grantees » Alejandra Meneses Venegas

This grantee is still in the process of their leadership development with the JWH initiative.

Alejandra is a young leader interested in the conservation of wildlife and natural resources in Costa Rica. She has a clear vision of her ambition to become a professional in environmental management, and is well on her way through her work volunteering with Asociación Regional Centroamericana para el Agua y el Ambiente. Here she is involved in the advocacy campaign against open mining in Costa Rica, with her principle role supporting the communication office in media coverage of demonstrations started by the NGO. During her period of volunteer work at the organization, she showed she has a strong capacity to lead environmental conservation work within local communities.

Alejandra was awarded a JWH Initiative grant because of her potential leadership qualities, and she plans to use the funding for English language courses. Improving her communication skills will allow her to actively participate in conferences and forums on environmental media, and to interact effectively with other environmental organizations. Alejandra says that the JWH Initiative gives her the “opportunity to achieve [her] future goals of becoming a professional in the environmental and social sector” by allowing her to work with local communities to strive for sustainable development and protection of natural resources by bringing the community voices from a local level to a regional, national and international level.