CALI IV Fellows
COSTA RICA
Walbin Sánchez Solís
President of Medical Center San Rafael Arcangel SA, Private Clinic located in the city of Liberia, Guanacaste, which sells services in 21 medical specialties. Periodically conducts health fairs, which are offered through consultation and medical tests at cost, for reach families of low economic potential. Currently the Medical Center directs resources and efforts towards building a private hospital in the city of Liberia, which would constitute the first of its kind outside the capital of Costa Rica, in order to meet demand both in his private area of influence as to outside users. The project includes within its goals, training programs for professionals in both periods, as students through agreements with universities and other centers of study. Dr. Walbin Sanchez Solis, earned his title of General Medicine in Kiev, Ukraine, later reached its specialty in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Costa Rica and a Post Grade in ultrasound at University of Medical Sciences (UCIMED) in Costa Rica. He worked for 15 years for the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, after which it has invested successfully in private medicine, with a high social commitment and support to the classes of limited resources. At present he is in the development of a research project in conjunction with the Ad Astra Rocket Lab, for the early detection of breast cancer by using thermography.
Rolando Guardia
General Manager of Hacienda Juan Viñas S.A., a agro industrial company located in the Atlantic region of Costa Rica, with production, processing and marketing of sugar cane, coffee, macadamia nuts, forestry and vegetables. Joined the company in 1996, and has held a range of positions from production, finance to General Manager. Improving the quality life for the company´s over 700 employees, is an essential part of the corporate vision, recently is one of the founders of Fundacion Juan Viñas RSE, that involves community stakeholders in determining how to best invest corporate funds for community benefit, including the recent launch of a teacher education program for all nine community schools expected to directly benefit over 500 children. Holds a BS in Agriculture, from EARTH University in Costa Rica and holds an MBA from University of Costa Rica. Also, alumni of INCAE´s PAG Executive Management Program. Married to Marisol, and has three sons, Antonio, Alberto and Alexandra.
Yanancy Noguera
Journalist with a 20 year experience in economical themes and 11 years conducting a news media project, from an informative and commercial point of view. At present she is the Director of the Costa Rican weekly publication El Financiero, part of Grupo Nación in Costa Rica. She is a university professor in the School of Collective Communication in Universidad de Costa Rica. Also, founder member and treasurer of Press and Expression Liberty Institute (IPLEX) with offices in Costa Rica, and participates in the promotion of synchronized swimming and other aquatic sports. She is a journalist by Universidad de Costa Rica and master in Business Administration with emphasis in Finance, from National University, San Diego, CA, Costa Rica campus. She is the mother of two daughters.
EL SALVADOR
Yolanda Mayora de Gavidia
Currently serves as Secretary of SIECA. Economist and consultant in areas such as competitiveness, innovation, productivity and modernization of the State. She served as Minister of Economics of El Salvador in President Saca's cabinet leading the implementation of CAFTA in the country. Her active efforts resulted in El Salvador becoming the first country in Central America to pass the agreement through Congress and put in place. In addition, she directed the updating of the statistical database of El Salvador with a countrywide census that hadn't been done in 15 years. During her 19 years of experience in public service, she has contributed to laying the ground for sound economic development policies and has supported regional integration efforts. She has given emphasis to SME led economic growth and export development, as well and energy policies. She was a founder of INFOCENTROS, an NGO charged with developing Information Technology in El Salvador, has served as director of Banco Multisectorial de Inversions (BMI) and Governor of Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). Yolanda was granted the "Distinguised Professional" title by the University Jose Matías Delgado, where she graduated with honors in 1989.
Ricardo Ernesto Augspurg Meza
After obtaining his Bachelor´s Degree in Business Administration in the United States in 1990, he joined FUSADES (Salvadorean Foundation for Social and Economic Development), from where he promoted with funds from USAID, the development of the first Private Free Trade Zones in El Salvador. These developments have generated important economic and job creating benefits for El Salvador during the last decade and a half. He obtained his Masters Degree in Industrial Management and Technology in 1995 from INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. Being involved in the Plastic´s Industry, he was co-founder of a Program named Plastic´s Eco-Friends. This iniciative achieved National recognition by attaining the National Environmental Award - 2004 Edition, given by the Ministry of Environment. He is now working as the Director for the Real State Operations Division at AGRISAL, a Family based enterprise with a 100 years business legacy. He´s also a Board Member at FEPADE (a Salvadorean Entrepreneural Foundation for Education Development). He´s been married for 17 years and enjoys four children: Ricardo (16), Gabriela (13), Fernando (7) and Santiago (3).
Maralu Vega de Torres
CEO - Owner of Asesores Financieros Integrales, S. A. a financial and accounting outsourcing services and assessment provider for small and medium enterprises. A company founded in 2003 to help informal companies succeed, in orderly managing their assets and resources. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Digicel El Salvador from 2006 - 2009. Digicel is the fastest growing mobile telecommunications company in El Salvador, having grown to 24% market share in 2008 from 5% in 2006. As CFO, Maralú has supported the company’s rapid growth by building a robust organizational structure and establishing financial controls that ensure financial health and sustainability. Before joining Digicel, Maralú was Special Projects Manager at Multisectorial Investment Bank (BMI), a second tier bank that provides funding to development projects through the private banking sector. During her tenure, Maralú succeeded in forming the first Mutual Guarantee System in El Salvador, which allows people and small enterprises to borrow money without or with minimal collateral in the style of the Mututal Guarantee System of Spain. Maralú was pivotal in devising the system for El Salvador, creating the necessary legal structure, and raising $2 million to fund the initial loan disbursements. The Mutual Guarantee System in El Salvador has given access to capital to low-income entrepreneurs who previously had no source of funds and thus it has been an important driver in lifting people out of poverty. Maralú has a bachelor´s degree in Business Administration from Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado in El Salvador and MBA studies from INCAE Business School. She has participated in advanced training seminars for business executives at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA and the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.
Arturo Sagrera
VP of Operations of Grupo Hilasal, El Salvador. Grupo Hilasal, founded in 1942 is a group of companies in the following industries: Textiles & Apparel, Distribution, Real Estate and Logistics. During his time at HILASAL, he co-founded and was Director of Sales for THINKINKIDS, an educational toys company based in Guatemala. Prior to joining HILASAL, he was Business Development Director at ERITMO.COM, an online Latin music portal based in Miami, FL. Previously worked as Account Executive at Young & Rubicam – Miami where he managed the DELL account for Latin America and the Caribbean. Member of YPO – El Salvador. Received an MBA from Babson College and a BA in Economics from Pepperdine University. Currently serves as Director of PROGRAMA EMPRESARIAL SUPERATE! (PES), a non-profit educational program focused on English, Computing and Values for underprivileged high school students in Central America. Is Director of Centro de Capacitacion Hilasal and Centro de Capacitacion ADOC. Additionally, serves as a Director of Fundación Sagrera Palomo which founded the PES and also supports other educational initiatives and social causes in El Salvador.
GUATEMALA
José Miguel Torrebiarte
José Miguel is currently the Vice-President of Grupo Progreso, a company primarily dedicated to the cement industry and the commercialization of building materials in Central America. Throughout his 20 year career within the family business, he has occupied different important executive positions and in 2004 he was the first of his generation to be the President of the Board of Directors of the company. During this period, the company´s corporate government was restructured and a ten year strategic growth plan was implemented. Mr. Torrebiarte serves as a director of Fundación para el Desarrollo (FUNDESA), is a member of Young Presidents Organization, member of Consejo Empresarial de América Latina (CEAL), President of the Inter-American Cement Federation (FICEM-APCAC) and President of the Foundation of the Cultural and Natural Mayan Heritage (PACUNAM). This last one is being supported by nine of most influential and prestigious companies in Guatemala, committed with the rescue and protection of the Guatemalan cultural and natural heritage and community development. José Miguel has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and a MBA from INCAE in Costa Rica. He lives in Guatemala with his wife and four children.
Gabriel Biguria
Founder & CEO of AmigoLatino. As a big believer in a responsibility to leverage technology to drive positive change on peoples’ lives around the world (especially under-served markets), Gabriel founded AmigoLatino in San Francisco, CA and Guatemala in 2002. Ever since, AmigoLatino has helped reunite thousands of distant migrant families, community groups and organizations, in real-time and at a low cost, by developing an affordable network of high-end video conferencing centers, between the U.S. and Latin America. Gabriel has over 17 years of professional experience dealing with the Latin American, Asian, and U.S. markets, managing key categories in industries including consumer packaged goods, hardware and software, online payments, banking and e-commerce services. Gabriel has held a number of senior management positions in Latin America with top Fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble and Hewlett Packard, where he led and is credited for the successful and profitable introduction of the Pavilion line of Home PC’s into the highly competitive Latin American market. In the U.S. he has also contributed to the development of leading start-up technology companies like E2open (B2B Marketplace), Achex (Online Payments), and Ramp Networks (Networking Solutions). He also recently joined Grupo Acuamaya in Guatemala, dedicated to the cultivation, processing and commercialization of shrimp and related aquaculture products, to help spearhead the company’s new market, channel and product initiatives. Gabriel holds an MBA degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University (1996) and a B.S. in Business and Economics from Lehigh University (1991). He is married and has two lovely young daughters.
Julio Héctor Estrada
Julio leads the National Competitiveness Agency in Guatemala, PRONACOM. PRONACOM is a private public partnership in charge of the most ambitious economic and administrative reforms aimed at modernizing and boosting the country’s productive capacity. Prior to joining PRONACOM in the current administration, Julio worked for the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. His last position there was Associate Director for Latin America, but he was also very active in research and publishing efforts, having lead scenario planning projects on China and Banking, as well as a number of Competitiveness studies on Latin America in cooperation with Multilaterals and the OECD development Centre among others. Julio’s background also includes founding and leading a 200+ Employee Firm in Guatemala, a small projects office NGO in Tecpan, Strategy Consulting for A.T. Kearney in Switzerland and Germany, and Risk Management with Citibank Switzerland. Julio holds a B.A. in Economics from UFM in Guatemala and an MBA from INSEAD in France. Besides speaking Spanish unusually fast, he is fluent in English, German, and Portuguese, with some knowledge of French. Julio lives in Guatemala City with his wife and two small children.
Luis Fernando Prado
Manager of the International Division of Banco Industrial, S.A., and its subsidiaries. Banco Industrial is the largest bank in Guatemala based on assets, deposits and equity with a market share of 27.7%, 26.6% and 25.2% respectively, and the leading Financial Group in Central America. His responsibility includes all the operations in foreign currency, international relations with the correspondent’s banks, remittances and the international expansion of the Group. The bank it’s strongly focused on Corporate Banking as well as Retail Banking, present with the largest Guatemalan companies and more than 2,500 points of service through the country. Banco Industrial through its holding company, Bi Capital, has regional presence in Honduras with Banpais, the sixth largest bank measured by assets. Banco Industrial has presence in the other 4 Central American countries through Representation Offices. Member of the Board of Directors of Guatemala Development Foundation (FUNDESA); Instituto Neurológico de Guatemala; Country Rating Bureau (private entity dedicated to improve country rating risk for Guatemala). Member of the Board of Directors of Universidad de San Pablo de Guatemala and Pacunam Foundation (Pacunam supports development and use of the Maya zone most important in the world). He has an Industrial Engineering degree from the Universidad Rafael Landívar and an MBA from INCAE Costa Rica.
HONDURAS
Jorge Aguilar
Independent consultant and contractor, founding partner of Inmobiliaria Cinco Estrellas, S.A. de C.V. (ICINESA), a family business dedicated to management and development of real estate in Tegucigalpa. Having a strong commitment to service, he has also actively participated in the political life of his country, having started in 1997 as candidate for Congress for his province, Francisco Morazán. National Youth Coordinator for his party (1998 – 2002), elected representative to the Honduran National Congress (2002 – 2006) and currently Chairman of the Innovation and Unity Social Democrat Party (PINU), one of the five legal political parties in Honduras. Fulbright scholar, ex-president of the Honduran Fulbright Association, member of the Continuing Education Committee of the Honduran Civil Engineers Association and founder of EVA Foundation (Education, Values and Love). Civil Engineer graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI - Worcester, Massachussetts, 1988) and MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1993) with major in entrepreneurial real estate.
Tethey Martinez de Murillo
Underwriting and Commercial manager of Seguros Cuscatlan Honduras, soon Citi Seguros Honduras. Seguros Cuscatlan was the insurance carrier in Honduras of the Grupo Cuscatlan now part of the Citi Group, since it was acquired last year by this Financial Group. The strategy for the insurance Company in Honduras is to maximize the synergies that the group companies can offer to it, offering all the insurance services required by the clients of Banco Citibank of Honduras. Secretary and ex-chairwoman of the Fulbright Association of Honduras, member of the Finance Committee of the Board of directors of the American School of Honduras. Bachelors Degree in Financial Planning and Counseling from Purdue University, Indiana, MBA from Texas Christian University and a Fulbright scholar.
Mateo Miguel Yibrín
CEO of Grupo Cadelga in Honduras. Grupo Cadelga produce sugar, clean energy, and molasses, trades/distributes/finance agricultural supplies including seeds, crop protection products and fertilizers; Another area of Grupo Cadelga is the development of real estate assets altogether employing more than 2,000 people. The Group is member and contributor of social responsible organizations such as CEHDES, AMITIGRA, and COHDEFOR. Mateo actively participates in organizations like APAH, AICA, FUNAZUCAR, FENAFUTH, and Real Club Deportivo Espana. He has a degree in management and finance as well as a MBA from Loyola University in New Orleans.
Ian Merriam
Co-President of E Consulting S.A.. E Consulting services Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, providing connectivity to rural regions where no other type of communication is available. E Consulting-Honduras is currently working with most of the financial institutions in the country, ranging from large banks to savings & loan coops. It also services the region’s NGOs as well as the public sector, including public education and municipal county offices. Part of the board of directors at Frontera Digital, an electronics retail chain, and Torre Vita, a real estate developer. Part of the board of directors at Macris School, one of the largest bilingual schools in the country. Graduated in Business Administration and majored in Entrepreneurial Studies and Marketing at Babson College in Massachusetts.
NICARAGUA
Alfredo Lacayo
Founder/Executive Director of Lácteos Centroamericanos (Centrolac). Centrolac is a milk processing plant which specializes in the U.H.T. process. It exports to Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Honduras and in 2010, Costa Rica. Member of the Committee of Advisors for the Sustainable Growth of Wal Mart Centroamérica, member of the board at Acropolis Development Corp. in Santo Domingo and MAE XXVII from INCAE (Costa Rica).
Jorge Manuel Brenes
Currently, working as General Director of its own company. The company is dedicated to produce and to trade agricultural and agro industrial goods with total sales of US $ 600,000.00 during the year 2008. During 2009 sales will double. Before October 15th, Brenes worked for five years as General Director of The Producers And Exporters Association, APEN. During that period, the organization reached its breakeven point and became for the first time auto sustainable. Services Sales increased 150%. Moreover, APEN managed more than 7 million dollars coming from different donors. Its membership increased from 60 to 300 members. Jorge Brenes is currently an active member of the Boards of Rural Development Institute and the International Airports Nicaraguan Company. He is an agronomist from Zamorano, Honduras and also has a Master Degree in Agricultural Economics from The Ohio State University.
Juan Sebastian Chamorro
General Director of the Millenium Challenge Account Nicaragua and served as the Nicaraguan government’s lead negotiator with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which led to an approval of a US$175 million grant to Nicaragua. Prior to this position he served as Vice Minister of Finance (2006) and Technical Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic (2005). He worked in the process that resulted in the National Development Plan, and on the negotiations with the IMF, which resulted in Nicaragua’s acceptance into the HIPC debt reduction program. He has been the Coordinator for Public Investments (2003-2005), and has held positions in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (1997-99). He has served on the Board of Directors of the Superintendence of Banks, the Central Bank and the Nicaraguan Investment Bank. As a consultant, he has worked for the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, the Nicaraguan Institute for Development (INDE) and the Eduquemos Foundation in Nicaragua. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of San Francisco in 1994 and has a master’s in economics with a mention in social policies from Georgetown University in 1996. In 2003 he earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
PANAMA
Gaby Aued
Gerente General of TECNASA ES S.A de C.V., a subsidiary of Grupo TECNASA, a Central American high-tech conglomerate based in Panama, leader in the integration of technology solutions for more than 35 years. She is also a member of TECNASA's Board of Directors. She became part of the company in 2000, and developed her career in different positions including Operations Supervisor, and Financial Solutions & Regional Product Manager. She has also worked in a leading international communications consultancy in New York, and since 2002, writes columns and articles about the environment, technology, and social issues for different publications. Ms. Aued throughout her professional career has participated and led different social and corporate organizations. Currently, she is President and founding member of the Panamanian Salvadorian Chamber of Commerce in El Salvador (CAMPASALCO). She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in the United States, with concentrations in Comparative Literature in English, Spanish and French; and Organizational Behavior and Management.
Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado
Currently an International Consultant in development areas, with particular expertise in governance, consensus building, state modernization and civil society engagement in development. Prior to her current position she was Assistant Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme, Panama Country Office, until august 2008. As manager of the Panama cooperation programme portfolio, she was responsible for projects and interventions in the areas of state modernization, governance, poverty, environment and other development areas. Isabel designed and led several democratic dialogue processes in Panama, such as the Bambito Process, Panama 2000, Vision 2020 and most recently the National Consensus Building Process for Development. She has been Ambassador of Panama to the United Nations at its New York City headquarters, as well as member of several Panamanian delegations for the negotiation of political and commercial agreements at the regional level. Currently member of The National Council of Foreign Affairs of Panama and of the Advisory Council of ICEFI (Central American Institute for Research on Fiscal Policy). Also, senior associate consultant of Stratego Consultores, S. A. She is a graduate of International Relations from Saint Joseph’s University and holds an M.B.A. from Nova Southeastern University. She is married to Omar Alvarado and has three children Alberto, Carolina Isabel and Julio Raúl.
Roberto Motta III
President of Agencias Motta, S.A., Envasadora Comercial, S.A. and FAMOSA GROUP, S.A., companies dedicated to the manufacturing and distribution of fragrances, health and beauty products, in local and international markets. Graduated from Babson College in Massachusetts, obtained a Master in Business Administration in INCAE and has participated in High Performance Managers Programs. Member of the Board of Directors of NOVEY, S.A., COCHEZ and CIA., FETESA and Euroautos Group of Centroamerica. He has more than 15 years of experience in strategic planning for development of new markets and product management. He also has interests in real estate projects. Member of the Chamber of Commerce of Panama, the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE), Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and was the president of AEROCLUB. In his leisure time is an avid airplane pilot. He is married and has 4 children.
Raisa Banfield
Has supported the creation of community groups by executing seminars, workshops and exchange with experts in the field of urbanism and the environmental, in diverse platforms of discussion. In addition, she has published many articles of opinion for the mayor newspapers of the country. As Director of Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (CIAM), which stand for Environmental Advocacy Center, she is invited to dictate conferences, both nationally and internationally, about civic participation, conservation and development. Through CIAM and the television space she directs, a window of environmental information accessible is created, not only to the media networks, but also the community in general. In 2007, winner of a scholarship awarded by the United States of America government to train in topics related to urbanism and the environment. Recently, invited by the Environmental Leadership Training Initiative (ELTI) – an initiative of the Smithsonian Institute of Tropical Research – and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies of Yale's University, to take part in the conference "Financing for the Conservation of Nature in the Americas”.