I was a 16-year-old surfer when I visited Latin America for the first time. Expecting paradise, I was shocked to discover poverty and social inequality on a scale previously unimagined. Subsequent trips to the region throughout college solidified my fascination with a history rife with coups, revolution, and injustices. I was struck by the potential of Latin America and its people, and I resolved to become part of the movement that would realize their promise. So I worked for a non-profit to build stoves for indigenous women in Guatemala. And I interned for the State Department in Mexico City. But my non-profit work didn`t address the root of poverty, and government was too slow and had competing interests.