Phelisa Rickets, of YLAI, is partnering with Mattapan/ Greater Boston Technology Learning Center, Inc in Boston through the U.S. Department of State’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program. For four weeks, Phelisa Ricketts, an emerging entrepreneurial leader and founder of Western Stem Academy, will complete a professional fellowship at Mattapan Tech, collaborating on mutually beneficial projects and finding solutions

 to business challenge action plans she will undertake upon her return to Jamaica.  

Phelisa will assist Mattapan Tech’s staff in the planning and production of educational and marketing digital tools for Mattapan Tech’s youth IT job training program. These tools include videos and an interactive virtual lab to improve both Mattapan Tech and Western Stem Academy hybrid programs. Phelisa will work with Mattapan Tech’s research and project planning professionals to improve her team leadership, negotiation and project planning skills and develop SMART goals, budgets and grant proposal writing while sharing her talents.  

Mattapan Tech’s Chief of Program Development, Rev. Jacques Dady Jean, said: “I am excited to host Phelisa Ricketts at Mattapan Tech. It's an honor to have the privilege to collaborate with the U.S. Department of State’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program to empower this successful young leader.”

Phelisa is a hardworking and dedicated professional who believes in the power of education and entrepreneurship. She is only 26 years old, and is the founder of the Western STEM Academy in Jamaica and the CEO of the ProLinkage Marketing Agency. 

The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) is the U.S. Department of State’s flagship program for emerging entrepreneurs and business leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. Designed to promote mutual understanding and build a network of young business and social entrepreneurs, the program brings young leaders to the U.S. for entrepreneurial leadership training and fellowships with U.S. educational institutions, companies and social enterprises. The program concludes with a Closing Forum in Washington, D.C.  Fellows return to their ventures with new skills, resources, ongoing support from U.S. counterparts, and  a broader network, strengthening business ties between the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere and  advancing inclusive prosperity in the region.  

The YLAI Fellowship Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and implemented in 2023 by IREX.  

For press inquiries please contact:  

Jacques Dady Jean: Jacjean1@mattapantech.org

Megan Smith, YLAI Project Director, IREX: mesmith@irex.org  

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, ECA-Press@state.gov  Learn more about the YLAI Program on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or the YLAI website.