Mission
Princeton in Latin America (PiLA) partners with NGOs and multilateral organizations and places highly qualified recent college graduates in year-long service fellowships with nonprofit, public service, humanitarian, and government organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Placements emphasize the power of firsthand work experience to shape young people's attitudes and mobilize them to effect positive social change. PiLA enhances the mission of its partners by building their capacity to constructively impact the communities they serve, addressing the social, economic, and political barriers to egalitarian community development. Since 2003, PiLA has placed over 400 fellows with partners in 20 countries throughout the region.
Engaging Communities
Princeton in Latin America fellows apply their talents and commitment to advancing the socioeconomic development objectives of our partner organizations, with a lasting impact on communities and the lives of local people.
Impacting the Nonprofit Sector
Exposing fellows to the realities of Latin American and Caribbean societies, fellows deepen their social awareness while contributing to the effectiveness and impact of their host organization and the nonprofit sector.
Informing Tomorrow's Leaders
A year of working with rural women's groups on business strategies, serving as a health education coordinator in an indigenous community, or protecting the flora and fauna of the Amazon Basin can be a life-changing experience. Confronting cultural differences, difficult socioeconomic realities, and the obstacles to equitable development can transform a fellow's perspective, inform an appreciation of the diverse challenges facing the region and the world at large, and develop organizational capacity and effectiveness in altering the communities served by PiLA's partners.
PiLA History
Princeton in Latin America (PiLA) was founded in 2002 by an enthusiastic group of Princeton students, alumni and faculty as an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening in the Americas the fulfillment of the University’s motto, “Princeton in the nation’s service and the service of humanity.”
Daniel Pastor ’03 and Allen Taylor ’03 were instrumental in the creation of PiLA during their senior year at Princeton, inspired by a seminar taught by politics Professor Paul Sigmund, who would become PiLA's founding president. Their vision was to create a thriving fellowship organization in the tradition of PiLA's counterparts, Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Princeton in Africa (PiAf).
With seed funding from the Program in Latin American Studies, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and the Class of 1969 Community Service Fund, PiLA placed two Class of 2003 graduates in year-long fellowships. In the 2008–2009 cycle, PiLA opened applications to graduates of all North American colleges and universities. Our PiLA Alumni family has since grown to over 400 members including two cohorts of fully remote Fellows!
PiLA is an independent 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization affiliated with Princeton University. PiLA maintains its registered business address on the Princeton University campus but raises all of its own operating funds. You can support our mission here.