Shirley Santana Herrera, founder and CEO of Excelsior Academy, said that openness can lead to new dreams and opportunities while revealing the potential in others.

In an interview at the 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, Herrera spoke about meeting young leaders from different parts of the world, learning from them and adapting new ideas to her home country.

She said face-to-face exchanges with youth leaders who are working and succeeding in their fields offered an experience that cannot be replaced by searching for answers online.

The World Internet Conference (WIC) was established as an international organization on July 12, 2022, headquartered in Beijing, China. It was jointly initiated by Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA), National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT), China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Alibaba Group, Tencent, and Zhijiang Lab.