There’s a young unemployment epidemic in honduras.

Over a quarter of young Hondurans were out of work prior to the pandemic and a nationally enforced lock-down has eliminated any opportunity to seek new work in a country where economic opportunity is largely low tech and in-person.

But the country’s young people are digital natives with low relative labor costs, high English fluency rates, and the potential to become one of the most competitive high-tech workforces in the world. They just need a little help getting started.

Introducing BT LAb: A bold New Approach for cultivating market-leading talent and technology.

In partnership with USAID’s Transforming Market Systems Activity and the Museum for National Identity in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, we’re launching BT Lab to co-create an all new model of economic development by job seekers into job creators across Central America.

USAID’s Transforming Market Systems Project is dedicated to fostering competitive, resilient, and inclusive market systems that provide increased local economic opportunities for Hondurans, reducing the need to migrate in pursuit of employment.

The Museum for National Identity (MIN) was founded by President Maduro because he believed Hondurans needed a place to reconnect with their roots. In just 15 years, the Museum has become the center of gravity for cultural diversity and a national identity of resilience, creativity, and collaboration.

With the support of Tesserakt Institute’s investor community and philanthropy engineering initiative, our partners are perfectly poised to empower their networks of community stakeholders in collectively constructing a shared future of inclusive economic growth powered by innovation.

We’re beginning with a pilot to empower young people in Honduras with the skills and support they need to access meaningful work while transforming big ideas into market-leading companies.

Our goal is to develop a platform that enables underserved communities across Central America to build stronger local economies by investing in their best and brightest.