WHN Miami 2025: Opening Remarks and Dr. Camelia Ilie Cardoza, President of INCAE

Opening Remarks:

• Maria Lourdes Teran, Vice President, AS/COA Miami
• Iris Escarrá, Shareholder & Co-Chair of Land Use Practice, Greenberg Traurig

Keynote Conversation

• Camelia Ilie, President, INCAE Business School 

"The focus of our women's initiative is to share stories of excellence, resilience, and innovation," said AS/COA Vice President Maria Lourdes Teran at the opening of the 10th Annual AS/COA Women's Hemispheric Network Conference in Miami. Acknowledging today's shifting economic landscape, Teran encouraged attendees to view change as an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Then, Iris Escarrá of Greenberg Traurig welcomed the attendees of the forum. Noting that the city of Miami was founded by a woman, Julia Tuttle, Escarrá urged the audience collaborate with fellow attendees in order to foster the confidence needed to undertake bold projects.

In the first conversation of the day, Teran sat down with Dr. Camelia Ilie Cardoza, the first woman president of the INCAE Business School, headquartered in Costa Rica. Dr. Cardoza shared how her upbringing in Romania instilled values that continue to be useful in her professional life, how a trip to Colombia led her to a career in education, and the benefits of consistency and reliability in establishing professional networks.

On the topic of gender dynamics in the workplace, Dr. Cardoza stated that women should think not about competing with men, but rather complementing them through developing unique skills and abilities. She mentioned that when women students bring up "impostor syndrome," she advises, "don't be afraid of fear or doubt because, at a healthy level, they are engines for growth." As a leader, she emphasized the importance of being able to have and facilitate "constructive conflict" with the understanding that "collective intelligence" surpasses any individual knowledge.