What Is a Think Tank? And Why Colombian Leadership in the U.S. Needs One
The Colombian Council is building a new kind of platform for Colombian leadership in the United States—one centered on ideas, dialogue, research, and collective impact.
When people hear the term “think tank,” they often associate it with Washington, D.C., foreign policy, economics, or institutions that advise governments. But the concept is both broader and more powerful.
At its core, a think tank is an organization that brings together research, expertise, ideas, and leadership to better understand important issues and contribute to informed decision-making.
RAND broadly describes think tanks as organizations that provide evidence-based advice on public-policy issues, while Brookings describes them as places where academics, analysts, policymakers, officials, and other experts come together to study major policy questions and develop new approaches to complex challenges. (RAND Corporation)
Think tanks do more than conduct research. They convene people who might not otherwise sit at the same table.
And that is where the model becomes particularly relevant to the Colombian community in the United States.
More Than Research: The Power to Convene
One of the most important functions of a think tank is its convening power.
Research matters. Data matters. Policy analysis matters. But meaningful change also requires bringing the right people into the same room.
Think tanks can create neutral spaces where leaders from government, academia, business, philanthropy, civil society, media, and other sectors exchange perspectives. Brookings describes this convening function as bringing different viewpoints together and creating opportunities for policymakers and other stakeholders to interact outside traditional institutional boundaries. (Brookings)
This is fundamentally different from traditional networking.
Networking asks: “Who can I meet?”
Convening asks: “Who needs to be at this table—and what important conversation should they be having?”
That distinction is central to the future of the Colombian Council.
From a Leadership Network to a Think Tank
The Colombian community in the United States is extraordinarily diverse.
It includes entrepreneurs, corporate executives, elected and appointed officials, academics, professionals, philanthropists, artists, nonprofit leaders, diplomats, investors, educators, and community advocates.
Yet influence becomes significantly more powerful when individual achievement is transformed into collective intelligence and structured dialogue.
The Colombian Council was created to help build that bridge.
Our vision is to establish the Colombian Council as the first Colombian think tank in the United States: an independent leadership platform capable of convening influential Colombian and Colombian-American voices around issues that matter to our community, Colombia, and the relationship between both countries.
We are not a government agency.
We are not a political party.
We are not a campaign organization.
And we are not simply another networking association.
We are building a platform for ideas, dialogue, leadership, and impact.
What Will the Colombian Council Do?
The Colombian Council will operate at the intersection of three strategic pillars:
POLICY · PHILANTHROPY · ENTERPRISE
These areas represent three powerful forces through which Colombian leaders in the United States can generate meaningful impact.
Policy means creating informed spaces to understand economic, civic, social, international, and public-policy issues affecting Colombia and its diaspora.
Philanthropy means connecting leadership with social responsibility and identifying opportunities to strengthen communities through strategic collaboration.
Enterprise recognizes the extraordinary role of entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and companies in strengthening economic ties, generating opportunity, and expanding Colombian influence in the United States.
The Council's work can include private leadership roundtables, economic briefings, expert conversations, research and data reports, policy discussions, leadership forums, publications, and high-level convenings.
Rather than telling leaders what to think, our role is to create the conditions for them to think together.
Independent. Nonpartisan. Leadership-Driven.
Credibility is one of the most important assets a think tank can possess.
Leading institutions emphasize independence, research quality, evidence, and the ability to engage people with different perspectives. Brookings, for example, identifies independence and nonpartisanship as central principles of its research and convening model. (Brookings)
The Colombian Council intends to build its identity around the same fundamental principle:
Ideas before ideology.
Our events and initiatives are designed to welcome diverse perspectives and encourage substantive, respectful dialogue.
Having elected officials, diplomats, government representatives, or political leaders participate in a Colombian Council conversation does not make the Council a governmental or partisan organization.
Their voices can be part of the conversation alongside those of business leaders, academics, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, nonprofit executives, cultural leaders, and other experts.
The Council provides the table.
Different leaders bring the perspectives.
Why Does the Colombian Community Need a Think Tank?
The Colombian diaspora has achieved remarkable individual success across the United States.
But individual success and collective influence are not the same thing.
A stronger leadership ecosystem requires mechanisms to identify expertise, connect sectors, document insights, produce credible information, and create sustained conversations around consequential issues.
Think tanks can serve precisely this bridging function. They connect knowledge with decision-making and provide spaces where complex questions can be examined beyond the pressures of daily political or business cycles. (Brookings)
For the Colombian diaspora, this creates an opportunity to move from:
Visibility → Influence
Connections → Collaboration
Conversation → Knowledge
Individual Leadership → Collective Impact
The objective is not to speak for every Colombian.
It is to create a credible platform where Colombian leaders can contribute their expertise to conversations that deserve greater depth, evidence, and visibility.
Miami as a Starting Point, the United States as Our Platform
Miami is a natural strategic hub for this initiative.
South Florida brings together an extraordinary concentration of Colombian business, diplomatic, cultural, civic, nonprofit, and professional leadership. It also serves as an important gateway between the United States, Colombia, and Latin America.
But the Colombian Council's vision extends beyond Miami.
This is a national initiative.
As the Council grows, our objective is to connect Colombian leadership across the United States while creating opportunities for dialogue between leaders in the U.S. and Colombia.
Miami can be the place where many of these conversations begin.
It should not be where they end.
A Different Kind of Table
Imagine a table where a Colombian entrepreneur can exchange ideas with a diplomat.
Where an economist can challenge the assumptions of a business executive.
Where a philanthropist can discover a community problem that deserves investment.
Where an academic can bring evidence into a conversation with a public official.
Where leaders with different political perspectives can disagree respectfully—and still leave with greater understanding.
That is the kind of table we want to build.
Our upcoming Colombian Economic Forecast 2027 is an example of this new approach: an intimate leadership breakfast designed to convene distinguished voices around Colombia's economic outlook and the issues leaders should be thinking about as we enter 2027.
The purpose is not simply to attend another event.
It is to participate in a meaningful conversation.
Building a Colombian Institution for the Future
Institutions are not built by logos, events, or titles.
They are built through credibility, consistency, intellectual rigor, relationships, and trust.
The Colombian Council is at the beginning of that journey.
Our ambition is to create a platform capable of producing knowledge, convening exceptional leaders, elevating constructive dialogue, and strengthening the collective influence of Colombian leadership in the United States.
A place where public leadership meets private enterprise.
Where philanthropy meets opportunity.
Where Colombia meets its diaspora.
And where accomplished individuals become part of something larger than themselves.
Colombian Council
Policy · Philanthropy · Enterprise
United to Serve. Visible to Inspire.
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