essential part of being a Leader of Tomorrow.
“Don’t worry about the scholarship, don’t worry about the result, but rather worry about what you can do to make change,” Elián Gael Cota shared with his seventh cohort colleagues.
To be eligible for this scholarship, all Leaders of Tomorrow must have academically distinguished themselves during their high school studies.
They also demonstrated that their family’s economic situation meant they needed 100% support to study at the Tec.
Upon being selected, each of the young people made a commitment to return the same level of support that has been given to them to society.
WHAT DOES LEADERS OF TOMORROW MEAN FOR THE TEC?
The founding of Leaders of Tomorrow was announced as part of the Tec’s 70th anniversary events in 2013, to address a big issue in Mexico: that of access to higher education.
José Antonio Fernández and Salvador Alva, who at that time was the president of Tec, believed that this would be a program to open doors to the best talent regardless of socioeconomic status.
“I used to say: we have to show that we can be an academically elite university, not an economically elite one,” Alva shared in an interview.
“The program has changed the face of our institution. Our values of empathy, inclusion, integrity, and innovation are being put into practice. It’s wonderful to experience this human sensitivity every day at our university,” stated Laura Ruiz.
A JOINT EFFORT: COMMUNITY, THE TEC, AND DONORS
When anyone buys a Sorteos Tec ticket, they directly contribute to Leaders of Tomorrow.
Since its inception, Sorteos Tec has existed to support the financing of educational projects at Tec and it has supported the initiative since 2013, when the Leaders of Tomorrow program was founded.
In addition, business owners, board members, and Tec collaborators also make contributions so that Leaders of Tomorrow can exist.
Laura Ruiz highlighted how the Leaders of Tomorrow students themselves have organized themselves since last year to create the “From Leader to Leader” scholarship.
In 2019, they took part in activities on each of their campuses to raise funds and used to them to award a full scholarship to a young woman to be part of the sixth cohort.
For this year’s activities, they held a virtual raffle, together with Sorteos Tec, which allowed 2 more young people to benefit from the program.
“They sold $2.5 million pesos worth of tickets, in the middle of a pandemic, in the first virtual raffle in Mexico.
“The young people knew there were scholarships for 150 people, but they wondered what it would have been like if they were number 151. They put themselves in someone else’s shoes,” Ruiz highlighted.
INVESTING IN EDUCATION
Laura Ruiz explained that in Mexico, for each peso invested in higher education, an internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 30 percent is generated.
The IRR is the return which represents investment in a person’s education, considering cost flows and benefits.
But in the Leaders of Tomorrow program, the rate of return has increased to 53 percent, according to Ruiz.
She also indicated that, in a study which tracks Leaders of Tomorrow graduates, it has been found that they climb from the 3rd to the 9th decile rank in the wage distribution of workers across the country.
This places them in one of the highest income positions of the whole Mexican population. This is something that usually happens over several generations.
“Some experts say that if you are born in a low socioeconomic level it is very difficult to climb, and that this is perpetuated; In the 4 years of a degree these guys go up 6 levels: it’s impressive,” said Ruiz.
“The program is a great investment for Mexico,” she added.
CONSTANT SUPPORT
The Leaders of Tomorrow, in addition to studying in their specialist areas, receive support to strengthen their leadership skills.
They also have support in the form of training, mentoring networks and advisors to support the development of projects, as well as access to the various emotional and psychological wellbeing programs that the Tec offers to all its students.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tec de Monterrey classes were held virtually. Given this, Ruiz comments that they undertook a diagnostic study to detect if students had connection issues and detected around 50 cases.
“We ran a campaign and looked for internet connection sponsors. Some directors contributed to the campaign and we managed to ensure that 100% of students had a connection,” she added.
Some of the Leaders of Tomorrow were also offered the opportunity to move to Monterrey and stay in houses where other young people from the program live that have Internet access.
Another example of recent support was that provided to members of the seventh cohort, who were educated on virtual topics during the summer.
“For 6 weeks they looked at issues about digital culture and how to use Canvas, which is the platform used for virtual classes at the Tec. We’re ready for the 185 young people to start their classes online,” said the director of Leaders of Tomorrow.
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