By Kanika Findley-Chin

Mau Dávila is passionate about all things Latin American and has a serious case of wanderlust. When he's not soaking up the culture and creativity of his surroundings, spending time with his partner in Rio, or finding a quiet moment to meditate and think up new ideas for DLA, Mauricio is a very man busy indeed!

On a brief stop back in the UK to support the 9^th DLA Film Festival, I caught up with him to find out more about our president and co-founder, and his plans for Discovering Latin America in the next year.

What made you decide to set up Discovering Latin America?
When I moved to a London it was the first time I had been out of Mexico.  Coming from another country, it was challenging adapting to a new culture, lifestyle...the weather!  I wanted to do something for my home country that I loved, and that's where the idea of a charity first came from.  Originally, I wanted to focus on Mexico but when I spoke to friends they said why not all of Latin America, to be more inclusive? And when I thought about it I realised they were right. 

Through DLA I have realised my two passions in life. My first being Latin America! Every time I introduce myself I say that I'm Latin American not Mexican because I feel Mexican, Peruvian, Brazilian, Argentinean... it's the same. 

My second passion is related to causing social transformation and working towards a world without poverty.  I don't just mean poverty in economic terms but a poverty related to lack of opportunities.  My ambition would be to see a world with an abundance of opportunities. That's what I discovered with Discovering Latin America, why I think the organisation is a great platform for people to learn things about themselves they didn't know before.  I've seen our volunteers make personal and private transitions while working with the organisation. They've got married, had children, changed career path or moved into more creative fields.  It happened to me! I decided that I didn't want to work in the private sector (Mau worked in Marketing and Advertising for Procter and Gamble for 10 years). I had an amazing experience but then I decided to make the move fully into the third sector. Outside of DLA what do you do?

Three years ago I did an MA in Latin American Development here in London, studying part time. For the past 2 years I have been working for another non-profit organisation as a director for the Centre for Digital Inclusion, which works on improving education and technology in 13 different countries. The experience has helped me to understand the 3^rd sector more and it has been a great compliment to Discovering Latin America.

What is the most important role you need to fulfill as co-founder and President ? Here are three things. One, share the vision and understanding of how Discovering Latin America evolves over time, to explore our future possibilities and strategies for moving forward. Two is about energising our volunteers. We are a unique organisation from the point of view in that we are formed by 350 volunteers from over 30 different countries, and we can create these incredible events just through volunteering! So it's very important that we keep them motivated, and show them that within DLA there are possibilities to fulfill their own ambitions/dreams, and discover new skills as well as using their existing ones. Third, as one of the leaders of the organisation, to deal with the problems and the challenges. It's important that our leaders feel they can rely on me to sort out the issues.Discovering Latin America has just opened a new office in Brazil. Tell us more.

Brazilian operations began in May of this year.  Restarting DLA in a different country and in Latin America has been a very interesting process! We have decided to continue our cultural and artistic events, reapplying the formula we have used in the UK and Spain, but we're thinking about incorporating a food festival because the region's food is amazing.

One of our insights has been that there are comparisons between Brazil and Latin America, and the UK's position in Europe, in that Brazil feels like an island in Latin America.  Brazil is at a particular moment where it's becoming a regional leader, which is great, but there is a privilege and responsibility that comes with leadership, like developing a deeper understanding of the rest of the region. 

The main difference to DLA Brazil is the possibility to help education, both formal and informal. We have realised that there is a gap in Latin American education, and I think most Latin Americans will agree with me on that.  It's interesting that when Latin Americans meet we normally feel a connection but when we really go deeper we don't know a lot about each other's countries.  It's a bit surprising that we know more about European history or US entertainment than about our own countries.  I think that there's something wrong with that! DLA has the challenging opportunity to influence education, to create new platforms and experiences while working within the existing structure, to help develop a new generation that really is more self-aware.

What's your vision for DLA in 2011?
Next year is crucial for our organisation, and it's a time when we should be moving to the next level.  It's the end of our childhood.  Discovering Latin America will be 10 years old so it will be a time of celebration, but as an organisation we have to reassess where we are investing our limited resources in order to help us to grow. 

We'll host the 10^th Discovering Latin American Film Festival and this has to be an amazing event as well as an opportunity to open new spaces and really establish ourselves in the mainstream UK cultural scene, not just through film or another cult aspect.

It's also important that, as we move into our 10^th year, we reflect on the social impact of what we have done so far and what our future role is in terms of driving social change in the region.   It will require that we grow, and for all our volunteers to understand where they can participate and really integrate into the powerful community. I would love to see Discovering Latin America become a more cohesive and bigger community.How important are DLA volunteers?

It's something that I say most of the time, but our volunteers are my heroes in life!  For some people this might be Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, but for me it's the DLA volunteers. I have their pictures on my computer and on my wall! In my opinion they are amazing people, ordinary people doing extraordinary things and making a difference in this world.  They are great friends and I see all the volunteers as my family.

I want to invite all our volunteers to share their ideas and lessons.  What we have in our hands is amazing and we have the potential to create one of the largest organisations in the world representing Latin America and culture-driven social change, but making it possible it really requires all of us. More participation, collaboration and communication.  I want volunteers to really wear the T-shirt!  It doesn't matter if they have limited time or lots of time; I just ask that every time they represent the organisation that they do so 100%.  No matter the size of their role, small or large, they must also stay in contact with the leaders, the editor of the newsletter, and with me, but DON'T stay silent because through their ideas and feedback we will realise our ambitions.

Finally, is there anything that you would like to add? Next year is critical to attracting new investment, so anyone with ideas about partnerships, donors, any suggestions to help us build a stronger foundation, are welcome. But to all Discovery Latin America volunteers I would like to say, have a great Christmas! Enjoy the time with family, partners and friends, have good rest and return reenergised for 2011!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Feliz Navidad y un feliz año Nuevo!  Feliz Natal e um Prospero ano Novo!