Cantu: Frontera Leadership Institute is building the new CEOs of Brownsville (Rio Grande Guardian)

“It is so phenomenal to see their families, friends and community come and support them in their own version of Shark Tank,” Cantu said.

“What they are doing here is creating a future tech entrepreneurship community that’s actually going to be from Brownsville. That is what’s exciting about it. Never before has this existed, and today we got to see it, and we can’t wait to do more.”

A banner at Demo Day said new transformative leaders start here. “We empower young entrepreneurs from Brownsville, Texas, by equipping them with the essential leadership and produce development skills to navigate business ventures,” the banner stated.

Demo Day showcased the achievements of the group’s first cohort of students. Cantu said the immersive program the students participated in trained them to think like a leader, start a business from scratch and learn product management. “Our program takes a heart-centered approach to business. You learn how to collaborate, handle ambiguity, and gain the necessary people skills to run or manage a successful business,” Cantu explained.

The Guardian was interested in remarks made by Cantu from the podium during Demo Day. He said FLI is building the new CEOs of Brownsville. Asked later to elaborate, Cantu said:

“The reason that building CEOs is so important in Brownsville is that for the longest time, we’ve had so much genius be drained out of this community. The brain drain has been real. But it doesn’t have to be that way. No more.”

Cantu said what keeps Brownsville’s best and brightest is industry and new opportunities.

“So, we cultivate the biggest and brightest brains and teach them how to be leaders so they can actually fend for themselves. Fish here. Create fisheries here. We can build a community where people can have jobs and be able to support themselves and their families. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what the frontier Leadership Institute is all about.”

The theme for Demo Day was Bridge to the Future. Asked to explain why, Cantu said:

“It basically means we have been able to get here because of the people in the past. Today, we get to choose where we want to go in the future, and every single one of us is part of that bridge. And the call to action was, lend a hand, reach out and support what we’re trying to do, because collectively as a community, we get to choose the direction of the new Brownsville.”

Cantu also said in his remarks that the students are “hungry, motivated, and leaning in.” Asked what help they need, Cantu said: “What they need to be able to thrive even more in Brownsville is internship opportunities, job opportunities, jobs to actually pay a living wage so that they can see themselves entering into the tech workforce and be able to navigate up the ladder and see themselves as the CEOs of tomorrow.”

Cantu added: “Brownsville deserves to have a strong tech industry and community, and it deserves to be run by people from this city. This is what we’re creating, and this is why we’re excited to do it.”