Speakers

Biography

Ghonche is an experienced Information and Network Security advisor and a Certified ISO 27001 Professional (CIP) registered with the International CyberSecurity Institute (ICSI). In her capacity at NYA, Ghonche collaborates with clients to assess their exposure to cyber incidents and identify and implement appropriate risk treatment options. Working alongside NYA’s wider consulting and response teams, Ghonche has delivered bespoke Simulated Incident Exercises designed to test an organisation’s capability to respond to a cyber incident and to identify steps that would build their proficiency.

Biography

Biography

Doug Baker is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Ecolab Inc., the global leader in driving business performance while protecting people and vital resources.

Ecolab recently ranked #2 on Newsweek’s annual Green Rankings list, #8 on Corporate Responsibility’s list of Best Corporate Citizens and #26 on Barron’s list of Most Sustainable Companies. The company regularly appears on Fortune’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies and has been named to Ethisphere’s list of the World's Most Ethical Companies for 13 consecutive years.

Baker joined Ecolab in 1989, following seven years in brand management at Procter & Gamble. At Ecolab, he held a number of marketing and general management roles in the U.S. and Europe before becoming president and chief executive officer in July 2004. In May 2006, Baker added chairman of the board to his duties.

In addition to his Ecolab responsibilities, Baker serves on the board of directors of Target Corporation and on the executive committee of the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers. He is trustee emeritus of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, a member of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) and is involved in a number of community initiatives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Baker received a bachelor’s degree in English from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and serves on the college’s board of trustees.

Follow Doug Baker on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.

A trusted partner at nearly three million commercial customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in driving business performance while protecting people and vital resources. With annual sales of $15 billion and 50,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions, data-driven insights and personalized service to advance food safety, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use, and improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. www.ecolab.com.

Biography

Took office as minister of finance and economic affairs on November 30 2017.

Member of the Icelandic parliament Althingi for Southwest Iceland since 2003, Bjarni Benediktsson has been leader of the Independence party since 2009. He was minister of finance and economic affairs from April 2013 to January 2017 when he became prime minister.

Born in Reykjavík on 26 January 1970, Mr Benediktsson graduated from Reykjavik Junior College in 1989 and completed his law degree from the University of Iceland in 1995. He followed this up with a year of study in Germany in 1995-96, and then graduated with an LLM degree from the University of Miami School of Law in the US in 1997. After taking his bar exam in 1998 he practiced as District Court attorney and is a certified securities trader.

He and his wife, Þóra Margrét Baldvinsdóttir, have four children.

Before his election to the Icelandic parliament Althingi, Bjarni Benediktsson served as officer at the District Commissioner in Keflavík (1995), as legal counsel for the transport company Eimskip (1997-1999)and as attorney in the law firm Lex (1999-2003).

His parliamentary work includes chairing the Foreign Affairs Committee (2009-2013) and Judicial Affairs Committee (2003-2007) and serving as member of the Budget Committee (2003-2007), the Industrial Affairs Committee (2003-2004 and 2007), the former Special Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs (2009-2010), the Welfare Committee (2004-2005) and Economic and Trade Affairs Committee (2007-2009). Mr Benediktsson was also a member of the Icelandic delegation to the Nordic Council (2009-2012), the Icelandic Delegation to the EFTA and EEA Parliamentary Committees (2005-2009, Vice-Chairman 2007-2009) and chaired the Icelandic Delegation to the WEU Assembly (2003-2005).

Biography

Afsaneh M. Beschloss is founder and CEO of Rock Creek, a leading global investment and advisory firm that applies cutting-edge technology and innovation to investments. Previously, she was Managing Director and Partner at the Carlyle Group and President of Carlyle Asset Management, and Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the World Bank. Ms. Beschloss also worked at Shell International and J.P. Morgan. She has led global public policy and financial policy advising governments and central banks in energy, infrastructure and impact investing.
She serves on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the World Resources Institute, the American Red Cross, and is the Vice-Chair of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Chair of the World Wide Web Foundation. Ms. Beschloss is a member of the World Economic Forum and the Council of Foreign Relations. She is a recipient of the Institutional Investor Lifetime Achievement Award, Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, and recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Banking.
Ms. Beschloss holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development. She is the co‐author of The Economics of Natural Gas and author of numerous journal articles on energy policy.

Biography

Eduardo Cabrera is responsible for analyzing emerging cyber threats to develop innovative and resilient enterprise risk management strategies for Fortune 500 clients and strategic partners. Before joining Trend Micro, he was a 20-year veteran and former CISO of the United States Secret Service with experience leading information security, cyber investigative, and protective programs in support of the Secret Service integrated mission.

He started his career investigating transnational cyber criminal groups targeting the financial and retail sectors and later led cyber forensic operations in support of Secret Service large-scale data breach investigations. He then served as the Secret Service Strategic Advisor to the DHS National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC).

Twitter: @Ed_E_Cabrera

Biography

In his capacity as a partner of Ernst & Young LLP, he advises clients on capital strategy, mergers and acquisitions, public company spinoffs, IPOs and securities offerings. Bill has led some of the firm's largest client engagements, including cross-border transactions for major multinational corporations and leading private equity firms, and has deep experience in the beverage, automotive, fintech, telecom and professional services sectors.

Bill previously served as EY’s Americas TAS Deputy Managing Partner, Americas TAS Chief Operating Officer and TAS Leader for the Southeast Region.  Over the last decade, he has worked to help double the talent and revenues of Americas TAS practices, which now number more than 4,000 professionals based in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Israel, and Central and South America.

In addition to presiding over the practice’s record annual revenue of more than $2 billion, Bill has helped transform TAS from transaction compliance and due diligence providers into market-leading strategic advisors. Integral to this transformation was the US firm’s acquisition of The Parthenon Group in 2014, which significantly enhanced TAS’s front-end strategic offering.

Prior to his current role, Bill spent more than a decade with EY firms working on transactions in Latin America. In 1995, he was the first on the ground to help launch TAS services in South America, which has since grown to over 700 people. Bill was made an Ernst & Young partner in its São Paulo office, where he helped develop TAS practices in both Brazil and Mexico and worked on the largest-ever beverage deal in Latin America.

Bill serves as a member of the EY Americas Operating Executive and the EY US Executive Committee and is a Certified Public Accountant. He received his master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University and bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Illinois. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese and is a competitive triathlete.

Bill's Better Question: How can companies remain competitive in the face of constant sector and technological disruption?

Biography

Kimberly Churches is the chief executive officer of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), a leading voice in advancing equity for women and girls through research, advocacy and education. Prior to joining AAUW, Kim was the managing director of the Brookings Institution, an internationally recognized public policy think tank. In that capacity, she strategically guided Brookings, providing vision and problem-solving skills while focusing on expansive partnerships, external relations and advancement.

Kim also served as associate vice chancellor at the University of Denver, a director of development at the University of North Florida, and a division director at the American Heart Association. Kim is widely recognized for her success at working collaboratively in education, as well as for capacity-building for grassroots groups and national and international nonprofits..

She has also served as an associate vice chancellor at the University of Denver, a director of development at the University of North Florida, and a division director at the American Heart Association. She has extensive experience working collaboratively on education (K–12 and higher education) as well as on capacity building among grassroots groups and national and international nonprofits.

In addition to her work at AAUW, Kim is the current chair of the BUILD Metro DC board, which focuses on the power of experiential learning through entrepreneurship for underresourced communities, and the board treasurer of 1455, a new center for the literary arts in Virginia. She also serves as a director on the board of the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum of Washington, D.C., and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

With her pragmatic approach, Kim is a dynamic and sought-after speaker at national conferences. She is regularly interviewed by top national media outlets and her insights on how to advance gender equity are routinely quoted in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and more. She has also written for national media outlets, including CNN, The Hill and Fortune, and she is a columnist for MSNBC’s Know Your Value website.

Biography

Stephanie Cohen is Goldman Sachs’ Chief Strategy Officer and a member of the Management Committee. She is also a member of the Partnership Committee, Firmwide Asset Liability Committee and Global Diversity Committee. In addition to driving strategy and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for the firm, Ms. Cohen leads Launch With GS, Goldman Sachs’ $500 million commitment to invest in companies and investment managers with diverse leadership.

Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Cohen was Global Head of Financial Sponsor M&A in the Investment Banking Division (IBD). Before that, Stephanie was sector captain for General Industrials in the Global Industrials Group and a member of the M&A Group in IBD. In 2008, Ms. Cohen managed Conflicts and Business Selection for IBD in the Americas. Prior to that, Ms. Cohen was a Vice President in the Industrials and Merger Leadership Groups in San Francisco. Earlier in her career, Ms. Cohen worked in New York in the M&A department. Ms. Cohen joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 1999, was named Managing Director in 2008 and Partner in 2014.

Ms. Cohen serves on the National Board of Directors of CollegeSpring and as a member of the Board of Quill.org.

Biography

Jaret L. Davis is the Co-Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Miami office, where he oversees approximately 170 attorneys and 200 business staff based in the firm’s founding office and focuses his corporate and securities practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, capital markets
transactions, and large financings.

For over a decade, Jaret has led the efforts of the Miami office and served as one of several leaders leading efforts of the firm globally to be a dominant player in the technology industry. The vast majority of Jaret’s clients are technology players, ranging from information technology companies, to life sciences/biotech companies, to companies focusing on renewable energy sources. During this time, the Miami office has been a thought leader in representing angel investors, venture capital firms, growth equity funds, as well as various technology companies along all intervals of the life cycle, from startup to multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies. He routinely provides representation to publicly traded clients having an aggregate market capitalization of over $20 billion.

Recent notable representations include him serving as lead shareholder of the team which represented Medina Capital in its $3 billion acquisition of a portfolio of 57 data centers across the globe and suite of cybersecurity and data analytics companies. In addition, he served as lead shareholder of the 40+ attorney legal team representing Terremark Worldwide, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed provider of IT infrastructure, in connection with its acquisition for $2 billion by Verizon Communications, Inc. and was a primary shareholder representing Metropolitan Health Networks, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed health care provider, in its $850 million sale to Humana, Inc. At the time of its closing, the Terremark-Verizon transaction was Verizon's largest since its acquisition of MCI in 2005, ranking as both the largest pairing of a telco and a colocation provider and the largest transaction in the cloud computing
space.

In addition to his practice, Jaret serves in a number of civic capacities which allow him to leverage his professional interests to assist the community. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, a thought leader at leveraging telemedicine solutions and serves as a cofounder and General Counsel of the eMerge Americas global technology conference.

He recently served as Chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the Official Economic Development Partnership for Miami-
Dade County.

Biography

Arnold Donald is President & Chief Executive Officer of Carnival Corporation & PLC, the largest travel and leisure company in the world.  Their portfolio of ten cruise brands -- Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises UK, P&O Cruises Australia and Fathom are based throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Together these brands maintain a fleet of over 100 ships and serve more than 11 million guests annually.  Carnival Corporation & PLC also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon with 10 hotels plus rail and bus services connecting guests with the northern interior.  Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & PLC is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

Mr. Donald has been President & CEO of Carnival Corporation since 2013; prior to that he served on the board for 12 years.  In January 2017 he was appointed Chair of Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA).  He currently serves on the board of Bank of America Corporation and Crown Holdings, Inc.

Mr. Donald spent more than twenty years at Monsanto Company as Corporate Senior Vice-President, and President of the Consumer and Nutrition sector and President of the Agricultural sector.  After leaving Monsanto, Mr. Donald was Chairman of Merisant Company whose products included the leading global sweetener brands Equal and Canderel.

Immediately prior to Carnival, Mr. Donald was a founder and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Leadership Council, a professional network and leadership forum for African-American executives of Fortune 500 companies, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the largest charitable funder of diabetes research in the world.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Donald received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton College, a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St Louis, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Donald has a strong commitment to higher education and serves on the boards of two of his alma maters, Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and Washington University in St. Louis, in Missouri.  He is also on the boards of the Greater New Orleans Foundation and St. Louis based BJC Healthcare among others.

Biography

Mark Dudman is a seasoned executive with a history of successfully launching companies and highly innovative products. He has held senior leadership roles in the Healthcare, Telecom, Billing Systems, and Robotic industries.

Mark is an active Healthcare speaker and technical advisor and has spoken at the White House on technology and interoperability in Healthcare; at the World Economic Forum on Artificial Intelligence; and with the FDA on US healthcare policy. Additionally, he holds two technical and business advisory board positions at MIT. Mark is a vocal advocate for women in technology and is the founding leader of the Women of Watson Health Technical Guild with over 1800 active members.

Mark is the Head of Global Product and AI Development for IBM’s Watson Health. He provides management leadership and technical direction across the Oncology, Genomics, Life Sciences, Imaging, Payer, Provider, and Government market segments.  Mark leads the innovation, execution, and delivery of Watson Health products and is responsible for a team of over 2,000 Architects, Engineers, Researchers, Physicians, and Data Scientists. His teams are achieving over 200 AI and Healthcare related technology patents each year.

Prior to joining IBM, Mark was the President of Product Operations at NantHealth, where he led global product research and development. In June of 2016, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Mark, and the executive team took NantHealth public with a very successful IPO.

Mark earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Biography

Miguel “Mike” B. Fernandez currently serves as Chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, L.P., a private investment firm located in Coral Gables, Florida. The firm focuses on investing in healthcare service companies nationwide.
He has been the Founder and/or majority shareholder of 25 healthcare related companies. Most of these companies have been acquired by publicly traded companies. Among these enterprises are Physicians Healthcare Plans, CAC Medical Centers, Prescribit Rx, CarePlus Health Plans, Navarro Pharmacies, Medical Specialties Distributors, Hospitalists of America, Simply Healthcare Plans and Nutri-Force Nutrition.
Mr. Fernandez serves on the Board of Directors of Mednax (NYSE: MD) and on the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami and Loyola University Maryland. He has served on the Georgetown University MSFS Board of Advisors and on the Boards of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the United Way, Sylvester Cancer Hospital, and others. Mr. Fernandez has been frequently honored for his business acumen. He has been recognized dozens of times with business and community awards.
In the last few years, he has devoted most of his time to helping the people of his native Cuba. As one of the founders, he helped launch the Cuba Emprende Foundation which teaches individuals how to begin and run small businesses in order to create a private sector independent from government control. He is the Founder of IMPAC Fund which focuses on family unity and works towards protecting the individual rights of immigrants. IMPAC Fund brings together business and civic leaders in Florida who support policies and practices that recognize the important contributions that immigrants make to our economy and our communities. Mr. Fernandez is also Co-Chair of American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC). ABIC represents a growing and diverse set of businesses and business associations promoting common sense federal immigration reform to benefit the people and economy of our country. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Latino Donor Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping the perception of Latinos as part of the American social mainstream.
Mr. Fernandez was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa by St. Thomas University and by Loyola University Maryland. The degree recognizes outstanding achievements as a humanitarian, business leader and philanthropist. He also received an Associate in Science, Honoris Causa from Miami Dade College. He completed a 508 mile walk from France and Spain multiple times, in order to raise funds for a variety of children’s causes. Over the past 20 years, he has contributed in excess of $100 million to charitable causes.

Biography

Since June 2002, Lady de Rothschild has been the Chief Executive of E.L. Rothschild LLC, a private investment company.  She is also the Founder and CEO of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, a charity devoted to advancing economic and social inclusion.

E.L. Rothschild invests in media, asset management, luxury consumer goods and real estate worldwide. Holdings include The Economist Group, Bronfman/E L Rothschild, R Chocolate London, real estate and financial instruments. Lady de Rothschild is currently a member of the Board of Directors of The Estee Lauder Companies, and was a Board member of The Economist Newspaper Limited from October 2002-2017. She is a member of the Board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the McCain Institute for International Leadership and the ERANDA Rothschild Foundation.

Lady de Rothschild has been a featured speaker for the United Nations, the World Bank, Conference of Montreal, the OECD, the British Academy, and The Economist’s World In series. Her opinion pieces have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Guardian and The Daily Beast. She graduated Magna cum Laude and Beta Kappa from Pomona College in Claremont, CA and from Columbia University School of Law, NYC with a Juris Doctor with honors.

Biography

Patrick Goddard is the President of Brightline Trains, soon to be Virgin Trains USA, the first privately owned and operated intercity passenger rail system in more than 100 years. Patrick is responsible for the company’s development and construction and bringing this innovative system to market. This includes approximately 1.5msq of Transit Oriented Development around the system’s three South Florida stations.

Launched in 2018, Brightline is a transformative rail project connecting the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. In May 2019, construction on Phase 2, which will connect Orlando and South Florida, began and is slated for completion in 2022. Brightline is also expected to add three new stations to its system in 2020, PortMiami, Aventura and Boca Raton.

Brightline announced it acquired XpressWest in March 2019, a high-speed rail system that will connect Southern California and Las Vegas. Construction on this system is expected to begin in 2020.

Goddard comes from the hospitality industry having worked in hotel development and operations for Hilton Hotels, Loews Hotels and Rosewood Hotels. He also ran a large international hotel management company, Trust Hospitality, for 5 years as its president and chief operating officer prior to joining Brightline in 2016.

He has a degree in hospitality management from the Dublin Institute of Technology with a Bachelors Degree in Strategic Management from Trinity College Dublin.

Biography

Robert J. Grammig is a partner and leader of Holland & Knight's Corporate, M&A and Securities Practice Group. Mr. Grammig has practiced for more than 30 years in the areas of public company mergers and acquisitions, securities law, general corporate law and international business transactions. He serves on the firm's Directors Committee and is currently the Chairman of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Grammig has represented both companies and underwriters in numerous public company offerings. He has also led legal teams on behalf of acquirors, target companies and special committees in a large number of publicly announced merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Grammig regularly advises boards of directors, audit committees and special committees regarding corporate governance matters, including defending against shareholder activism and advising during proxy fights. He has devoted a substantial part of his practice to international business transactions, representing both United States and foreign entities, including representations involving significant transactions in Asia, Europe and Latin America. He served as general counsel to the Host Committee for the 2012 Republican National Convention. Mr. Grammig regularly participates as a panelist in KPMG's Audit Committee Institute. and also serves as secretary of the Florida Chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce.

Biography

Sarita Gupta is director of the foundation’s Future of Work(ers) program, leading the team that oversees Ford’s efforts to actively shape a future of work that puts workers and their well-being at the center.

Sarita joined the foundation with more than 20 years of experience working to expand people’s ability to come together to improve their workplaces, their communities, and their lives by creating solutions to the problems they face. She has deep expertise in policy advocacy, organizing, and building partnerships across the workers’ rights and care movements, having served as executive director of Jobs With Justice and co-director of Caring Across Generations. She is a nationally recognized expert on the economic, labor, and political issues affecting working people, and is widely acknowledged as a key leader and strategist in the progressive movement.

During her tenure at Jobs With Justice, Sarita led a network of 30+ labor and community coalitions that anchored campaigns, changed the conversation, and moved labor, community, student, and faith voices into action. Jobs With Justice has been on the frontlines of successful organizing and policy campaigns to boost wages and working conditions for all working people, ensure worker voice and dignity in workplaces, and improve labor and civil rights protections for immigrant men and women. Sarita played a key role in seeding numerous campaigns and efforts, like the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, which is a global coalition of trade unions, workers’ rights, and human rights organizations that is actively innovating regional initiatives for higher wages in the global garment industry; the United Workers Congress, bringing together workers centers and organizations focused on raising labor standards and protections for low-wage workers across industries; and Caring Across Generations, a national movement of families, caregivers, people with disabilities, and aging Americans, working to transform the way we care in this country so that all families can live well and age with dignity.

As co-director of Caring Across Generations, Sarita spearheaded the campaign calling for policy solutions that create a much-needed care infrastructure that provides high-quality, affordable options for people who need care, support for family caregivers, and that strengthens the care workforce. Caring Across Generations was instrumental in paving the way for the Home Care Rule, the effort to provide minimum wage and overtime protections for two million home care workers. The campaign was also successful in winning state funding for the Kupuna Caregivers Program in Hawaii, which provides a financial benefit to working family caregivers. And, most recently, it shepherded the Washington Long-Term Care Trust Act into law, establishing the first state-based, public, long-term care program in the nation.

She is a Hunt Alternatives Fund Prime Movers Fellow as well as a graduate of the Rockwood Leadership Training Program. Among the awards Sarita has received are the National Women’s Law Center Annual Leadership Award, the Frances Perkins Open Door Award, a Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Achievement Award, and Corporate Ethics International’s BENNY Award.

Biography

Katherine is Chair of 38 North Solutions, a public policy consultancy specializing in clean energy and innovation. In this role, Katherine has been listed on the #Solar100 board by kWh Analytics and received a Cleanie Award as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018. Katherine was Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum‘s Future of Advanced Energy Technology Global Future Council and President of GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic. Katherine served as President of the GridWise Alliance, advocating for nearly $5 billion in funding for smart grid projects in the Recovery Act. Prior to that role, Katherine was a policy advisor for Good Energies, Inc., a private investment company with a portfolio in clean energy technologies of nearly $6 billion. She co-directed the American Bioenergy Association, working with the states of Maryland and New Jersey to develop renewable portfolio standards. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Katherine led buildings research and then managed government relations in Washington, DC. Katherine spent a decade at Virginia Power, designing overhead and underground electrical systems for commercial and residential developments. Katherine studied electrical engineering at Northern Virginia Community College and holds degrees from Cornell University and the Sorbonne. Katherine is part of The Energy Gang podcast through Greentech Media.

Biography

Frank Holder leads BRG's Global Investigations & Strategic Intelligence (“Global.i”) practice as well as the Latin American region. With over 25 years of experience, he has directed corporate investigations and security consulting assignments across the globe. The investigative matters include large-scale internal fraud and public corruption investigations, product protection, litigation support, due diligence, and hostile takeovers. As a security expert, he has designed the security for international airports, seaports, and complex multijurisdictional distribution networks.
As a strategic consulting industry leader, Frank draws on decades of client service experience to provide cutting edge strategies and integrates investigative skills with technology and financial expertise to address and resolve critical problems. Frank has assembled and experienced international management team strategically located in financial centers around the world to work with BRG’s clients to mitigate risks and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Before joining BRG, Mr. Holder was the chief executive officer of Holder International, which was acquired by FTI in 2007. Before founding Holder International, he was the president of Kroll Inc.’s Consulting Services Group, responsible for operations in more than 35 countries. Prior to that, he was the head of Kroll’s Latin America and Caribbean region. Before joining Kroll, he was the president of Holder Associates in Buenos Aires, a risk mitigation and business intelligence firm.
Mr. Holder began his career with the U.S. Air Force as a political-military analyst for the U.S. embassy in Argentina and as a special agent for the Office of Special Investigations at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, with responsibilities in areas including counterintelligence and force protection.
Mr. Holder is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is an accomplished public speaker with numerous presentations throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil on a broad range of topics such as money laundering, risk management, homeland security, and operational risk. He has written articles on similar topics for U.S. and Latin American newspapers and professional journals. He has taught courses in political science and law on the Inter-American system at the Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires.

Biography

Bill Johnson became President and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc. on March 2, 2015 following a 35-year career with Miami-Dade County government. Governor Scott appointed Bill to lead the agency that is the state’s principal economic development organization serving as a public private partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders. The position also serves as Florida’s Secretary of Commerce.

Enterprise Florida's mission is to facilitate job growth for the state through business recruitment and expansion; to assist small and minority businesses through capital programs; and to assist Florida businesses in export and international trade. During his tenure with Miami-Dade, Bill served in a number of executive positions including eight years as Director of Port Miami; and, as an Assistant County Manager, he had oversight of Miami International Airport. Bill also served as Director of the MiamiDade Water & Sewer Department and has had management responsibility for a number of the County’s large infrastructure projects including construction of the American Airlines Arena and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

As a government administrator, Bill earned a reputation as a key trouble-shooter, problem solver and proponent of economic development. At Port Miami, Bill launched one of the most ambitious capital development programs in the port’s history, including public-private partnerships such as the Port Miami tunnel and the deepening of the port’s channel to accommodate the super-sized cargo vessels that will begin passing through an expanded Panama Canal in 2016. On the cruise side of the business, Bill presided over the largest expansion ever of new cruise brands and new cruise vessels solidifying Port Miami as the “Cruise Capital of the World.”

In 2014, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez asked Bill to take over leadership of the Water and Sewer Department, where he launched an ambitious capital program to upgrade and expand the Miami-Dade’s critical water and sewer system. These improvements will enable future growth and economic viability, along with environmental sustainability, throughout Miami’s urban core and adjacent areas.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Bill holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee and has served in a number of leadership roles in business, maritime and economic development organizations at the national and international levels including: Vice President, International Association of Ports and Harbors; Chairman, Florida Ports Council; Chairman, World Trade Center Miami Board of Directors; Florida Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors Board of Directors; US Chamber Let’s Rebuild America Leadership Council and International Policy Committee; Federal Reserve Bank Trade and Transportation Advisory Council; Florida District Export Council; Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Governors; Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Circle; and Past Chair, Miami Beach Latin Chamber of Commerce.

Biography

Dimitri Kazarinoff is an accomplished transportation industry executive who has led impressive growth, expansion and innovation throughout his career. Prior to joining XL Fleet as CEO, Dimitri successfully scaled the hybrid power systems division of Eaton Corporation by 15x within two years, and delivered record profits for the North American P&L of AVL Powertrain Engineering. He previously worked at General Motors and McKinsey & Company, has a mechanical engineering degree from MIT, and an MBA from Northwestern University. Dimitri brings a strong customer focus, broad and deep functional capability, global supply and sales experience, and proven organizational leadership to drive an era of sustainable growth for XL Fleet.

Biography

Rear Admiral Nancy Knight, MD is the Director of the Division of Global Health Protection (DGHP) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this role, Rear Admiral Knight leads a team of CDC experts in protecting Americans and people around the world from public health threats.

Prior to joining DGHP in 2017, Rear Admiral Knight spent more than 10 years in Africa, leading CDC’s largest programmatic and financial portfolios. Rear Admiral Knight’s career at CDC started in 2006, where she served in Nigeria as CDC’s Assistant Director for Clinical Programs for PEPFAR and then in 2008 as the CDC Country Director. From 2010-2012, Rear Admiral Knight served in Kenya as the Program Director for CDC’s Division of Global HIV and TB. In 2012, she became CDC’s Country Director in South Africa, leading CDC’s HIV response in the country with the largest epidemic globally.

Throughout her international career, Rear Admiral Knight led the development, coordination, and implementation of key public health policies and programs. She has extensive experience advancing public health priorities through her leadership and close collaboration with government officials and partners.

Rear Admiral Knight began her career with the U.S. government in 2001 at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), where she held various roles in the Bureau of Health Professions from 2001-2003. Rear Admiral Knight’s work at HRSA focused on improving the quality of primary care medical education and services in the United States. From 2003-2006, Rear Admiral Knight was a Ready Responder in the National Health Service Corps. In this role, she worked in public health at the local government level based in the City of Cincinnati Health Department, where she provided primary healthcare services and worked on several response teams that were responsible for local and regional disaster planning and coordination.

Rear Admiral Knight received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Psychology from Washington University. She attended the University Of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, where she graduated with Honors. She completed her residency training in Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, and she is Board Certified in Family Medicine. Prior to medical school, Rear Admiral Knight served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho, where she worked as a secondary school science teacher.

Biography

Mr. Kuryla began his career with Miami-Dade County in the Parks and Recreation Department in 1987. He moved to the County’s Finance Department in 1993 as an administrative officer, where he managed a grants program funded by tourist tax dollars. After approximately a year and a half in the Finance Department, Mr. Kuryla took the position of Section Head at the County’s Public Works Department’s Road, Bridge and Canal Maintenance Division.

In 1996, Mr. Kuryla was promoted to work in the County Manager’s Office as an Assistant Administrator. He was promoted again in May 1998 to the Port of Miami as Assistant to the Port Director, where he oversaw the Department’s local, state and federal legislative agenda.  From February 2001 through February 2007 Mr. Kuryla held the positions of Assistant Port Director for Intergovernmental Affairs and Assistant Port Director for Intergovernmental Affairs and Promotions.

In 2007, Mr. Kuryla was promoted to Assistant Port Director for Maritime Services. In this capacity, he served as co-lead negotiator for the Port on all long term agreements executed with cruise and cargo customers as well as oversaw Port operations, facilities management, berthing, and property management, in addition to the customer service, business development, public information and media relations.  In 2009, Mr. Kuryla was promoted to Deputy Port Director. In this capacity, he was responsible for directly overseeing the Port’s five assistant port directors.

On April 1, 2014, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez appointed Mr. Kuryla to the position of PortMiami Director and CEO, where he oversees operations and capital development for the cruise capital of the world and cargo global gateway.

Mr. Kuryla holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Florida International University. In 2010, Mr. Kuryla obtained his Professional Port Manager PPM^® degree from the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).

Biography

Paul is a social entrepreneur who brings a passion for making an impact in the world. He has extensive experience in banking, private equity, venture capital and impact investing, and a reputation for building strong teams and achieving results.

Previously, Paul was Executive Investment Partner at Capafrica, a Canadian private equity group that invests in renewable energy, infrastructure and telecommunications in Africa. Before his role at Capafrica, Paul was Head, Africa & Middle East, Global Banks at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).

Paul served as founding CEO of Enablis Financial Corporation, where he pioneered a new model for impact investing in early-stage small and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and an MBA from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.

Biography

Anne-Marie Lévesque joined FinDev Canada in August 2018 as the Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment Advisor, where she will develop and lead the implementation of FinDev Canada’s gender strategy. Her role will be to ensure that operations and investments bring leading approaches to the inclusion of women in private sector activities and investment decisions.
Prior to joining FinDev Canada, Anne-Marie worked as a consultant in London and New York at Ergon Associates, a consultancy firm with a focus on human rights, gender equality and development. While at Ergon, Anne-Marie provided strategic and technical support to development finance institutions and their private sector clients on understanding the barriers women face in accessing employment, finance and basic services, especially in developing countries. She also helped companies to implement gender action plans and policies to improve the gender-inclusiveness of their employment practices. Anne-Marie previously worked at the Québec Labour Standards Commission and the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies in Montreal.
Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) Inc., operating under the FinDev Canada brand, is a Canadian institution dedicated to providing financial services to the private sector in developing countries with the aim of combating poverty through economic growth by focusing on three main themes: economic development through job creation, women’s economic empowerment, and climate change mitigation. Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Export Development Canada (EDC).

Biography

Emmanuel Ligner has deep roots in biopharma, leadership and engineering. He’s driven to bringing precision health to patients through researchers, hospitals and pharmaceutical partners of GE Life Sciences. He’s been the President and CEO of Life Sciences since July 2017 and has led the company to7% revenue and 13% operating profit growth.

Emmanuel joined GE Healthcare in April 2008, following its acquisition of Whatman International Plc. His career has spanned many continents and business areas that experienced massive growth under his leadership - from heading up the North America BioProcess business to the Commercial part of Life Sciences across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and holding the position of General Manager of Core Imaging (now Pharmaceutical Diagnostics) until he was named CEO.

His biopharma journey started in Japan in 1996, when Emmanuel joined Ostuka Pharmaceutical International Ltd as a Medical Representative in Tokyo. He stepped into various roles, and in 1999 became Marketing Director Diagnostic Division and later Commercial Director Diabetes Care Division for Abbott Diagnostics. In 2004, Emmanuel moved to the UK to became Vice President Sales & Marketing Europe for Whatman International.

Emmanuel is a French citizen and earned his Master’s Degree in Commercial
Engineering at L’Université Savoie, France.

Biography

Diane Magnum is an award winning broadcast journalist who has spent the past 35 years bringing the news to the people of south Florida. WPLG, the ABC affiliate station in Miami, welcomed Diane to its team in 1983. After two years as midday anchor, Diane moved to weekends before settling in as
Channel 10's Monday through Friday main evening news anchor.
Diane also conceived of and spearheaded the Local 10 community service initiative called "Magnum's Force" in which she used the power of television to put together those in need with those who have the means to help. In the seven years that Magnum's Force was on the air, more than six and a half million dollars in goods and services were given away to thousands of deserving families in south Florida.
In 2017, Diane joined the news department at WFOR, the CBS owned and operated station in MIami, as a contributing anchor for the station’s evening newscasts.
She continues her broadcast work there, while also partnering with corporate clients on commercial and in-house video projects, as well as acting as emcee for corporate and non-profit events.
Diane's body of work has been recognized with three UPI awards, two Emmy Awards, a Silver Circle Award, a Green Eyeshade Award for Investigative Journalism, and the first ever Williams S. Paley award given to a local
television station.
Diane grew up in Miami. She attended Killian High School and Florida State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Communications.

Biography

José Luis Manzano is an Argentine businessman with a deep understanding of Latin American public policy and global emerging markets. He possesses significant experience in the investment, media, energy and distress industries. He speaks frequently across the world on these issues.

Dr. Manzano founded the international firm Integra Capital, a private equity and merchant banking firm. Integra also provides services such as mergers and acquisitions, financial structuring, IPOs, due diligence procedures, debt and company restructuring, among others.

Dr. Manzano and his family are relevant shareholders of Phoenix Global Resources, a company engaged in the exploration and production of oil with activity in Argentina. PGR is listed on the London Stock Exchange, AIM Market, and the Stock Exchange of Buenos Aires, produces 10.000 barrels of oil per day and has more than 60 million barrels of proven reserves and 300 million barrels of unconventional resources. Dr Manzano is also a relevant investor in Interoil, an exploration and production company listed in Oslo stock exchange that produces 1600bopd in Colombia.

Dr. Manzano is the major shareholder of Integra Oil & Gas, an oil production company that produces 4000 bopd in Venezuela. He is also a major shareholder in Integra Gas Distribution in partnership with Mercuria Energy Trading. Integra Gas Distribution is a significant shareholder of Metrogas, the gas distribution company of Buenos Aires serving more than 10 million people. He is also a relevant shareholder of Edemsa, the distribution electricity company of the province of Mendoza, HIDROELECTRICA AMEGHINO, a hidroplant producing 60 megas and Altus, a winery producer of premium wines in Argentina.

In relation to the media industry, Dr. Manzano is a major shareholder of Grupo America, the second by size argentine media group he co-founded in 1996. The group owns TV stations, news channels, radios and newspapers, including America Tv, the national leader on live television, La Capital, the oldest newspaper of the country and El Cronista Comercial, the more prestigious business and finance newspaper of Argentina.

Prior to his business career, Mr. Manzano was active in the Peronist party where he was Secretary General. He served as majority leader in the lower house of Argentina’s National Congress from 1983 to 1991 and was appointed as Homeland Security Minister under President Carlos Menem.

Dr. Manzano is a relevant donor to several educational organizations and charities. Dr. Manzano is the President of Universidad de Congreso, where he is actively involved in academics and research activities. He has developed activities with the climate change organization of Novel Awards Al Gore and the Clinton Global Initiative. He is also active with the UK Argentinean Chamber of Commerce and the Cámara de Comercio Argentino Norteamericana. He is a sponsor of the Chinese House of Culture in Buenos Aires and was a member of the B20, the business group in support of the G20 Argentine presidency. Dr Manzano is a regular participant of the activities of the Council of The Americas and the Americas Society and is a member of the Energy Steering Committee of the Institute of The Americas.

Mr. Manzano received his Medical Doctorate and his Post Degree specialization in Occupational Health from the National University of Cuyo. He has been a Visiting Scholar at both Georgetown University and the University of California at San Diego. He has received an International Business Certificate and an International Finance Certificate from Georgetown University. He has received a diploma in leadership from Oxford University and lectured at prestigious universities in Argentina, Japan, Europe and the United States.

Biography

Sergio Massa is the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Argentina Republic. He is an Argentine lawyer and politician, who studied at the University of Belgrano before beginning his political career in 1999 as member of the Congress of the province of Buenos Aires. He later served as executive director of ANSES, Argentina’s social security agency from 2002 to 2007. Most notably, he served as Chief of Cabinet for former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from 2008 to 2009 and as the Mayor of Tigre on two occasions, from 2007-2008 and 2009-2013.

He ran under the Frente Renovador, or Front for Reform, a coalition he formed in 2013. His new party won the largest share of votes in the strategically important Province of Buenos Aires.
In 2015, he finished third in the presidential election, earning a fifth of the national vote.

Biography

John McCormick is the Global Head of Hedge Fund Solutions (BAAM). Mr. McCormick is involved in overseeing the day-to-day activities of the group, including investment management, client relationships, product development, marketing, operations and administration.

Before joining Blackstone in 2005, Mr. McCormick was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, where he worked on senior level strategy issues for a wide variety of financial services industry clients. Mr. McCormick began his career as an attorney with Davis Polk & Wardwell and has also served at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Mr. McCormick received a BA from Vassar College and a JD from Yale Law School.

Biography

Ram Mohan C has 30 years of experience in Infrastructure Management and Tech Support. He has been in senior management positions for the last 20 years.

Prior to Happiest Minds, Ram was EVP and Global Head of IMS, Enterprise Integration, Mainframe services business at Mindtree Ltd. These businesses constituted $250m+ which is one third of Mindtree’s business. He was also the CISO for Mindtree and responsible for Automation Initiative across the organization.

Prior to Mindtree, he was EVP (operations) of e4e. He was founder and COO of Vinciti Networks, a specialized service provider in Infrastructure Management and Tech Support which he ran successfully for 5 years and built a 1200 strong team, before rolling up to the holding company. Ram has also had substantial stints with Wipro and MPACT Immedia.

Ram is a winner of the coveted Chairman’s award in Mindtree and is a CSO 100 award winner. He is a distinguished speaker in many Infrastructure and Support forums and seminars. He has also taught MBA (IT) students of Symbiosis.

Ram has Bachelor of Electronics Engineering degree from Bangalore University.

Biography

Rolando Montoya was called to serve as the interim president of Miami Dade College (MDC) in August 2019. He retired as provost for operations at MDC in 2017, and previously served the college in various ascending capacities between 1987 and 2017. As MDC's former chief operating officer, he had jurisdiction over finance, information technology, institutional effectiveness, human resources, facilities, legal affairs, resource development, and emergency preparedness.

Dr. Montoya's prior positions at MDC included Wolfson Campus president; dean of Academic Affairs, Kendall Campus; chairperson of Business, Kendall Campus; and professor of accounting, finance, economics, and statistics at the North Campus. Before joining the college in 1987 he worked in the private sector in the fields of accounting and finance and served as Consul of Costa Rica in Miami.

Dr. Montoya is a past chairman of the board of directors of the Miami Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Other board memberships include CareerSource South Florida, Citi Postsecondary Success Program, Miami Downtown Development Authority, Disney College Program, New World School of the Arts, Epiphany Catholic School, and South Florida Center for Financial Training. He received a doctorate in Higher Education Administration and a MS in Finance from Florida International University, a BBA from the Technological Institute of Monterrey, Mexico, and a licentiate degree in Business from the University of Costa Rica. He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) since 1992 and a Certified Financial Manager (CFM) since 1997. Some of his awards and honors include One Hundred Latinos-Miami, the MDC Presidential Merit Award, the Barnett Bank Endowed Teaching Chair, and the Sun Trust Bank Endowed Teaching Chair. He and his wife, Marivi – a retired administrator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, are the proud parents of three adult children.

Biography

Biography

Eileen K. Murray is Co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, LP. Eileen has over two decades of Wall Street experience, having held senior leadership roles at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse as a member of both firm’s Management and Executive Committees. She was also appointed the first female member of Credit Suisse’s Executive Board.

Ms. Murray joined Morgan Stanley in 1984 and held the positions of Controller, Treasurer as well as Chief Operating Officer for the Institutional Securities Group, one of the largest and most successful global Sales and Trading platforms in the industry. In 2002, she joined Credit Suisse as a Management and Executive Board member and Head of Global Technology, Operations and Product Control. She returned to Morgan Stanley in 2005 as an Executive and Management Committee member, as well as Head of Global Technology and Operations.

Prior to joining Bridgewater in 2009, she had most recently served as President and Management Committee member of Duff Capital Advisors.

In July 2016, Ms. Murray was voted a Board member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She is also currently a member of the Board of the Irish Arts Center (An Claidheamh Soluis) and has served as a Board member of the Business Council for International Understanding. She has also served on the Board of the YMCA of Greater New York, Board of Governors of Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago, the Board of Inwood House in Upper Manhattan, the Hewlett Packard Financial Services Board of Advisors, Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation Board (DTCC), OMGEO Board, the Board of Trustees of Manhattan College (where she earned her B.S. in Accounting and received an Honorary Doctoral Degree in May 2015), and the American Women’s Economic Development (AWED) Corporation.

In 2018, she was the first female award recipient in Manhattan College’s history to receive the College’s De La Salle Medal of Honor and received the Laela Pioneer Award in Finance at Women Entrepreneurship Day at the United Nations.

In recognition of her leadership in the financial services industry, Eileen was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 by Markets Choice Women in Finance, was named one of Hedge Fund Journal’s 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds in 2013, and U.S. Banker named her as one of the 20 Most Powerful Non-Bank Women in Banking in 2007 and 2008. She was named Irish America Magazine's Business 100 Best and Brightest Leaders in 2016, named an Afterschool Champion in 2017 by the Partnership for After School Education, and received the Women’s Bond Club Merit Achievement Award, Legal Momentum’s Aiming High Award, the Urban Stages Humanitarian Award and the YMCA of Greater New York’s Arts & Letters Award for Outstanding Leadership in November 2013.

Recently, Ms. Murray has participated as a panelist at the Bloomberg Equality Summit “Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling”, served as Honorary Co-Chair of Legal Momentum’s “Aiming High – A Celebration of the Power of Women” event, as well as delivering the Keynote Address at Northern Trust’s Global Wealth Alliance Conference. She also was the Keynote speaker at the 21^st. Irish America Wall Street 50 Awards Dinner and a featured speaker at the Milken Institute Associates and Young Leaders Circle Breakfast.

Biography

Mr. Sanjeet Pandit is the Global Head for Smart Cities practice at Qualcomm, Inc USA and responsible for Carrier and Ecosystem relationships in this domain. His expertise in the telecom industry spans over 20 plus years. He specializes in the areas of Smart City design, creation of Smart verticals, digital transformation and go to market strategies creating an experience that would benefit public private domains and citizen engagements.

Mr. Pandit has successfully launched the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator program that brings all Smart Cities B2B providers under one roof and enables matchmaking in this domain.

He has worked and created relationships with the Smart city ecosystem partners, resulting in multiple Smart City projects Globally. His efforts have enabled Smart Verticals and Smart Spaces concepts globally that have resulted into quicker adoption into various industries and industrial verticals.

He has held various senior positions at Qualcomm and was responsible for APAC and India business development prior to leading the Smart city vertical.

Biography

Papadimitriou has been working in Enel since 2008 anda has been serving as EGP’s Head of Rest of Europe and Middle East since 2016. He will replace Rafael Gonzalez, who was appointed as Head of Renewables for EGP in Spain.

Enel Green Power has appointed Georgios Papadimitriou as its Head of Enel Green Power North America, Inc. to oversee EGP’s renewables portfolio and business in the US and Canada. He will replace Rafael Gonzalez, who was appointed as Head of Renewables for EGP in Spain.

Georgios Papadimitriou has been serving as EGP’s Head of Rest of Europe and Middle East since 2016. Prior to that, he held various roles within Enel including Head of Business Development in Latin America, Head of Business Development Europe and Country Manager France.

Prior to joining Enel in 2008, Mr. Papadimitriou worked in the energy sector at the international level, in companies such as ScottishPower, Fortum, Nuon, Gazprom, and ContourGlobal, based in various countries and with a variety of roles, ranging from risk management, power plant commercial management, business development and electricity trading.

Enel Green Power North America, part of the Renewable Energies division of the Enel Group, is a leading owner and operator of renewable energy plants in North America with projects operating and under development in 24 US states and two Canadian provinces.

The company operates around 100 plants with a managed capacity exceeding 4.3 GW powered by renewable hydropower, wind, geothermal and solar energy. The company is currently the largest wind operator in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Biography

Christina Pappas, vice president of operations with The Keyes Company in Miami, is the 2020 vice president of Florida Realtors®, the state’s largest professional association with 195,000 members. “Our leadership team is dedicated to building a better Realtor through our many professional education and training programs,” she said.

In 2020, Florida will continue to see strong demand from U.S. and international buyers, said Pappas, who is active in residential brokerage. “We plan to showcase our state in global markets, raising awareness of the many advantages of buying here in Florida,” she said. “We also expect a continued influx of buyers from the Northeast and other high-tax communities in the U.S.”

A leader in regional, state and national real estate organizations, Pappas is a board member of the Miami Association of Realtors and was president of its Young Professionals Network Leadership Board. She has been a leader in the Women’s Council of Realtors, serving as education and events co-chair.

Pappas is also a director of the state association, a member of various state committees and forums, and a director of the National Association of Realtors. In the community, Pappas is a member of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce and Miami Chamber of Commerce. She is a Cornell Alumni Admissions ambassador, serves on the executive committee for United Way Young Leaders and is the former Young President’s/World President’s Organization Next Generation Liaison for Miami.

As vice president of the state association, Pappas will focus on providing Florida Realtors with professional information, education and advocacy programs to help them deliver the highest level of service to their clients and communities. “We know that technology is one of the keys to serving sellers and buyers effectively, and we help our members stay connected as their customers,” she said. “We are also effective advocates for homeownership, which strengthens our communities.”

Florida Realtors® serves as the voice for real estate in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to 195,000 members in 51 boards/associations. Florida Realtors® Media Center website is available at http://media.floridarealtors.org.

Biography

Diana Plazas-Trowbridge is the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for Marriott International Caribbean and Latin America.

In this role, Diana is responsible for topline revenue across the region for all brands, which includes responsibility and oversight of all aspects of Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management. She will ensure that the strategic priorities of the discipline are designed and executed to achieve the region’s sales, market share, and competitive position in the marketplace. In addition, Diana also partners with Brand and Global Discipline Leaders on key initiatives and priorities. Her oversight includes the Brand, Marketing & Digital organization, in addition to the CALA Revenue Management and Sales organizations.

Since joining Marriott in 2015, as Vice President, Brand, Marketing & Digital for CALA, Diana has led the field marketing & digital organization for CALA. In 2018, she stood up a new Owner and Franchise Relations organization designed to support franchisees and their hotels across the region. Her efforts have led to stronger results throughout the franchise portfolio in a number of important metrics as well as strengthened relationships.

A native of Cali, Colombia, Diana earned her bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Georgetown University and an Executive MBA from Florida International University.

Biography

Marc is a leader in EY’s US infrastructure strategy practice working with clients on project selection, risk assessment, financing, and execution. For the past 25 years, he has specialized in developing business strategies for investors, constructors, and operators who are undertaking large infrastructure investments. Marc has led efforts in the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia. He has led efforts in assessing the market for and deploying smart infrastructure technology in the US and worldwide.  Marc also leads EYs infrastructure strategy practice focused on technology and telecom clients, where he works at the intersection of transportation and emerging technology. Marc has deep experience in all sectors of the infrastructure landscape.  He has worked on toll roads, bridges, tunnels, ports, airports, rail, subway, parking, energy, power, waste, wind, water, housing, social infrastructure, utility services, technology and telecommunications.

Biography

Born in Hull (Gatineau) on November 25, 1944, son of Carmel Rémillard and Jeannine Desjardins, Gil Rémillard is married to Marie DuPont. They have one son, Nicholas-Philippe, and two grandchildren, Matthieu-Gil and William, whose mother is Élizabeth Côté. Gil has two brothers, Jean and Martin and a sister, Sylvie.

Gil Rémillard holds degrees in Philosophy (1965), Political Science and Economics (1968), was called to the Québec Bar (1969), and has a PhD in Law (1973). He has worked in the fields of university teaching, private law and politics.

Career

From 1965 to 1969, when he was studying at the University of Ottawa, Gil Rémillard worked as a freelance journalist for Radio-Canada on Parliament Hill.

Professor and lawyer (1973 – 1985)

Upon returning from Europe in 1973, where he completed his PhD, Mr. Rémillard began teaching constitutional and administrative law in the Faculty of Law at Laval University in Québec City; he also taught in several other universities. During this time, he also practiced law at the Chouinard, Rémillard, Bussière & Robinson law firm and acted as advisor to the Québec and Ottawa governments on reforming administrative bodies and on certain constitutional issues, among them cable distribution. In 1983, he became a special constitutional advisor to Brian Mulroney, then Prime Minister of Canada, and an advisor to the United Nations Canadian delegation in New York. He has appeared before all levels of the Canadian court system, including the Supreme Court of Canada. From 1981 to 1985, he organized and chaired the Québec Constitutional Conferences at Laval University, which included a number of high-profile speakers, among them Prime Ministers Trudeau and Mulroney, as well as Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (former Secretary-General of the United Nations), Mother Teresa and Marguerite Yourcenar.

Politician (1985 – 1994)

On December 2, 1985, Mr. Rémillard was elected as the MNA for the Québec City riding of Jean-Talon; 10 days later, he was sworn in as a member of Premier Robert Bourassa’s Liberal government. Within that government he held several positions, being successively Minister for Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of International Relations, Minister of Public Security, and Minister of Justice. As Québec’s Minister of Justice for nearly six years, Mr. Rémillard was responsible for implementing the new Civil Code of Québec, which came into effect January 1, 1994. In 1990, he presided over the creation of the Human Rights Tribunal of Québec and, on June 4, 1990, convened a major Justice Summit and created the Prix de la justice Award. Each year, the award recognizes the outstanding achievements of individuals who have worked to ensure and promote the quality, universality and accessibility of justice.

As Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Rémillard headed the negotiations which led to the Meech Lake (1987) and Charlottetown (1992) Accords. While not officially part of the Canadian Constitution, these two agreements had a considerable impact on Canadian federalism, primarily because the Parliament of Canada recognized the “Québec nation.” In addition, the distinct nature of Québec and the principles of cooperative federalism that were central to the Meech Lake Accord are now recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada as points of reference for interpreting the Canadian Constitution.

As Minister of International Relations for the Bourassa government, Mr. Rémillard negotiated the agreement that would lead to the creation of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF). As the Minister responsible for International Relations and La Francophonie, in 1987, he hosted the organization’s second summit in Québec.

Professor and Lawyer (1994 – the present)

In January 1994, Mr. Rémillard left the political arena. From February 1, 1994 until March 1, 2016, he taught at the École Nationale d’Administration Publique (ÉNAP), where he lectured on administrative and international law and gave a course on the principles and issues involved in public administration. He also served as counsel to the law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain, now Dentons Canada LLP.

In 1995, along with his wife Marie DuPont and his son Nicholas Rémillard, he founded the International Economic Forum of the Americas, which annually presents the following events: the World Strategic Forum in April in Miami; the Conference of Montreal in June; the Toronto Global Forum in September; and the Conference of Paris in November. The primary goal of these forums is to promote understanding of the major issues involved in economic globalization.

From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Rémillard acted as an advisor to the governments of the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria concerning the reform of their Civil Codes, as part of the preparation for their entry into the European Union.

From 2008 to 2011, he served as Chair of the Board of Governors for the Université de Sherbrooke. From 2009 to 2012, he acted as a negotiator for the Québec Government and Secretary General of the Québec-France Mutual Recognition Agreement that establishes equivalency of professional qualifications for many trades and professions on both sides of the Atlantic. From 2010 to 2013 he sat on the roundtable of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); in December 2015, the Government of Canada appointed him Chair of the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission. As Founding Chairman of the International Economic Forum of the Americas, in partnership with HEC Montreal, Sciences Po Paris, the University of Seoul, the University of California in San Diego, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2017 he created the International Institute of Economic Diplomacy.

Publications

Mr. Rémillard is the President and publisher of the economic magazine FORCES and IEFA Magazine, the official magazine of the International Economic Forum of the Americas. He is also the author of several books and articles, among them: Le fédéralisme canadien, et Le fédéralisme canadien, Éléments constitutionnels de formation et d’évolution, Volumes I and II. He has edited a number of collections, including Global Economy: The Foundation for the Next Era of Growth, which was published in 2014.

Honours

In 1992, he was made Doctor Honoris Causa by the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Aix-Marseille University, France. In 1994, he was awarded the Mérite du Barreau by the Québec Bar for his assistance in creating the new Civil Code of Québec. In 2001, he was appointed to the Order of Canada and, in 2002, was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 2004, he received the Ordre national du Québec and, that same year, was made a Knight of France’s Légion d’honneur by then-President Jacques Chirac; in 2017, he was made an Officer of that same organization by then-Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

In May 2007, he was granted the honorary title of Advocatus Emeritus by the Québec Bar. In 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the France-Canada Institute’s Samuel de Champlain prize. That same year, Ottawa’s Saint Paul University named him Alumnus of the Year and established a fund in his name to help children with learning disabilities. On June 11, 2017, he was awarded the 50^th Anniversary Medal by the Québec Ministry for International Relations and La Francophonie (MRIF), in recognition of his years of service as Minister.

Social Involvement

A dyslexic himself, Mr. Rémillard devotes his efforts to supporting organizations that help children with learning disabilities. He serves on a number of Boards of Directors, one of which is the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, co-chaired by former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul, that helps welcome new citizens and integrate them into Canadian life.

Biography

Nicholas Rémillard, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), is responsible for the direction and strategy of the IEFA’s four major economic events: the Conference of Montreal, the Toronto Global Forum, the World Strategic Forum and the Conference of Paris.
Since the organization’s inception over 20 years ago, Nicholas Rémillard has held a variety of management roles, ultimately serving as President and CEO from 2010. His contribution led to the rapid expansion of the organization where he launched the Toronto Global Forum and the Palm Beach Strategic Forum in 2007 and 2011, respectively. The latter event is now held in Miami under its new appellation: the World Strategic Forum. In addition to these North American conferences, the IEFA has also shifted towards Europe and will be hosting its fourth edition of the Conference of Paris in November 2020.
Beyond his role at the IEFA, Nicholas Rémillard also serves as Honorary Consul General of Iceland in Montreal and President of RDÉE Canada’s working group, the Economic Corridor of La Francophonie.
Nicholas Rémillard holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa.

Biography

Alex Rice is a founder of HackerOne and currently serve as its Chief Technical Officer. In this role, Alex is responsible for developing the HackerOne technology vision and product, driving engineering efforts, and counseling customers as they build world-class security programs. He previously founded the product security team at Facebook, where he built one of the industry’s most successful security programs and introduced new transport layer encryption used by more than a billion users. Alex also serves on the board of the Internet Bug Bounty, a nonprofit organization that enables and encourages friendly hackers to help build a more secure Internet.

Biography

Secretary General of CAF since September 1, 2017. He previously served as CAF’s Director-Representative in Brazil (2014-2017) after having joined CAF in 2012 as Special Advisor to the Executive Presidency and leading several projects associated with the area of Institutional Development.
Formerly he held important positions in the international arena, including that of Secretary of Political Affairs at the Organization of American States (OAS), responsible for issues related to democratic governance, public management, institutional development, political analysis and electoral observation. Likewise he was Director General of the General Secretariat at the Andean Community (CAN).
In his native country, Bolivia, he was Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice Minister of International Economic Relations, Undersecretary for Integration and Consul General (Ambassador) in Santiago de Chile.
Additionally, he served as Alternate and Plenipotentiary Representative on the Committee of Foreign Trade Ministers of the Andean Community, as well as Chief Free Trade Agreement Negotiator with MERCOSUR and Mexico and at the Doha Round in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In the academic field, he was Professor of International Trade Negotiations at the Postgraduate Unit of the Bolivian Catholic University and is the author of several publications on international issues and economic integration.
He studied economics at the Universidad Católica Boliviana and possesses a master's degree in international relations from the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires as well as a postgraduate degree in the European monetary system from the London School of Economics.

Biography

Lenore Rodicio is a nationally recognized leader in higher education. A native of Miami, Florida, Dr. Rodicio currently serves as Executive Vice President and Provost for Miami Dade College (MDC). Dr. Rodicio joined MDC in the fall of 2002 as an adjunct instructor of chemistry at the Kendall and InterAmerican Campuses. Since that time, she has held a number of positions at the College including Associate Professor, Chair of Natural and Social Sciences, Dean of Academic Affairs, Vice Provost for Student Achievement, and Provost of Academic and Student Affairs.

Most of Dr. Rodicio’s work has centered on student access, success and achievement; the recruitment of underserved populations to the STEM fields; increased access to liberal education for all students; and continuous improvement of the teaching and learning process. She has led projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation. She has also worked with key partners such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Achieving the Dream, Lumina and Kresge, to implement comprehensive solutions to improve completion rates, while upholding the highest standards of quality teaching and learning. Under her leadership, MDC has developed alternative pathways to college credentials, including non-credit crosswalks to credit programs, prior learning assessment and competency-based education.

Dr. Rodicio’s transformational work in student success and achievement has led to significant improvements in retention and graduation, and earned MDC the 2019 Aspen Award for Community College Excellence. Today, MDC’s retention and graduation rates for all students, and in particular for minority students, exceed the national average. These improved outcomes have positioned MDC as first in the state and among the top four institutions nationally in increasing the economic mobility of its students. Additionally, her leadership in developmental education has resulted in one of the most successful mathematics redesign processes in the country.

In recognition of her role and voice in higher education in Florida, she was recently selected as a 2019 Miami Herald Influencer. She was named one of South Florida’s influential business women by South Florida Business Journal in 2018. In 2017, she was also named the In the Company of Women Outstanding Woman in Education Honoree by the Miami-Dade Commission for Women of Miami-Dade Parks.

Dr. Rodicio holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Barry University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemistry from Louisiana State University. She serves as an advisor and member of the steering committee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Scaling Partners group. She also serves as an advisor to the Lumina Quality Credentials Task Force. She is a member of the American Chemical Society; a past president of the Association for General and Liberal Studies; and the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Outside of her professional work, Dr. Rodicio is married to her husband of twenty years, is the mother of five children, and is an avid baker.

Biography

John W. Rogers, Jr. is Founder, Chairman, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments. Headquartered in Chicago, the firm offers five no-load mutual funds for individual investors and defined contribution plans as well as separately managed accounts for institutions and high net worth individuals.

After working for 2½ years at William Blair & Company, LLC, John founded Ariel Investments in 1983 to focus on undervalued small and medium-sized companies. Patience served as the cornerstone of a disciplined approach that still drives the firm today.

John’s passion for investing started when he was 12 years old when his father bought him stocks, instead of toys, for every birthday and Christmas. His interest grew while majoring in Economics at Princeton University. In addition to following stocks as a college student, John also played basketball under Hall of Fame coach Pete Carril. He was captain of Princeton’s Varsity Basketball Team his senior year. There, Carril’s courtside lessons on teamwork profoundly shaped his views of entrepreneurship and investing.

Early in his career, John’s investment expertise brought him to the forefront of media attention, including being selected as Co-Mutual Fund Manager of the Year by Sylvia Porter’s Personal Finance magazine as well as an All- Star Mutual Fund Manager by USA TODAY.

Ariel Fund, which John started over 30 years ago and still manages today—is the number-one ranked fund among its peer group since the market bottom which followed the Great Financial Crisis. It’s a testament to John’s “slow and steady” patient investment approach, staying focused, remaining true to his convictions, having a contrarian view and investing in great companies that have fallen out of favor. A disciple of Warren Buffett, John believes in being, “Fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” It’s also why John has been highlighted alongside legendary investors Warren Buffett, Sir John Templeton and Ben Graham in the distinguished book: The World’s 99 Greatest Investors by Magnus Angenfelt.

A sought after market commentator and speaker, John is regularly featured and quoted in a wide variety of financial broadcast and print publications.

Beyond Ariel, John is a board member of McDonald’s, NIKE, The New York Times Company and serves as vice chair of the board of trustees of the University of Chicago. Nationally, John is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a director of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

In 2008, John was awarded Princeton University’s highest honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award, presented each year to the alumnus or alumna whose career embodies a commitment to national service. Following the election of President Barack Obama, he served as co-chair for the Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009, and more recently, he joined the Barack Obama Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Biography

Biography

Paul Schultz serves as CEO of Aon Securities and leads Aon’s investment banking team, responsible for providing investment banking products and services to Aon’s clients.

Aon Securities has developed a market leading practice advising clients on transferring insurance risk to the capital markets and raising capital for (re)insurance companies.  Paul began his career in banking in 1986 and spent 14 years at JP Morgan (its predecessor banks), specializing in the Insurance Practice.  Since joining Aon in 2000, Paul has led Aon Securities and also advised Aon on issuing the first ever securitization of private equity limited partnerships.

Paul is a member of the Executive Committee of Aon Reinsurance Solutions, a member of the US Reinsurance Solutions Leadership Team and the executive sponsor of Aon’s global apprenticeship programs.

Paul earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. Paul also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Kellogg School of Management.  Additionally, Paul is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Biography

James P. Scriven is the CEO of IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. IDB Invest has $12.4 billion in assets under management and 342 clients in 24 countries and is a multilateral development bank focused on serving its clients and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean. A dual Argentine/British citizen, Mr. Scriven was previously Vice President of Corporate Risk and Sustainability at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in addition to other leadership positions. Before joining the IFC, Mr. Scriven was Chief Financial Officer of Banco Hipotecario in Argentina. During the past two decades, he has concentrated his efforts on promoting the private sector in development. Mr. Scriven holds a Master´s degree in Finance from Universidad del Centro de Estudios Macroeconómicos of Argentina, and a degree in Business Administration from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.
To learn more, follow @JamesPScriven and linkedin.com/in/james-p-scriven.

Biography

Lester Sola is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. He oversees operations at Miami International Airport (MIA) and four general aviation (GA) airports in the Miami area, which together generate $33.7 billion in business revenue and support more than 280,000 direct and indirect jobs. MIA leads the way, handling more than 44 million passengers and more than two million tons of cargo annually, placing it among America’s busiest international passenger and cargo airports.
Mr. Sola has served Miami-Dade County for more than 26 years, most recently as Director of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department. As Director of the largest utility in the southeastern United States, Mr. Sola was responsible for: providing high-quality drinking water and wastewater disposal services to more than 2.3 million residents, businesses and visitors daily; managing more than 2,700 employees and an annual operating budget of $796 million; and leading the largest capital improvement program in Miami-Dade County’s history. During Mr. Sola’s tenure at the department from 2015 to 2017, nearly 1,000 projects worth more than $1.1 billion were completed.
During the next 15-20 years, the multi-billion-dollar program to upgrade the County’s entire water and sewer infrastructure will include certification of 63 pump stations out of moratorium, allowing for community growth and economic development. The Department has approximately 900 additional projects in varying stages of progress.
Prior to his appointment to the Water and Sewer Department, Mr. Sola had been the Director of the Internal Services Department (ISD) since October of 2011. ISD is responsible for Miami-Dade County’s procurement of goods and services, small business development, architectural and engineering selection services, capital improvement programs, design and construction services, facilities and fleet management, risk management, parking operations, printing and graphics services, surplus asset disposal and capital inventory oversight. Mr. Sola managed an operating budget of $370 million, capital projects totaling over $400 million, and over 850 employees.
Mr. Sola began his career with Miami-Dade County government in 1992 as a member of the County Manager Management Training Program. He has held several high-level positions including: Contract Coordination Officer in the County Executive Manager's Office; Architectural and Engineering Consultant Coordinator for the County Executive Manager's Office; Assistant to the County Manager; Associate Director for the Aviation Department; Deputy Director for the Department of Business Development; Supervisor of Elections; and Director of the Internal Services Department.
During his more than two decades of public service, Mr. Sola has been responsible for: the reorganization of several County departments; coordination and refocusing of the capital program at Miami International Airport; the establishment of small and minority-based programs for the procurement of goods and services; establishment of centralized systems for the tracking of County capital expansion programs and professional services; and the provision of management direction to County departments, management agreements and agencies such as Aviation, Seaport, Beacon Council, Performing Arts Center and the American Airlines Arena.
Mr. Sola has a master's degree and bachelor's degree in public administration, with a minor in organizational psychology from Florida International University.

Biography

As President & CEO, Jamal Allen Sowell leads Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) the principal economic development organization for Florida, assuming this role at the outset of Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration. With his team, Sowell works closely with economic development partners and private-sector businesses across the state to strengthen and diversify Florida’s economy.

Prior to joining EFI, Sowell served as Chief of Staff for Port Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest port by acreage and a key economic engine in the Tampa Bay region, generating $17.2B of total economic value. During his time in Tampa Bay, Sowell was appointed to the Pinellas County Economic Development Council which helps develop programs for economic development and trade opportunities for the Pinellas community.

Sowell also served as Special Assistant to then-University of Florida (UF) President Dr. Bernie Machen and as Assistant Corporate Secretary for the UF Board of Trustees. Sowell is a sixth-generation Floridian and veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan. Sowell served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and active duty, enlisting as a Private First Class and combat engineer, and was eventually commissioned, completing his time as a Captain. His roles included stinger missile platoon commander, company executive officer, anti-terrorism force protection officer, electronic warfare officer, martial arts instructor and officer-in-charge of a Reserve Tank Unit.

Sowell obtained a Masters of Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He also earned a law degree and graduate certificate in constitutional design from Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law, where he was a Pat Tillman Scholar. Sowell has worked for Congressman Todd Young and Shurat HaDin, a Non-Governmental Organization in Israel. The Federalist Society selected him as editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy Symposium. Then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence appointed Sowell to a state board regulating health facility administrators.

Sowell holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from the University of Florida, where he was UF Student Body President, Vice Chairman of the Florida Students Association and member of the UF Board of Trustees. He was awarded the UF Outstanding Male Leader Award, inducted into the UF Hall of Fame, received the UF Outstanding Young Alumni Award and currently sits on the UF Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the Florida TaxWatch Citizenship Institute.

Biography

Prior to assuming the role of Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical and Adult Education, Scott Stump served as the Chief Operating Officer with Vivayic, Inc., a learning solutions provider devoted to helping individuals, organizations and corporations do good in the world.  Before that, Scott served as the Assistant Provost/State Director for Career & Technical Education (CTE) with the Colorado Community College System. Over his tenure with the system Stump also served as State FFA Advisor, Agriculture Program Director and interim President of Northeastern Junior College during the institution’s presidential search process.

During his seven-year tenure as a State CTE Director, Scott served as an officer in the National Association of State Directors of Career & Technical Education.  Through this role, he served on the National SkillsUSA Board of Directors as the NASDCTEc liaison.

Stump served two terms on the Prairie RE11-J school board and one year on the Colorado Association of School Boards Board of Directors.

Stump received his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education from Purdue University and taught at Manchester High School in North Central Indiana.  Before coming to Colorado he also worked for the National FFA Organization managing the national officer team and the national FFA convention. In May of 2018, Stump completed his Master of Business Administration through Western Governor’s University.

Biography

William Talbert III, CDME, has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) for the past sixteen years, and Chief Operating Officer for the previous nine. Major accomplishments include: assisting with the passage of the Travel Promotion Act of 2010; negotiating interlocal government funding agreements; and preparing four successful Super Bowl bids and three Pow Wow bids.

Under Mr. Talbert’s leadership, the GMCVB was awarded a prestigious accreditation from the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program in November 2007. Mr. Talbert is a current member of the following bodies: the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) Board; the Advisory Board, Brand USA; the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of VISIT FLORIDA (of which he is also Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair. He is also past Chair of several prestigious marketing organizations.

Mr. Talbert holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida. In 2006, he earned the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) designation - the highest educational achievement in the destination marketing industry.

Biography

Councillor Michael Thompson is Chair of Toronto’s Economic Development Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. Now in his fifth term as Councillor, Michael has earned a reputation as one of Toronto’s hardest working and most effective political leaders.

In 2006, as Chair of the Scarborough Community Council, he led the campaign to create the first ever TTC transit strategy for Scarborough, a strategy designed to significantly expand and enhance public transit services for all Scarborough residents. Throughout his years on Council, Michael’s unrelenting drive for public safety in the face of increased gun violence ultimately led to the development of a city-wide Community Safety Plan, a GTA-wide police task force on guns and gangs, an increase in the numbers of police officers in the street, and a new young offender program designed to divert young people into jobs instead of jail.

Under the banner of “getting things done,” Michael is known to his constituents as a community builder committed to bring people together in a spirit of collaboration. He has led and assisted in the formation of local community associations, youth leadership initiatives and Business Improvement Areas, and holds regular public meetings to engage residents throughout his ward.

In addition to a strong focus on resolving local issues and serving his constituents, Michael’s commitment to developing Toronto’s city-wide economy is longstanding. In his first term in office, he spearheaded the creation of the Wexford Heights Business Improvement Area and established a Job Fair that annually brought thousands of job seekers together with dozens of employers.

He maintains a widespread network of business relationships that has helped the City to enhance business retention, promote growth and increase private sector employment. His active engagement with business has helped speed the launch of new business ventures, resolved business/residential conflicts and gained business participation in a wide range of community-building initiatives. In recent years, the international connections he has developed and nurtured have played a significant role in attracting billions of dollars in new investment to the City, contributing to a more robust economy and substantial job creation.

Recently, Michael was a key member of a Toronto project team that successfully lobbied executives of Collision, one of the world’s leading high technology conferences, to choose Toronto as the conference’s home for 2019 – 2021, bringing 25,000 technology executives and investors to the City and injecting tens of millions of dollars into Toronto’s economy.

Michael is a firm believer in the critical value of culture as a builder of strong communities. When he first took office, he co-founded the Taste of Lawrence Avenue East Festival, which brings together tens of thousands of people each year to experience local performing arts and cuisine. In 2013, he led the City’s efforts to create a new arts and culture plan that provided a bold, new roadmap for cultural vitality, strengthened arts spending and launched a new era of collaboration among arts and culture groups across the City. Michael was also the first Chair of Toronto’s Music Advisory Committee, and played a key role in efforts to attract international film and television productions and studio investments to Toronto.

Michael received his public school education in Scarborough, and his BA from Concordia University in Montreal. Prior to entering politics, he earned his business credentials as an entrepreneur in the business and financial services sector. In 2017, he successfully completed the ICD Directors Education Program offered by the Rotman School of Management and Institute of Corporate Directors.

He is the recipient of the African Achievement Award for Excellence in Politics, the York University International Award, the Jain Society of Toronto Community Award, the Bob Marley Award and the Bob Marley Lifetime Achievement Award.

He continues to work with a number of charitable organizations including participation in the LIUNA Local 506 scholarship fund.

Biography

Karyn Twaronite is a Partner and Global Diversity & Inclusiveness (D&I) Officer at Ernst & Young LLP, and is a member of the EY Global Practice Group, the EY Global Talent Committee and the Ernst & Young LLP US Executive Committee.  She is responsible for driving innovations that maximize the strength and effectiveness of the EY network’s diverse workforce of 260,000 employees serving clients across 150 countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEIA.  In addition to being ranked #1 on DiversityInc’s 2017 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list, in 2018 EY was inducted to DiversityInc’s Top 50 Hall of Fame, which recognizes companies that have demonstrated a longstanding and consistent commitment to D&I.

Karyn began her EY career as a tax professional more than 20 years ago, before then shifting her focus to help shape the organization’s talent, human resources and inclusion management practices when she became the Talent leader for the Northeast Region (US), and then the Talent Leader for the US and Canadian member firms.

Today, Karyn and her team oversee the strategic implementation of our integrated approach to D&I – the EY Culture Change Continuum: a road map for success – which enables member firm’s leaders to foster an inclusive environment, one in which all EY people feel a sense of belonging and can better leverage their own diverse skills, experiences and ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  She co-chairs the EY Global Diversity & Inclusiveness Steering Committee and the EY Americas Inclusiveness Advisory Council.

Karyn’s insights have been featured in numerous media outlets including Bloomberg Businessweek, The Economist, Fast Company, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Karyn is a proud member of the Catalyst Board of Advisors, a leading non-profit organization with a mission to expand opportunities for women in business around the world. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of New York City.

Karyn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Miami University of Ohio, a Master’s degree in Taxation from Fordham University, a certificate in Strategic Human Resource Management from Harvard Business School and is a licensed CPA of New York.

She lives in New York City with her husband and her son.

Biography

Frank van der Post joined Cogeco in November 2019 as President of Atlantic Broadband. Frank worked at KPN, a Dutch multi-service telecommunications operator with more than seven million customers in the residential and enterprise markets, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer and was a member of the firm’s Management Board from 2015 to 2018.

Before joining the telecom company, Mr. van der Post spent several years in the airline and hospitality industries, having held senior leadership roles for top organizations across the world including British Airways, where he was Managing Director and Executive Board Member, InterContinental Hotels Group, where he worked for over 20 years and rose to the position of Vice President Operations, Eastern US and the Caribbean, and Jumeirah Group in Dubai where he was Chief Operating Officer.

Frank holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management and a Master of Science degree in Hotel Administration from the F.I.U. School of Hospitality Management in Miami Florida.

Biography

George is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Neuberger Berman, a private, independent employee-owned investment manager founded in 1939. The firm manages $304 billion of equities, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund portfolios for global institutions, advisors and individuals. With offices in 22 countries, Neuberger Berman has been named by Pensions & Investments as a Best Place to Work in Money Management, finishing first or second each of the last five years.

Prior to Neuberger Berman re-emerging as an independent firm in 2009, George was Global Head of the Investment Management Division at Neuberger Berman's former corporate parent, Lehman Brothers. Previously, George spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs where he was a partner and a member of the firm’s Partnership Committee. George’s additional Board Service includes: Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Partnership for New York City and Grace Church School. George earned a BA, BS and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Biography

Ellen L. Weintraub (@EllenLWeintraub) has served as a commissioner on the U.S. Federal Election Commission since 2002 and chaired it for the third time in 2019.

During her tenure, Weintraub has served as a consistent voice for meaningful campaign-finance law enforcement and robust disclosure. She believes that strong and fair regulation of money in politics is important to prevent corruption and maintain the faith of the American people in their democracy.

Weintraub sounded the alarm early–and continues to do so–regarding the potential for corporate and “dark-money” spending to become a vehicle for foreign influence in our elections.

Weintraub is a native New Yorker with degrees from Yale College and Harvard Law School. Prior to her appointment to the FEC, Weintraub was Of Counsel to the Political Law Group of Perkins Coie LLP and Counsel to the House Ethics Committee.

Biography

Tom Wilson is the chair, president and chief executive officer of The Allstate Corporation. Wilson has served as CEO of Allstate since 2007 and became the chairman of The Allstate Corporation’s Board of Directors in 2008.

Wilson has held a number of senior executive positions at Allstate since 1995. As CEO, Wilson has led a multi-year transformation of Allstate to position it as the only insurer with differentiated brands targeted at each segment of the market. The emphasis has been not only on doing the right things, such as investing in cutting-edge innovation, improving efficiency and productivity, and shedding non-core assets, but in doing them in the right way – optimizing the pace of change, restructuring for the long term rather than short term, honoring commitments to employees, agency owners, customers and communities, and investing in the people of Allstate.

He joined Allstate in 1995 from Sears, Roebuck and Co. where he was vice president of strategy and analysis. He was managing director of mergers and acquisitions at Dean Witter Reynolds from 1986 to 1993 and held various financial positions at the Amoco Corporation from 1980 to 1986.

Wilson is chairman emeritus of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is an active leader within the financial services industry and the community. He is a Board member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and a trustee of Rush University Medical Center. He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization Gold Chicago chapter. Wilson is committed to empowering youth and serves as the national and Illinois Co-Chair for WE Day. He is also the co-chair of Get IN Chicago, a public-private partnership to reduce violent crime among youth in Chicago.

He has previously served as chairman of the Property and Casualty CEO Roundtable, chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable and deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Wilson regularly offers comment and insight about timely business and policy topics in national media outlets, and his articles have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN.com.

A native of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Wilson holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.

Biography

Stavros N. Yiannouka is the CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), a major initiative of the Qatar Foundation. WISE is a multi-sectoral, multidisciplinary platform dedicated to building the future of education through innovation. WISE flagship programs include an annual summit dubbed the ‘Davos’ of education and the WISE Prize for Education, the first global prize of its kind to recognize an individual or team for making a major contribution to education. To find out more about WISE please visit www.wise-qatar.org.

Prior to joining WISE in August 2012, Stavros was the Executive Vice-Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) at the National University of Singapore. He joined the LKY School in June 2005 to spearhead the implementation of an ambitious growth strategy, which he had helped develop as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Today, the LKY School is widely recognized as the leading global policy school in Asia. Together with Kishore Mahbubani et al. Stavros is the co-author of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy: Building a Global Policy School in Asia, World Scientific (2012). To find out more about the LKY School please visit www.lkyspp.nus.edu.sg.

Before joining the LKY School, Stavros spent five years with McKinsey & Company from 2000-2005 serving private and public sector clients in Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Canada, predominantly in finance, healthcare and education. Prior to joining McKinsey, Stavros practiced corporate law in the City of London from 1995-1998 with the firms Gouldens and Mayer, Brown & Platt. Stavros holds an MBA (with Distinction) from the London Business School and an LLB (with Honours) from the University of Bristol. He is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and an Adjunct Professor and Advisor at the LKY School.