The “Raising Standards” project will construct and equip Mexico’s first comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation center to assist patients who have been paralyzed by spinal cord injuries, with a special focus on youth. The “Latin American Center for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries” will be constructed in Guadalajara as the only center in Mexico dedicated to serving the target population. The Treatment Center goal is “To promote the American values of equal access and opportunity by empowering young persons with spinal cord injuries with the physical independence and renewed self-esteem needed to actively participate in society.” In order to achieve the goal, the specific objectives include constructing a state-of-the-art treatment & rehabilitation center; equipping the treatment center with cutting-edge technology and innovative resources; and generating and disseminating new science and technology. Direct target beneficiaries for the first four years are at least 500 patients with spinal cord injuries, mainly youth and young adults between the ages of 12-35 who live in poverty and in a state of high vulnerability. Indirect beneficiaries include thousands of family members who are affected and responsible for the care of the patients; healthcare professionals, who will benefit from new technologies and methods for treating spinal cord injuries; and Mexican society, which will benefit from the unique gifts and talents that patients leaving the rehabilitation center will bring as they pursue education or the workforce. The specific public diplomacy objectives include the promotion of the U.S. ideas and practices of inclusiveness and equality, independence, and science and technology.