GEN and IDB Lab, the innovation and venture arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group), today named the 28 impressive leaders selected for the inaugural class of GET Fellows, choosing from more than 250 applications submitted across 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This one-year leadership experience will support executive leaders and decision-makers — including board members, CEOs, executive directors, heads of programs, investment leaders, and public officials — in expanding their influence, deepening global networks, and amplifying their capacity to drive impact for the entrepreneurs in their ecosystems. Together, they represent the people building the connective tissue that allows entrepreneurs, capital, and ideas to move across borders.
“The cohort reflects the breadth of ecosystem leadership across the region, bringing together leaders from entrepreneurship support organizations, investment networks, universities, corporations and government,” said Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of GEN.
GET Fellows is part of a two-year initiative from IDB Lab and GEN to strengthen and connect entrepreneurial and venture capital ecosystems across the region through a platform encompassing the GET Fellows network, GET Insights ecosystem knowledge, and the annual GET Forum taking place this year in Quito, Ecuador, October 5-7.
Over the last decade, Latin America and the Caribbean have emerged as increasingly important sources of innovation, generating globally scalable ventures and solutions to shared challenges—from climate resilience to inclusive growth. Yet integration into global innovation and investment systems remains uneven, constraining the efficient flow of talent, capital, and knowledge.
This GEN-IDB Lab initiative directly addresses that gap by strengthening the connective infrastructure between local ecosystems and global markets.
From September 2026 through February 2027, GET Fellows will work through a structured peer exchange with counterparts in other markets. From March through August 2027, the program shifts to strategic introductions — to investors, policymakers and international partners — and to thought-leadership placement. Fellows join a permanent alumni network at the end of the year.
The 28 Fellows will meet in person for the first time at GET Forum 2026 in Quito, where they will join more than 800 delegates and 100 international speakers working across entrepreneurship, investment, policy and innovation. Their inaugural gathering will be embedded in the GET Forum’s Innovation Village, placing the Fellows at the heart of an ecosystem in action.
28 leaders | 19 countries | entrepreneurship + investment + public policy | emerging + established ecosystems