Brian Wallis is the first beneficiary of the first JMS-Scholarship. He is a teacher for local and regional development at FLACSO (Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences) in Ecuador and helped to create the first academic journal on Territorial Economic Development (TED) in Spanish, Eutopía

Brians research will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Peter Knorringa, chair of Private Sector and Development at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. In the line of Peters’ research program, Brian will highlight the role of non-traditional private sector representatives – like entrepreneurs and leaders form indigenous communities - in TED.
During a meeting with mesopartners, Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke, December 2nd in Brian's home town Quito, both parties celebrated the start of the first JMS-Scholarship. Brian handed over a little publication with the title “Organizando Economías Locales” (Organizing Local Economies) in which he explained basic concepts of LED and related them to the economic development in rural Ecuador. There are several links to the work of Dr. Jörg Meyer-Stamer. The impact of Jörgs (and the whole German Development Institute (GDI)) work in Latin America is highlighted when Brian mentions that “Systemic Competitiveness” is mentioned in the new Ecuadorian Constitution (Article 284).  
In January 2011 Brian will travel to the Netherlands to stay at ISS and start his PhD project formally. The JMS-Scholarship will cover his travel and residence costs.