Moises Herrera '19 Participates in Project with DeriveLab

Over the 2018 spring break, with funding from the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership, senior Moises Herrera ’19 participated in an urban investigation and participation project with the DeriveLAB company in China’s Pearl River Delta region. There, he worked with a group of professionals who came from as far away as Colombia, Mexico, and the Netherlands. He was able to develop leadership and public speaking skills through the many presentations he facilitated for professionals working in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, as well as through his position as the co-leader of many tours and urban exercises. He was also able to gain contacts and exposure through his meetings with city planning departments and the famous Mobike company. Afterward, Herrera was given the opportunity to help publish DeriveLAB’s journal, entitled Derivas por China, as well as create online content about the venture. 
Reflecting on the experience Herrera commented “From the Yitopia’s phone application, Community-Go, to Mobike’s potential new innovation in car-sharing projects and power-energy saving devices, to a collective artist group’s attempt at establishing a new anarchical currency system in the city of Guangzhou, my trip was filled with encounters with individuals creating and innovating in new, exciting, and revolutionary ways.”

Motivated by his unique experience to embrace the challenges of innovation and leadership, Herrera hopes to use the skills of practical and creative thinking he developed abroad to reimagine and reinvigorate Grinnell’s failed bike sharing project.

The Wilson Center seeks to inspire and prepare students as innovators and leaders through courses, personal development, and events that emphasize experiential learning.