Presenting Young Leaders of the Americas: Ignacio Hinojosa from Chile

Ignacio Hinojosa, co-founder of ServiSenior

Helping seniors is more than a random act of kindness for Chilean Ignacio Hinojosa. For this young man, helping the elderly is his full-time job, a job which he helped create. Hinojosa is one of the founding members of the company ServiSenior, a platform that allows for individuals aged 50 and older to be connected to job opportunities. Through the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI), US Together partnered with IREX to match Ignacio with Guadalupe Velasquez, Managing Director of our social enterprise Welcoming City, for a month-long professional mentorship. As Ignacio’s host organization, Welcoming City offers support for enhancing his leadership skills and business development knowledge as well as expanding this professional network.

YLAI was launched by the U.S. State Department in 2015. The program empowers emerging business professionals and entrepreneurs from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada by connecting them with host organizations in the U.S. Each year, approximately 280 young business and social entrepreneurs from 37 countries are matched with businesses and organizations across the United States. In addition to entrepreneurial leadership training, YLAI Fellows build new skills, share best practices, and forge commercial ties.

On Feb 16th Ignacio and Guadalupe met with US Together Co-Founders and other team members for a virtual introduction

In February, International Program interns Ruth Elendu and Emma Hall met with Ignacio to learn more about him and his company. He shared that ServiSenior was created to help reduce the unemployment level for those who are over 50 and who have difficulty accessing jobs. Unemployment of the elderly not only creates issues for the economy, but also physical and mental deterioration for the unemployed which is a result of the lack of physical activities and social connections.

One may see Hinojosa and wonder why a young person would be passionate about employment of seniors and the answer goes back into his childhood. When Hinojosa was in high school, he was part of an entrepreneurship program where he co-created a gym specially made for the elderly. This project changed his thinking about seniors. Instead of being weak or needing assistance, the seniors he worked with were still physically active and “young in spirit”. Fast forward to 2015, Hinojosa and the other ServiSenior co-founder were discussing the challenges that both of their fathers had with finding job opportunities and keeping them. Unemployment at that age can affect one’s self esteem since they are unable to provide monetarily. Hinojosa and his co-founder saw this issue and wanted to work toward fixing it, not only for their fathers but also including other seniors in their community. Eventually, finding a solution would also help them when they become of that age.

However, establishing an organization to help 50+ adults secure job opportunities comes with its own set of challenges. Currently, one ServiSenior’s challenge is navigating the market that they are in. They are still searching ways to grow and be self-sustainable.

Asked about a memorable experience connected to his work, Ignacio recalled a presentation he did a couple of years ago. During a conference containing hundreds of people from varying organizations, Hinojosa was presenting about ServiSenior and its concept. At the end of his presentation a woman from the crowd asked to give a testimonial on the impact ServiSenior had on her. She explained how a family member had just died and she had nothing to keep herself busy when the platform emerged and gave her an opportunity to be more active and keep her mind off of her grief. She went on to explain how much she needed that platform during that season in her life and that ServiSenior “came at the best moment.” During this time, ServiSenior had only impacted about 1,000 people and hearing that unexpected testimonial was one of the most rewarding experiences for Hinojosa.

Thank you to International Program Interns Ruth Elendu and Emma Hall for working on this article.