Dr. Barbara Kotschwar is the Executive Director of the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute, leading the team of fellows and setting the research agenda. Until October 2018 she worked with the Investment Policy team at the World Bank, spearheading thought leadership on services and investment policy.
Dr. Juan José Daboub is an entrepreneurially minded professional who started his career as an engineer before moving into government. In 1999, he was the youngest senior cabinet member in El Salvador, serving first as Chief of Staff to the president and then as Minister of Finance. Later, as a Managing Director at the World Bank Group, he was credited with having driven several corporate initiatives and reforms, including leading the institution’s global agenda on governance and anti-corruption.
Marielos Chang is a professor of politics and international affairs at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and Francisco Marroquín University. She is the co-founder of Red Ciudadana, a non-profit organization that seeks to bring citizens closer to their institutions through the innovative use of technology and communication. Chang also collaborates with the digital media platform Plaza Pública by making informative videos on politics. She has worked for more than nine years advising on political and communication issues for private and public institutions.
Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico to the United States of America by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He was ratified by the Senate of the Republic in February 2021 with 115 votes in favor of 116 attending senators.
Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr. was appointed as PAHO Assistant Director in July 2018.
Dr. Barbosa a national of Brazil, received his medical degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco (Recife, Brazil). He specialized in public health and epidemiology at the National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation-FIOCRUZ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). He holds a Master's degree in Medical Sciences and a PhD in public health from the University of Campinas (São Paulo, Brazil).
Former Ambassador of Trinidad & Tobago to the U.S., Mexico, and the OAS
Chairman of the Global Alliance for Surgery, Obstetrics, Trauma and Anesthesia Care, G4 Alliance. Co-Founder, Managing Director – Parsan Cross
Ambassador Parsan was a Special Advisor to The World Bank Group, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Parsan Cross, a Global Strategic Advisory firm located in Washington DC and
Ambassador of Costa Rica to the U.S., former Minister of Health of Costa Rica, and former Executive President of Costa Rican Social Security Fund.
Brian Latell has been a Latin America and Caribbean specialist since the 1960s. During his 35 years of service in the CIA and the National Intelligence Council, he advised White House and other ranking American officials and members of Congress on Latin American developments. He teaches, lectures, consults, and writes, especially on Cuba and foreign intelligence matters. He has frequently advised U.S. and foreign government policy making organizations and leaders, including presidents and ministers. In the late 1960s he served as a U.S.
Beto Veríssimo is an agronomic engineer and tropical ecologist. He is the co-founder of Imazon and program director at the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center (Centro de Empreendedorismo da Amazônia). Veríssimo is also an affiliated scholar at Princeton University's Brazil Lab.
Denis Benchimol Minev is the CEO of Bemol, a retailer in northern Brazil, and an angel investor in sustainable Amazon projects. He is also the co-founder and a member of the board of Fundação Amazonas Sustentável. In 2012, Minev was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He previously served as the state secretary for planning and economic development of Amazonas state and was an analyst at Goldman Sachs. Minev holds a BA in economics and an MA in Latin American studies from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School.