Rodrigo Varela Villegas of GEM Colombia helped launch the Center for Entrepreneurship Development at the Icesi University - the first academic unit dedicated to entrepreneurship in Latin America. His work was highlighted in a terrific interview in the Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management. Here are some of his other thoughts about his experiences being part of GEM.
How long have you been part of GEM?
The Colombia team started with GEM in 2006. But I have been following GEM since 2001 when I was looking for ways to get the resources to launch GEM Colombia. Therefore, my love story took some time before it became reality!
What are you most proud of as it relates to your work with GEM?
There are four activities that come to mind:
1. The development of a Colombian research team that initially included researchers from four universities and today includes researchers from seven universities. This is quite unique because, as you all know, each university has its own procedures and rules and it is not easy to align on a project as complex as GEM.
2. Providing entrepreneurial information about my country which previously didn't exist. This data and our policy recommendations have been used by the government, the academic world and many practitioners in our country.
3. The possibility to develop the GEM Caribbean project which was a completely new experience with lots of learnings.
4. The friendships that I have developed in GEM with individuals from different National Teams and particularly with members of the Research Innovation Advisory Committee.