Chase Harrison is an Editorial Associate at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas Online. In this role, he produces digital content on Latin American politics and economics, including articles and infographics. He also is one of the rotating hosts of AS/COA Online’s Latin America in Focus podcast.
David L. Yermack is the Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation at New York University Stern School of Business. He serves as Chairman of the Finance Department and Director of the NYU Pollack Center for Law and Business. Professor Yermack teaches joint MBA-Law School courses in Restructuring Firms & Industries and Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies, as well as PhD research courses in corporate governance, executive compensation, and distress and restructuring.
Ivana De Maria was born in San Diego, California, raised in Mexico City and educated in Switzerland. After spending three years at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, she moved to Boston where she completed a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Law at Boston University, while spending summers at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York.
Luisa M. Horwitz is a public policy programs associate at Americas Society/Council of the Americas and a member of YPA's internal committee. Horwitz works to execute public and private programs for a range of Latin American countries of interest for AS/COA members. She also works on creating programs for AS/COA's Women's Hemispheric Network, hosting top public- and private-sector leaders across the Americas to address issues around women in the workforce and inspire more women to achieve leadership positions.
Sarah Hammer is Managing Director of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance and Senior Director of the Harris Alternative Investments Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In these roles, she focuses her efforts on private capital investments and financial technology. Ms. Hammer also leads the Cypher Blockchain Accelerator at the Wharton School, and she leads an Initiative on Diversity & Inclusion. Ms.
Samantha Hoffman is a Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre, and independent consultant.
Her work explores the domestic and global implications of the Chinese Communist Party’s “autonomic” approach to state security. It offers new ways of thinking about how to understand and respond to China’s pursuit of artificial intelligence and big data-enabled capabilities to augment political and social control.
Ineke Geesink is an executive with a career spanning more than 20 years at Microsoft. Last year, she took up the position of country manager for Costa Rica. In this position, she oversees the impact of the business within the country and manages Microsoft's national plan. Likewise, she is the director of Canals, Medium and Small Enterprises of Central America and a member of the board of directors of the Costa Rican-North American Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica (AmCham). In addition, Geesink is a member of the Board of Directors of YoEmprendedor and CAMTIC in Costa Rica.
Jessica L. Bedoya is the chief of staff and chief strategy officer at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Bedoya is the primary advisor to the president on matters of institutional strategy and investment policy, while leading the bank’s operations. She has extensive leadership experience in international affairs and policymaking, as well as a track-record of successfully coordinating with the private sector across Latin America and the Caribbean.
