¡Mil gracias!

As the Embedded Scholars’ internships come to a close at International IDEA in Chile and Panama, we are deeply grateful to International IDEA and its country partners for hosting these UT students this summer. They accomplished so much on projects spanning a huge range of topics!

UT Embedded Scholars in Panama with the leadership and colleagues from the International IDEA Panama Office and Electoral Tribunal of Panama during their internship in Summer 2024.

We owe particular thanks to Carlos González Martínez, Katherine Batista-Sánchez, Roberto Ogg Fabrega, and Ana Elisa Miranda in IDEA’s Panama office and Latin America regional office and to UT’s Texas Global and Government Department for their partnership in building this internship program over the last two years.

We also owe special thanks to each of them and to Marcela Ríos Tobar, Alicia Del Aguila, Nicolás Liendo, and Corina Rueda Borrero in IDEA’s Latin America regional office, Ricardo Mena in IDEA’s Chile office, and Salvador Sánchez and Aneth Zambrano in the Electoral Tribunal’s Institute of Democratic Studies for their mentorship of these students during their internships this summer.

UT fellows Paulina Licon, Bourne, and María Mercedes Gómez; International IDEA Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Marcela Ríos Tobar; and UT fellows Andrea Meador-Safont, Andreana Faucette, Alejandra Vadillo, and Ariana Guerrero at the IDEA office in Panama.
UT fellows Taylor Crownover and Geraldine Fandiño, with their intern colleague from France, at the IDEA office in Chile.

As one fellow said this week, the time at IDEA has “catapulted my career in the right direction.” That sentiment is certainly shared across the board as the fellows have conducted research and writing related to elections and candidates, executive power, women’s representation, youth civic engagement, the right to resistance, security and democracy, lawmaking processes, environmental legislation, anti-discrimination legislation, disinformation and hate discourse in elections, democratic backsliding and resilience, civic and constitutional culture, and the impact of AI on democratic processes.

International IDEA notes, “The students offered valuable support in the daily activities of the different programs…. we would like to thank all the staff and students of the University of Texas at Austin for the support provided during this period and their valuable contribution to democracy at the regional level.”

Thanks to these incredible leaders at International IDEA and the Electoral Tribunal of Panama for sharing their expertise and time in training the next generation of democracy professionals!