BY KAREN BOSSICK

The evolving dynamics between the United States and Mexico will be the subject of a conversation on Tuesday featuring Sergi D. Suarez Ramirez, president of the North American Institute for Mexican Advancement.

Ramirez will be in conversation with Luis Alberto Lecanda at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, at Ketchum’s Community Library in a program designed to build cross-border understanding.

Too often, the Mexico–U.S. relationship is reduced to trade deals and migration headlines,” said Lecanda. “But beneath those headlines is a deeper story—one of shared history, interwoven economies, and the question of how two nations can collaborate without erasing their complexities.”

NAIMA, founded in 2001, is a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the advancement of Mexican and Mexican-American communities in North America through civic, economic and cultural programming. The organization works to develop transnational agendas that benefit both nations and preserve cultural identity while promoting active civic participation and inclusive development.

Suarez Ramirez was born in Juanacatlán, Jalisco, and immigrated to the United States at age 17. He found work in a factory before founding 12 companies across the United States and Mexico.

“We’re honored to bring this timely and uplifting conversation to the Library,” said Martha Williams, the library’s director of programs and education. “NAIMA offers a thoughtful, forward-looking model of cross-border collaboration—one that reminds us how identity, leadership, and community can come together to create lasting impact.”

The conversation will be conducted primarily in English, with some Spanish, and is free and open to the public. The event is presented in conjunction with the arrival of the México en el Corazón cultural delegation, whose public performance takes place the following evening at the Sun Valley Resort Pavilion.