About Caribico
A young institution with an old conviction: the Caribbean must build for itself
Our Mission
Caribico exists to advance the holistic development of the Caribbean. By holistic, we mean development that does not stop at GDP. It includes the cultural, intellectual, civic, and institutional foundations that make a region capable of authoring its own future.
The Caribbean has produced more thinkers, writers, statesmen, and revolutionaries per capita than almost any other region in the world. What it has not yet produced is a single integrated platform through which its dispersed people, particularly its youth, can coordinate at scale. Caribico is that platform.
We organize Caribbean students, professionals, and allies of the cause into a network of chapters at universities and across the world. Every chapter runs the same twelve-event annual calendar. Every chapter operates within a shared institutional framework. The outcome, replicated across hundreds of chapters over time, is a continuous current of real work directed at the region's development.
Caribico does not advocate for the Caribbean. Caribico builds for it.
Caribico Inc. is a 501(c)(3) certified by the Internal Revenue Service.
EIN: 41-4604677
All donations are tax-deductible.
Our Story
Caribico was founded in 2025 by Elio Balthazar, a Martinican French-American student at the University of Central Florida, with the conviction that Caribbean development could no longer wait for top-down institutions to deliver it. The region's diaspora, particularly its university-aged generation, holds an enormous reserve of talent, capital, and ambition that has historically been spent everywhere except home.
Caribico was built to redirect that current. What began as a single chapter has grown into a structured, multi-country organization with a leadership pipeline, a twelve-event annual program, and a 501(c)(3) federal designation. The work is still in its early years. The trajectory is set.
How Caribico Works
Caribico operates through three connected layers, each one building on the next.
The Headquarters
Caribico's central operations team develops the playbooks, recruits leadership, manages partnerships, and sets organizational direction. The central office produces the network-wide aggregate reporting that gives every chapter's local work institutional weight at scale.
The Chapters
Student-led units at universities and geographic chapters worldwide. Each chapter is led by an executive team of officers and runs the same twelve-event annual calendar from September through August. The chapter is where Caribico's program becomes real on the ground.
The Fellowship
A selective leadership tier of regional directors, called Caribico Fellows, who oversee the growth, certification, and performance of chapters within their assigned territory. Fellows are the bridge between Headquarters and the chapter network.
Together, these three layers turn a distributed network of motivated people into a single coordinated institution.
Leadership
ELIO BALTHAZAR
Mr. Balthazar is the Founder and CEO of Caribico, an initiative dedicated to advancing unity, resilience, and shared prosperity across the Caribbean. With a background in private equity and regional development, he founded Caribico to serve as a catalyst for collaboration and self-determination, empowering Caribbean nations to define their own future through cooperation, innovation, and purpose-driven growth.
- Founder & CEO
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MICHAEAL RODRIGUEZ
Mr. Rodriguez is the esteemed launch director of Caribico, where he plays a vital role in managing daily operations and collaborating closely with writers to develop engaging content. His extensive background in business management and Real estate, combined with his experience as a published author, Allow him to bring a wealth of knowledge and insight to the organization.
With his dedication and leadership, he is committed to advancing the vision and mission of Caribico, fostering a creative and productive environment for the team.
- Launch Director
Caribaea Unita.
One Caribbean. One Future.