Posted on February 12, 2025 by Rebekah Alegria
Ten students from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business at UTSA traveled to Costa Rica for an eight-day immersive learning experience that allowed them to use their financial education to empower a rural community of entrepreneurs.
UTSA Investment Society students in Costa Rica, 2025
Led by Ron Sweet, associate professor of practice in finance, the students partnered with Indigenous Community Development International (ICDI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to economic and community development in Costa Rica’s poorest regions.
Student attendees were Rolando Daniel Botello, Yobana Castillo, Adrian Cortes, Alyssa Guevara, Sebastian Hastings, Benjamin Amaya Licon, Mariana Llanas, Raul Medina-Hernandez, Sebastian Rodriguez and Juan Diaz Salinas.
Students worked closely with six microlending partners to provide hands-on financial literacy training. Through a successful fundraiser, The Investment society purchased and donated six laptops preloaded with Microsoft Office. Over four days, students worked in small groups to train local business owners on how to use the laptops and Excel for business data collection and analysis.
“Microlending partners rarely, if ever, get to sit with a trained financial professional and go into depth about their businesses,” said Sweet, faculty sponsor of The UTSA Investment Society. “Our students performed very well as teachers of finance and Excel, and they got to see how finance can be a powerful force for change and community development.”
Visiting the partner’s businesses, the students gained a better understanding of their daily operations and challenges and received a firsthand look at how small business owners in emerging economies navigate financial decisions.
“This experience far exceeded my expectations,” said Guevara. “While we aimed to teach Excel, I ended up learning so much more from the partners. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity and will always treasure it.”
Beyond their financial training efforts, the students also engaged with the community in meaningful ways. They hosted a carnival at an ICDI-founded restaurant, where local families enjoyed games and won prizes. The trip also included a visit to a coffee farm to learn about the production process, a friendly soccer match between UTSA students and residents and opportunities for hiking, cycling and swimming.
“The entire trip to Costa Rica was incredibly wholesome and fulfilling,” said Diaz. “Meeting such warm and amazing people who welcomed us into their businesses and homes made me realize the importance of gratitude, and how we should appreciate what we have more.”
Highlighting the importance of business leaders making meaningful impact and utilizing their skills for the global good, this trip marked the eleventh time UTSA business students traveled to Costa Rica with ICDI. For many, the opportunity to apply their finance knowledge in a way that directly benefited others left a lasting impression.
“It was an incredible opportunity to travel to Costa Rica and step beyond the typical tourist experience by donating laptops and teaching local business owners how to use them,” said Rodriguez, president of the Investment Society. “Seeing the hard work, dedication and sense of community among the local business owners was an experience I will never forget.”
— Rebekah Alegria
