Australia and Latin America: Closer Than You Think

About Us

ALELD is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2018 by Erin Watson and Borja Martel Seward that has grown to over 40 volunteers across 15 countries.

Our Vision 

In ALELD we envision a strengthened relationship between Australia and Latin America, where each region’s experiences, people, and knowledge come together to face global challenges and build a more sustainable, inclusive, and integrated world. 

Our Mission 

ALELD is a not-for-profit organisation that strengthens relationships between Australia and Latin America through a collaborative, interdisciplinary team in alliance with other stakeholders. 

We bring together and nurture the next generation of leaders to promote sustainable cooperation between the regions. We facilitate collaboration between governments, institutions, and the private sector, and foster economic, social, and environmental development by building partnerships, sharing knowledge, and promoting cultural exchange. 

Our Values 

ALELD is a diverse and multicultural community united by shared organisational values. We take a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach because diverse perspectives contribute to a more complete vision. 

We promote cross-cultural understanding as a way of learning from the richness and realities of each region. 

We are committed to work with authenticity and integrity in everything we do. 

We are committed to an equal, inclusive, and respectful dialogue between Australia and Latin America. 

Our Goal 

Through ALELD we seek to encourage conversations and partnerships, share stories and experiences, and highlight challenges and strengths within the regions in all the strategic themes to allow innovation. We deliberately and proactively look for people and solutions that showcase sustainability, inclusiveness, and integration to achieve a closer and stronger relationship between Australia and Latam.

Strategic Themes 

The strategic themes are the compass that guides our daily work to achieve the vision that defines us. They are related to our mission and are implemented throughout our projects and programs. These 5 strategic themes are the practice of ALELD’s organisational values. 

Governance: Strong institutions and good governance shape society and its organisation. It is important to understand the reality in each region to build dialogue, foster cooperation, and design public policy. We believe that throughout this key theme, we can achieve a broader and longer lasting impact. 

Environment: The urgency of achieving truly environmentally friendly development is a crucial worldwide challenge. We believe we have to sustainably develop every activity and aspect of our countries to protect, conserve and restore our only planet. Therefore, the environmental theme is a key crosscutting space of cooperation and implementation among all of the activities of the organisation. 

Economy: Strong economic governance can only be achieved through understanding the disparities among the two regions. We believe that by developing a deep understanding of the diverse economic realities in Australia and Latam we can achieve more inclusive economic development for all people. 

Cultural exchange: No matter how much we read in books about other cultures, there is so much knowledge and insights that can only be understood through cultural exchange. Because of this, we believe this is a key element to strengthen relations between Australia and Latam. Cultural exchange enables cross-cultural understanding, improves respect for diversity, and broadens the perceptions about people of other cultures. 

Social development: We believe the social development of both Latin America and Australia is crucial to enable closer and stronger relationships between both regions. Therefore, our actions seek to highlight social issues and challenges that affect local communities and allow for innovation to achieve a fairer and more equitable world.