NHI Announces 2016 LDZ Dates

The Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session (or LDZ) is returning to the six universities that hosted last year’s program, and dates for all six of the eight-day programs have been determined. Those are:

• Colorado LDZ at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, June 19-26;
• California LDZ at University of San Diego in San Diego, June 19-26;
• LDZ Las Americas at Cuidad del Saber in Panama City, Panama, June 19-June 26
• National LDZ at Elmhurst College in Chicago, June 26-July 3
• New York LDZ at University of Rochester in Rochester, July 10-17
• Texas LDZ at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, July 10-17

The LDZ is a program for 10th and 11th grade students who want to play a key role in bringing about prosperity and opportunity in their home Latino communities, using the platform of a youth-run government (complete with the formation of parties, elections for executive and legislative leadership positions, and public policy debates) to allow students to learn how to navigate, manage and create large organizations and proposing future community policies and projects.

“This year is slated to be the biggest LDZ class in history,” said Julio Cotto, NHI’s Senior Vice President and Director of the Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session program. “We expect delegates from new communities in Arizona, California, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Argentina, and Colombia joining delegates from longstanding partner communities like Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, and New York.”

Labeling it “the Crossfit of brain games” and citing its lifelong influence on participants, Cotto observed, “I am excited to see the game unfold and see the magic that happens where brilliant minds from various background envision and dream together. LDZ offers some of the most diverse and enriched young thought in the world, relevant to generations twenty, thirty, forty years into the future. The world is changing, markets are converging, economies are intersected, community has a broader meaning that it may have 50 years ago, therefore a new type of leader is required: one with skills, capacities, and knowledge beyond the realm of the high school building and the college campus.”

“The leader of the future must be able to process and respond to volumes and volumes of information and learn to navigate worlds with varying rules, protocols, and systems,” he added. “The LDZ is the only experience preparing high school youth for the eventualities of future leadership.”

More information about the program is available on the NHI website.