Francisco Contreras is the youngest congressman at the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala acting as a member of the Legislative and Constitutional Committee, supporting the initiatives of Technology, Economics, Transparence, Security and Justice. Vice President by Central America of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (COPA). Alumni of the FAES foundation program in Spain and the Strategy and Defense Policy (SDP) course at the National Defense University (NDU) at Washington, DC. Founder in 2003 of a business center concept in Guatemala for a better and efficient way to do business that involves more than 100 hundred small and medium enterprises (PYMES).  Co-Founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Association (AJE) and of the Franchise Guatemalan Association (AGF). Earned a B.S. in Economics with Financial Application at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 2002. Worked at the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank, Dallas, Texas in 2000 and in 1999 attended University College, Oxford.

Gabriel Delgado Ayau is a Executive Director at Widefense Latin America, a managed security services firm doing business in Central America and Chile. He is also CEO of Interactua Movil, a start up that develops applications in the mobile space for latin american markets. He also serves as a board member of Wau, the largest mobile aggregator in latin america and Reflexion a hosted IT segurity services firm doing business around the world. Previously, Gabriel was CEO of Bysupport Central Amercia, an IT security firm representing McAfee in the region, which was acquired by McAfee in 2002. Gabriel also participated in the ProReforma movement of Guatemala, which aimed to change the constitution of the country to strengthen the rule of law, the judicial system and the checks and balances needed for a succesful government and society. Gabriel is an adventurer in spirit and enjoys the great outdoors.

Juan Carlos Paiz is Presidential Commissioner for Competitiveness and Investment in Guatemala, during 2010, he set the strategy for foreign investment attraction and lead a private and public proposal to increase Guatemala’s Economic growth from current 4% to 8%. Paiz is Co-founder and President of Pani-Fresh, a 300 employee’s bakery present in 20 countries; he is also serving as president of McDonald’s Latin America Supply Chain Council. Paiz is professor at Universidad Marroquin and also teaches a leadership program in High School. A Director of Dutch Cooperation ICCO at the Regional Council level. In the past, Paiz has been Co-Founder and former President of GuateAmala, with objectives to coordinate community action to empower citizens. He has also served as president of FECAEXCA (Central America Exporters Federation), Agexport (Exporters Association), and CACIF (Guatemalan Business Council), where he coordinated the publication: "Kab’awil"; which documented internal policies towards reducing poverty.

Hugo Martínez is El Salvador's chancellor since June 1, 2009. Three of the previous years before being appointed minister, he was president of the Culture and Education Parliament Commission and, in 2009 he was also elected chairman of the Legislative Commissions of Foreign Affairs, Central American Integration and Salvadorans Overseas. In addition, he was the associate coordinator of the FMLN Parliamentary group during the 2008-2009 terms. He worked as assistant to the secretary general of the University Superior Council of Central America; director of External Cooperation of the University of El Salvador and, from 2000 until his appointment, was member of the Consultative Commission of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of El Salvador.

Claudia Beatriz Umaña is the Chief Legal Officer and Director of Legal Studies at The Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES), since 2005. Is responsible of promoting policy advocacy, coordinating studies on rule of law, strengthening the democratic institutions, transparency, and also is the editor of the Legal Studies Newsletter. Since 2008, Claudia has been coordinating the Promoter Group of FOI Act, a civil society organization devoted to the passing of the bill. In 2008, wrote the article “Integración Centroamericana: un proyecto en proceso de construcción” for the Real Instituto Elcano. From 1997 to 2005, Claudia worked as the Commercial Policy Director at the Ministry of Economy, responsible of the Salvadoran trade policy, and the negotiations of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements, especially in CAFTA-DR and Central American Economic Integration. Before that, she worked seven years as corporate lawyer at Arias law firm.

José Tomás Calderón González, is the Founder and Managing Director of Interlex, a law firm specializing in Strategic Law Planning and Coordination, as well as Corporate Law. He is also Co-Founder of Soluciones Laborales, a division of Interlex that focuses on labor solutions for companies. José Tomás is member of the Board of Directors of the National Representative Private Sector Commission for the political party ARENA, and participates directly in its Research and Development Division. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Proyecto País, a non-profit private initiative that focuses on the development of youth in El Salvador. He is part of Entrepreneur´s Organization (EO), a global network of business owners. His commentaries are published regulary in La Prensa Gráfica, one of the newspapers with highest circulation in El Salvador. José Tomás is a native of San Salvador, El Salvador, were he happily resides with his family.

Michael Dieckmann is the commercial director for Jetstereo SA, the largest retail electronics chain in the Honduras. Hel is also the president of Fundacion Para la Eduacion Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Andreu FEREMA the leading education NGO in the country. FEREMA seeks to coordinate efforts with other NGOs and international aid agencies in order to ensure that governments have consistent education policies focused on long term objectives. The foundation also developed an alternate method for delivering preschool content to poor and rural communities. The program is used in over 6,300 centers benefiting almost 90,000 children every year. Michael serves as advisor to the board of the Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce CCIT and is a member of Young Presidents Organization YPO. Fluent in German, English and Spanish, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and international business from Florida International University.

Mey L. Hung is the Corporate Affairs Manager of Walmart Mexico and Central America in Honduras. A significant part of her functions is to encourage Corporate Social Responsibility, a field that has allowed the company to earn multiple awards in recent years. She currently participates in AMCHAM, ANDI and the Labor Committee of the Honduran National Business Council (COHEP) and is the President of the Young Industrials (JOVIN). She has professional experience in the public, private and donor sectors: the Ministry of the Presidency, COHEP and the IADB. Among her achievements for an active participation in a professional and academic level, the following are highlighted: in 2009 she graduated among the Top 5 in the Development Program for High Potential Executives of the Consultative Council of the President & CEO of Walmart in Central America; in 2001 she obtained her MBA with an international business orientation from Schiller International University in Florida, USA; and graduated in 1998, as third in her Major in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Catholic University of Honduras.

Juan Diego Zelaya Aguilar is the vice mayor of the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. He was elected to office in November 2009 and was sworn in on January 25th 2010 for a four-year term. Before being elected, he served as General Manager of the municipality for 3 years. Zelaya was directly involved in recovering a vital public area that had been crowded by informal vendors for more than 30 years. He led the city’s effort to design a 20-year city plan launching it in September 2008. He also managed the implementation of simplification policies and practices; ultimately being recognized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as one of Latin America leading cities in eliminating bureaucracy and enabling business environment. Recently, he successfully coordinated actions to obtain a structured infrastructure loan for 40 Million Dollars, which has been guaranteed by the IFC. Before working for the city Zelaya was the National Coordinator of a Joint Project with UNDP and the national Telco where he managed a 225 Million Dollar portfolio of projects intended to bridge the digital divide and modernize the country’s network. Zelaya also serves on the board of Directors of the San Juancito Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of the people of San Juancito, a small town close to the capital. Born in Honduras in 1975, Juan Diego has also lived in Canada, Boston and attended Loyola University in New Orleans where he majored in Marketing.

Maria del Rosario Selman-Housein has been, since 2008, CEO of Grupo Financiero del Pais, S.A. a honduran financial group formed by Banco del Pais, S.A. , the fifth largest bank in the country , and Seguros del Pais, S.A. , an insurance company. Grupo Financiero del Pais, S.A. is, since December 2007, a member of Corporacion Banco Industrial of Guatemala. Banco del Pais, S.A., tending both the corporate, and commercial as well as the retail markets, operates nationwide with more than 140 service points. Banco del Pais, S.A. has been selected by The Bankers magazine as Bank of the Year on six occasions, and consecutively for the past three years. Prior to joining Grupo Financiero del Pais, S.A., she worked for 15 years with Grupo Financiero Cuscatlan , her last position being General Manager of their operation in Honduras, Banco Cuscatlan de Honduras, S.A.. She has a Law degree, with a major in Commercial Law, from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, and a MBA in Marketing, and International Commerce. She lives with her husband and three children in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Israel Lewites Cornejo is president of WE Biosolutions, an environmental engineering company operating in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Lewites is consultant for Nestlé Central America. He has been advisor for Cámara de Urbanización and Cámara de la Industria for issues related with Nicaraguan environmental laws. Lewites is also music video producer; he was awarded the Icaro Prize 2009 for best music video of the year. During the Nicaraguan presidential elections, in 2006, Lewites was named spokesman of the MRS party. Lewites attended Tecnológico de Monterrey and University of Texas in Arlington, majoring civil engineering and a master degree in environmental engineering.

Margarita Pasos is a television presenter and producer for the Talk Show Margarita Te Voy A Contar since 2001, which airs in Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States. In 2007 she published the book Lo Mejor De Margarita Te Voy A Escribir based on newspaper articles she wrote for El Nuevo Diario, those articles where answers she would give to questions of her viewers and readers on matters such as relationships, goals, spirituality, etc. Between 1999 and 2001 she was a spokesperson for Airsource, an air purification division of Shaklee Corp. in the United States, where she would motivate their Hispanic sales force throughout the Unites States and Canada. She enjoys studying cognitive psicology, reading and spending time with her family. During 1995 and 1996 she studied Television Studio Operations in MLTECH, Florida. She was born in Colombia, where she attended Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana majoring in marketing.

Giselle Poveda is vice-provost at Universidad Americana-College of University Studies in English (UAM-CUSE). A professor of Arts and Science at UAM-CUSE and a tutor for the Organization of American States (OAS)’s El Portal de Las Americas, she is also a consultant and collaborator for organizations such as IFES and Poder Ciudadano of Argentina. Giselle has written several articles in diverse topics and is the author of Bienvenid@ a la Vida, a short-story book for young readers on ethics and values. Poveda was selected for DAAD’s UNILEAD program which studies and benefits quality higher education administration in developing countries. Currently, she is working on her PhD after obtaining a Master’s in Education, graduate certificates in Curricular Development and Education Administration, Bachelors’ in Business Administration, History, and Philosophy with a concentration in Latin American Studies from different institutions in the United States, Europe, and Nicaragua graduating with honors.

Alvaro Ramírez is an International Labor Organization officer in charge of a US-funded project aimed at strengthening tripartite social dialogue in the DR-CAFTA region. Before joining the ILO in May of 2004, Ramírez worked as the executive director of the Costa Rican peak business federation (UCCAEP) over an 8-year span. He participated in a number of tripartite entities such as the National Labor Council and the Minimum Wage Council. He was also member of the Legislative Committee on Fiscal Reform (2002-2003) and weekly columnist for La República. Ramírez was chosen in 2003 by El Financiero as one of the 40 outstanding young leaders of the country. A native of Costa Rica, Ramírez is an economist from the University of Costa Rica with a Master of Science in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Fernando Alvarado is CFO and Partner of the Flex Energy Group, developing, building and operating clean energy projects in Central America. He currently oversees the operation of a 13.5MW hydroelectric plant and leads the development of two small-scale hydroelectric projects, one wind farm and an island-based utility in Honduras. Between March and July 2010, he assisted a Dallas-based company closing a sale transaction to American Standard. In 2006 he structured and launched the CAREC fund, a venture capital, mezzanine fund investing in clean energy and energy efficiency projects in Central America. Previously, he worked seven years as E+Co’s Regional Manager for Latin America & the Caribbean, supporting clean energy SME start-ups through business advisory services and seed capital. Between 1995 and 1999 he worked as Senior Investment Officer for ASECA, a regional investment-banking firm sponsored by the IFC of the World Bank group. Between 1993 and 1995 he worked as Deputy Credit Manager at Citibank Costa Rica. Previously, he worked for three years as Credit Officer at BANEX Bank in Costa Rica. A native of Costa Rica, he holds an MBA in Banking & Finance cum laude from Universidad de Costa Rica.

José Martí Jiménez Figueres is a founder and Managing Partner of Novita Capital since 2004. He has led or co-led the creation, project management, and capital structuring of three companies so far under the Novita scope, with over $10M raised and more than 100 direct jobs created. Investors in Novita projects include renowned local business leaders, commercial banks, The Nature Conservancy, and Conservation International. Previously, Jiménez worked at Mesoamerica Investments in project management and M&A mandates in Central America for over four years, and as an intern at Bain & Company in Colombia and Ramius Capital Group in New York. He has served on several boards of directors in the private sector and at a cabinet-level board in the public sector. He is an Industrial Engineer from the University of Costa Rica and an MBA from Harvard University.

Leonor Gutiérrez Fernández is TeenSmart’s Executive Director and a self-motivated Costa Rican woman both in and outside work. Having found herself in an environment whereby she has to utilise her knowledge and skills in project design, management and research evaluation. Her extensive exposure and experience was greatly enhanced whilst working in the field of primary adolescent promotion at individual and community level. TeenSmart´s current achievements can speak for themselves, such as the realisation of the TeenSmart web-based e-learning curriculum in 20 diverse organisations in Costa Rica, Nicargua and Honduras (i.e., 5 public schools of over 3000 students, 5 church groups, 4 public libraries, 1 university, 5 technological community centers), she believes that further development can only enhance and add value to an individual’s quality of life, and that TeenSmart tools can coach teens to be more proactive a self confident. In coordinating the Joven Salud initiative, she hopes to envision the expansion of virtual risk prevention and health promotion services to all teenage Costa Rican population and incrementally to all Central America to be valued as a gradual and steady organic progress. She was awarded the Erasmus Mundus postgraduate scholarship that allowed her to further her studies in Public Health at the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom) as well as in the field of Social and Health Protection at the Jagellonian University (Poland). Living, learning and teaching abroad was a valuable and rewarding experience in many ways. The daily interaction with students and locals required a level of empathy and sensitivity and made it necessary to recognise different beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations and behaviour to preserve equilibrium of mutual respect.

Carolina Freire is national director of health promotion for the Ministry of Health, Government of Panama. In this capacity, Freire develops and implements policies and programs related to promoting equity in access to health services, reducing health risks, and promoting healthy lifestyles, through education and community empowerment. Before joining the public sector, Freire worked for the Inter-American Development Bank’s External Relations Department in Washington, D.C. Between 2004 and 2008, Freire served as communications and programme officer at the Panama country offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). She was part of a United Nations team of facilitators that conducted two dialogue efforts that resulted in the reform of the social security system and the design of a national development plan. Freire has authored academic papers on education reform, gender and education, consensus building, and institutional strengthening. Freire attended Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, majoring in international politics. She earned her Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Panama City with her husband and daughter.

Carlos Araúz is a senior vice president at Towerbank International, Inc. in Panama. In 2010, Araúz was recognized for his contributions to the overall success of the aforementioned bank when awarded the “Espíritu Insuperable” recognition by the Bank´s Board of Directors. Also in 2010, Araúz published “¿Qué sería de Panamá sin el dólar? In La Prensa. In 2008, Araúz was named one of the most influential businesspersons under 40 years old in Panama by Capital Financiero, a regional publication. In 2005, Araúz was appointed spokesperson for an independent association of business executives in negotiations with the government that led to changes in Tax and Social Security laws. Before joining Towerbank in 2007, Araúz worked for two multinational Banks living in Mexico, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Panama over 11 years. Born and raised in Panama, Araúz won an academic scholarship to attend Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee where he majored in Economics/Finance and has an MBA degree from Nova Southeastern University (St. Petersburg, Florida).

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik is the spiritual leader of the Congregation Kol Shearith Israel in Panama since 2002, and is the Executive Director of the Panamanian Jewish Congress. It is also a member of the Interfaith Committee of Panama, and Vice President of the National Council for Ethical Culture, a forum created to strengthen the ethical and moral values. He is coauthor of the book Parashah Commentaries (Notes from the weekly Torah readings), and published in major newspapers several articles on current topics related to Judaism. Gustavo was ordained by the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano, in 1996 and served as Rabbi of the Jewish Community of El Salvador from 1996 until 2002. He graduated in Business Administration from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Gustavo participated in the program "Senior Educators" at The Melton Centre for Jewish Education from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and has been Professor of Rabbinical Literature at the University Jose Simeon Cañas (UCA) in El Salvador, and Professor of Jewish Studies at the University Santa Maria La Antigua (USMA) in Panama. Gustavo is from Argentina, is married and has one son.

Patricia Planells de Rengifo currently heads the Corporate Lending team at BAC Panama, a GE Corporation affiliate, which incorporates banking operations throughout Central America. Since 1998, Mrs. Rengifo has been involved in higher education through instructional posts at the USMA – Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua, distinguished as the top private center for higher education in Panama, and the International Banking Institute, academic branch for the Panamanian Bankers Association, leading the instruction of different finance and bank related topics. Mrs. Rengifo has published articles in the Banca y Mercado Magazine, the official magazine of the Panamanian Bankers Association. Mrs. Rengifo has given pro bono efforts as financial advisor for several non for profit organizations such as the Fundación de Amigos del Niño con Leucemia y Cancer, and the orphanage house Malambo. Before joining BAC in 1997, Mrs. Rengifo served as Credit Officer at Bank Boston Panama Branch, and Production Plant Engineer for Kraft Foods Panama. Born and raised in Panama City, Panama, Rengifo is a Magna Cum Laude Engineer from the USMA, and a Master in Business Administration with honors from the Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencias y Tecnologia – ULACYT.

Rodrigo Simán is a pediatrician, Founder and Director of Hogares Providencia a heaven for children of the streets, and consultant for Cicatelli Associated Inc. For nine years he was Head of El Salvador AIDS program of the Secretary of Health, ambassador and member of board of directors of ONUSIDA −the United Nations program for AIDS. From 2006 to 2009 he was the children and youth advisor to the First Lady Mrs. Saca.

Siman founded the clinic for children with immunodeficiency for the Children’s Hospital of El Salvador, which was later christened under his name. Siman was awarded the Dr. Luis Edmundo Vázquez National Award of Medicine in 2002, and named Outstanding Salvadorian Physician by the Congress of El Salvador in 2009, being voted unanimously by all congressmen. Siman was born in El Salvador, studied at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciencias Médicas in Costa Rica and at Universidad Nacional de Chile.

Aura Leticia Teleguario is a Mayan Kaqchikel Woman. She is working as a Program Specialist for USAID Guatemala. Letty also serves as the U.S. Ambassador Advisor on Guatemala’s indigenous people. She has been supporting the U.S Ambassador to promote and strengthen the dialogue between the United States Government and key Guatemalan stakeholders (private sector leaders, indigenous representatives and GOG decision-makers). She coordinates and manages issues related to the integral development of the indigenous people and the growth of Guatemala. Letty promotes and facilitates opportunities for Indigenous People in Guatemala. As an essential part of this goal, she is directly involved with USG programs that promote effective participation and development of indigenous people in accordance with their culture, lifestyles, and worldview. In 2009, she obtained her Master's Degree in Business Administration from Preston University. She got her Business Administration Bachelor’s Degree in 2006 and got diplomas in Gender, Multiculturalism, Youth and Women Rights at San Carlos University. For many years, Letty has dedicated a significant part of her non-working life to efforts related to the indigenous community, ranging from teaching Kaqchikel and advising youth indigenous groups to putting together business training workshops. Letty is member of Young Americas from the Organization of American States and Young Americas Business Trust Program. She works hardly to eradicate the violence against women and to coordinate leadership and entrepreneurship programs for the women and youth population. She is member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Member of the Global Network Lead-On Youth initiative, Member of the National Youth Commission for the Construction of a Public Policy Agenda for Young Mayan, Garifuna and Xinca, Point of contact for Youth Programs in the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank. She is member of the Board of Directors of Vital Voices Guatemala and also founded a Youth organization to support and strengthen the youth and women initiative, especially in the rural area.