Colombian singer Shakira made her debut on the commission to advise President Barack Obama on Hispanic education in hopes of contributing new ways to improve pre-schools.
On her first day with the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Shakira said she was "delighted" to share the lessons learned in the 15 years that have passed since she created the first of three foundations that aid poor children in Colombia, the United States and Haiti, among other countries.
"There is no better investment than investment in our kids, especially when they are very little," she said Thursday at the White House. "I am convinced that early childhood development strategies, promoting those strategies and initiatives, is the way to ensure that our kids, our Latino kids especially, will stick to their secondary education," the 34-year-old superstar said.
Asked about her interest in getting involved in education in the United States, Shakira - who has a home in Miami - said that this country "matters" to her. The multiple-Grammy-winning singer, a Unicef goodwill ambassador since 2003, has had close relations with the Obama administration since her performance at the inauguration ceremony in January 2009.
At the beginning of 2010, the artist had a private meeting with the president, in which they discussed educational subjects and which, she recalled Thursday, gave her the idea of organizing a national summit focused on programs of pre-school teaching. Shakira later attended a session at the U.S. Capitol to be formally sworn-in as a presidential adviser.