Three female students from La Araucanía have won a scholarship from an entrepreneurship program and will travel to Boston
Following their outstanding performance in the course “Entrepreneurship as a Life Skill,” organized by the Luksic Foundation, the young women will travel in July 2027 to participate in an in-person immersion program at Babson College in the United States.
Ana Quinteros (63), Jessica Mercado (37), and Scarleth Cárdenas (22), technical and vocational education students from Temuco, were awarded full scholarships to study at Babson College in Boston, following their outstanding performance in the course “Entrepreneurship as a Life Skill,” organized by the Luksic Foundation in partnership with the renowned U.S. business school.
The course aims to strengthen skills such as creativity, adaptability to change, and collaborative problem-solving, while promoting a practical approach to entrepreneurship that can be applied to various areas of life.
In total, the course brought together 31 participants—students from INACAP, Santo Tomás, AIEP, and IPCHILE—who were divided into groups to tackle various challenges designed to strengthen their entrepreneurial mindset. Throughout the process, they were guided by faculty members from Babson College who traveled to Chile specifically for this event: Andrew Corbett, academic director of the Butler Institute for Free Enterprise through Entrepreneurship, and Eliana Crosina, assistant professor of Entrepreneurship.
““International training isn’t always accessible due to costs or language barriers, so it’s essential to promote experiences that bring these opportunities within reach of more people while strengthening skills for personal, academic, and professional development,” said Fernanda Orellana, Training Manager at the Luksic Foundation.
From Temuco to Boston
In July 2027, the winners will spend a week participating in an immersion program at Babson College, recognized as one of the world’s leading schools for entrepreneurship. There, they will have the opportunity to interact with students from around the world, form multicultural teams, and participate in challenges, classes, and hands-on activities focused on leadership, innovation, and project development.
Jessica Mercado, 37, is one of the winners of the third edition of this course, held in March 2026. She is currently studying Social Work at AIEP and explains that she previously studied Social Services, a degree program she was unable to complete due to circumstances beyond her control. She says she resumed her studies with the goal of specializing in childhood and adolescence. She says that traveling to Babson College “represents an opportunity for learning and gaining knowledge” and that, on a personal level, “it’s a dream come true,” since she is the first person in her family to pursue a professional degree and has the chance to go abroad to learn new methods and tools for entrepreneurship.
Another winner is Ana Quinteros, a native of El Salvador who has been living in Temuco for eleven years. At 63, she is studying Business Administration at IPCHILE while also working as a cashier. Ana believes she did well because she presented simple ideas, “turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.” The third woman recognized is Scarleth Cárdenas, a 22-year-old student of Culinary Management at INACAP.
The 31 participants were accompanied by members of the Luksic Scholars community. The mentors particularly highlighted the participants’ ability to adapt, collaborate, and turn personal experiences into concrete solutions.
“It is a human who must guide the AI, define objectives, formulate questions, and make decisions about which path to follow. That’s why I believe creative thinking will be even more important in the future. And creativity is not an innate gift, but a skill that can be developed and honed. And this type of activity encourages participants to be creative and to focus more on ‘knowing what’ than on ‘knowing how,’” reflects Álvaro Hofflinger, Luksic Scholar and professor at the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University.
The course “Entrepreneurship as a Life Skill” had already been offered in the Los Lagos and Antofagasta regions, benefiting more than 65 students from technical and vocational institutions. Of those, eight received scholarships for an in-person immersion program to visit Babson College in Boston, United States.
