Why Medellin?
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Medellín is on an exciting upward trajectory. It is one of the 10 Coolest Cities to visit according to Forbes, joined the 100 Resilient Cities Network in 2013, and won Urban Land Institute's Most Innovative City Award in 2013 and the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2016. In 2019, Medellín was also selected to host Latin America’s first Center for Davos’ Fourth Industrial Revolution. Importantly, it is also known as The City of Eternal Spring!
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Given how beautiful, fun and livable it is, Medellín has a surprisingly low cost of living.
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Medellín is conveniently located: it is in the center of the Latin America & Caribbean region, and has easy flight access to Florida, NY, Washington, DC, Texas, California and Madrid.
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Medellín’s unique history of transformation will enrich our leadership program. Medellín has experienced the most remarkable transformation in just two decades. This turnaround has been so dramatic, and so recent, that we now plan to turn the city into our campus. Medellín's transformation is full of powerful stories of community leadership, of institution-building, of public-private-social collaborations, and much more.
Living spaces and life skills
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We aim to prepare you to take ownership of your own life. You will share apartments and create co-living arrangements with your peers to create a microcosm of a beautiful culture and society.
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To make this experience fun and safe, we will live in Poblado, the safest neighborhood in Medellín and one of the most modern spaces in the region. You will live in a wonderful environment that you will feel proud to care for.
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By deliberately practicing life skills in community, you will leave LALA with essential interpersonal skills that will accelerate your personal growth.
independent work
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Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a range of practical, entrepreneurial and professional capacity-building experiences.
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All students will co-construct with their LALA coaches a parallel work-study-life skills program.
safety at lala
The safety of our students, faculty and staff is our biggest priority. All residences where our students live will have security. We will insist on contractual obligations that will organize travel and curfew norms. Students and parents will have access to faculty and staff in the event of urgent communication.
healthcare
Medellín has eight of the best hospitals in Latin America: facilities with world-class infrastructure and personnel, at a much lower cost than elsewhere. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks Colombia’s health system as #22 out of 191 ranked countries. This is ahead of Germany (#25), Canada (#30), Australia (#32), the United States (#37), and ahead of all other Latin American countries.