Ivo Ribeiro

Background

About Ivo Ribeiro

Ivo Ribeiro is a dedicated and accomplished youth leader with a passion for driving positive change through empathetic learning and clear communication. He brings four years of professional experience in international development and translation/interpretation, having worked with renowned international institutions such as The Asia Foundation, Australia Volunteers Program, and Leadership and Life Coaching Solutions. Ivo's areas of expertise include equitable development, education, leadership, project management, and youth empowerment. He has over four years of experience in youth empowerment and education, volunteering for various organizations such as Uma Amerika, Youth for Others, GrowYouth, and Colégio de Santo Inácio de Loiola. In 2020, he co-founded Youth for Others, which provided crucial emergency aid to over 100 households during the floods in Timor-Leste. Ivo's excellent leadership skills were instrumental in YfO's success. Beyond his professional work, Ivo is an accomplished public speaker and debate team member. He was part of the team that secured Second Place in the 2020 Timor-Leste National English Debating Championship and was named Fourth Best Speaker throughout the tournament. In 2022, he served as the Core Adjudicator, responsible for leading and supervising a team of emerging adjudicators, for the First Timor-Leste National High School Debating Championship in English with the Asian Parliamentary Debate method. Ivo has earned several awards and distinctions. These include being a recipient of the 2024 University of Minnesota's Edward G. Clark Jr. Scholarship, 2023 United States Timor-Leste (USTL) Fellowship, 2023 LeadNext Changemakers Development Fund, an alumnus of The Asia Foundation's LeadNext 2022 Inaugural Program, an Honorable Delegate of the 2019 Dili Model United Nations, a Finalist in the 2018 World Youth Essay Competition, and a recipient of the 2018 Loiola Award and 2015 Magis Award, both of which are the highest distinctions awarded by Colégio de Santo Inácio de Loiola to senior high school and junior high school finalists, respectively, for their academic achievements and embodiment of the school spirit. He was also a Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Fellow in 2017. Ivo is currently studying Economics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in the United States. Originally from Timor-Leste, he transferred from João Saldanha Institute. Additionally, he holds a certificate in Evaluating Social Programs from J-PAL in collaboration with MIT.