Sijo Kuruvilla George, chief executive officer of Startup Village, Kochi, has been invited to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a professional exchange program conducted by the US Department of State to foster professional ties and mutual understanding with other countries.
Sijo is the only Indian among the eight participants at the this year's IVLP on 'Influential Voices'.
Launched in 1940, IVLP connects current and emerging foreign leaders around the world with their American counterparts. According to the US government, more than 200,000 international visitors have engaged with Americans through IVLP, including more than 330 current or former chiefs of state or heads of government.
Notable former participants from Kerala include Union Minister Shashi Tharoor and the state Planning board member and Technopark Founder and CEO, G Vijayaraghavan.
After the IVLP concludes on May 24, Sijo will travel to Silicon Valley to meet participants of the Rajeev Circle Fellowship program initiated by venture capitalist Asha Jadeja Motwani in memory of her husband Rajeev Motwani, who was a professor at Stanford and was one of the most highly respected computer scientists in the world.
Now in its second edition, the Rajeev Circle Fellowship identifies select entrepreneurs from India and flies them to the Silicon Valley for an intense two-week-long mentorship and networking program.
He will also meet a few key people to discuss the setting up of the 'landing pad' for the Startup Village's SV Squared program. Earlier this week, Kerala government had announced it will set up a permanent centre in the US to facilitate the visit of student entrepreneurs to the US under SV Squared.
