Jhasmany Saavedra

M.A. – Intercultural Leadership & Management, SIT Graduate Institute (in progress)
B.A. – Psychology, University of Sucre, Bolivia

Jhasmany is a a Fulbright student from Bolivia in the US. He has a BA in Psychology from the university in Sucre, Bolivia and is particularly interested in social psychology.

Jhasmany comes from Alcalá, a small town in Chuquisaca, Bolivia, where the river runs dry in the winter and where people gather the harvest in the summer. When Jhasmany was six years old, his parents became rural school teachers. They lived inside the school, where there was neither potable water nor electricity. In Bolivia, 53% of the population has migrated from the country to cities in search of opportunity, leading to dire urban poverty. Following this trend, at the age of 15, Jhasmany moved to Sucre, the capital of Chuquisaca, with only his two younger brothers. Eventually, he was able to pursue his interests in families, education, and psychology by working with NGOs. As coordinator for two different development programs he did “action-research,” which produced data, as well as intervened in community problems. Jhasmany implemented a pilot program in early cognitive stimulation for toddlers. He also coordinated with the Down Syndrome Foundation to address the special needs of certain children in the community.

Jhasmany’s experiences with discrimination and poverty motivate him to improve the opportunities of those in his country whose rights are at risk. To achieve this, he is currently studying an M.A. in Intercultural Leadership and Management in the U.S. with the goal of helping NGO’s achieve measurable goals that are meaningful to their beneficiaries. Jhasmany wants to help generate more inclusive policies in Bolivia. To do this, he envisions working with NGOs to improve the opportunities of vulnerable populations in Bolivia whose rights are at risk.

Jhasmany has led many courses for Dragons and loves this work. He enjoys sharing his country with students from an honest perspective, where the conflicts and difficulties of the people are shown along with the happiness, kindness, culture, art, and joy of life in every corner of Bolivia.