Global Engagement

Created in 2006, the Georgetown University Latin American Board (LAB) supports the university’s engagement across the region. Composed of influential leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, the LAB serves as an advisory board to the president and provost. The only regional board of its kind at Georgetown, the LAB assists in the development of strong ties between the university and its alumni, parents, and other collaborators across Latin America and the Caribbean. The LAB works closely with the LAB Young Leaders Group.

Antonio Ardila - Colombia: Ardila is vice-chairman of Organización Ardila Lülle, which along with its subsidiaries operates in the beverages, agro-industry, textiles, telecommunications, media, and financial services sectors. He previously served as the ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom from November 2019 to March 2022, chairman of the board of directors and of the executive committee of Postobón, and a member of the board of directors of Peldar, Crown Colombiana, and Cervecería Central de Colombia.

Manuel J. Balbontin, P'19, P'25 - Chile: Balbontin, a partner, vice chairman of Vinci Compass, and founder of Compass, has over 30 years of experience in asset management, investment banking, and private capital investments in Latin America and other emerging markets. Until 2024, he was executive chairman of Compass Group Holdings and senior investment strategist. He previously served as a managing director and founder of New World Investments Group of Banco Santander in New York and as director of capital markets and co-director of sales and trading of Citicorp Emerging Markets Group in New York, London, and Tokyo.

Francisco Barriocanal, G'94 - Paraguay: Barriocanal serves as executive chairman at Cementos Concepcion S.A.E., the largest producer of cement, concrete, and agricultural lime in Paraguay. He has served on several boards of directors and has experience spanning diverse businesses in sectors including food and beverage, fuel distribution and retail, hospitality, personal care, real estate development, and tobacco.

Alberto Beeck, P'15, P'17, P'18 - Peru (Chairman): Beeck is managing partner of Cranley Investments Holdings and serves on the boards of DB Andean Towers, WE Family Offices Holdings, and Industria Works. He started his career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers and subsequently worked at Dillon Read, Barings, and ING Barings in New York and London, where he headed the Latin American Investment Banking Group. From 1998 to 2008, Beeck was president of Cementos Pacasmayo and executive director of Hochschild Mining. He is a member of the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Endeavor Miami, and Project Liberty.

Claudia Blum - Colombia: Blum has had an extensive career in politics, serving as the permanent representative of Colombia to the United Nations and a senator of Colombia, where she was the first woman to serve as president of the Senate. From 2019 to 2021, she served as Colombia’s minister of foreign affairs and promoted an international agenda focused on the defense of democracy, environmental issues, international cooperation in human rights and development, and assistance to migrants. Blum is the author of six books related to her work in Congress, as well as an autobiography.

Mati Bonetti de Buccini, C'94 - Dominican Republic: Bonetti de Buccini is partner and director of Atelier Delaware, a fine art preservation and storage organization. Previously she worked for MTV Networks International as the director of I=international marketing for MTV, Nickelodeon, and VH-1. Bonetti de Buccini received her B.A. in history and art history from Georgetown University in 1994 and an MBA from Columbia University in 1998.

Claudia  Cisneros, P'23 - Venezuela: Cisneros is the founder and president of Digisalud, a philanthropic organization that promotes health advances for children in Latin America. She is passionate about innovation and technology and a committed social entrepreneur. Currently, she is a member of the board of Digitel Venezuela, a telecom operator. Cisneros is a former director and current member of the Cisneros Fontanals Foundations (CIFO), an institution that promotes Latin American art and artists globally.

Miguel Dueñas, B'66, P'99, P'99 - El Salvador: Dueñas is founder of Hermanos Ltda and a member of the conglomerate Dueñas Hermanos y Compañia and Roberto Dueñas Limitada, which along with its subsidiaries operates in a variety of industries in El Salvador ranging from real estate and cement to retail.

Alejandra Fernandez, P'26 - Nicaragua: Fernandez is managing director of Grupo Ayucus. Before joining Grupo Ayucus, she served as an associate with Deloitte. She is a graduate of Williams College and received her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Irma Frank, P'91, P'94, P'96, P'97, P'99 - Colombia/USA. Frank serves as the senior associate dean for international programs at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She chairs the International Programs Committee, which oversees all School of Medicine international programs. She received pediatric dentistry training at Harvard School of Dental Medicine and training in cleft palate treatment at Tufts University. Frank is also a board member of the Santa Fe de Bogota Foundation for Health and Education in Latin America.

Sissi Freeman, C'03 - Brazil: Freeman is the director of marketing and sales at Granado Pharmácias, Brazil’s oldest pharmaceutical and personal-care company. She has led Granado’s transformation into a modern premium brand, overseeing brand repositioning, product innovation, retail strategy, and global market entry, including expansion into Europe and the United States. Freeman received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 2003.

Enrique García - Bolivia: García is a former executive president of CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, where he served from 1991 to 2017. He currently serves on the advisory council of the nonprofit organization Institute of the Americas and is a member of several boards and advisory councils internationally. Previously, he served as minister of planning and chief of the economic and social cabinet of the Bolivian Council of Ministers, as well as treasurer of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster, C'68, P'00, P'05, P'14, P'16 - Argentina: Gonzalez-Bunster serves as chairman and chief executive officer of InterEnergy Holdings, which he founded in 1988. He previously founded and managed InterEnergy’s predecessor, Basic Energy Ltd. (Bahamas), a holding company that owns and operates electrical generation and distribution assets in the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Jamaica. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Clinton Foundation, the Energy and Climate Committee of the Clinton Global Initiative, and the Institute of the Americas.

Dionisio Gutierrez - Guatemala: Gutierrez is a Guatemalan philanthropist, sociologist, and president of the Fundación Libertad y Desarrollo. He is also a former president and current board member of Corporación Multi Inversiones and former president of the Chamber of Free Enterprise in Guatemala.

Diego Herrera, B'94 - Guatemala: Herrera is chief executive officer of the Pantaleon Group, Inc., a family-held corporation founded in 1848 with interests in sugar production, energy, and shopping malls that currently operates in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Prior to joining Pantaleon, Herrera served as managing partner with Atlas Vivienda, a Mexican real estate development company where he remains a board member. He also previously worked in the investment banking group of Paribas in New York City.

Miguel Mendoza, P'23 - Venezuela: Mendoza is the founder and chief executive officer of Power Infrastructure. He has over 20 years’ experience in the energy and infrastructure industries including oil and gas, power generation, distribution, and renewables, with a special focus on emerging markets. He is a member of the Board of Junior Achievement in Argentina and a member of the Acquisition Committee of the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (Malba) in Buenos Aires. Mendoza holds an MBA from the Columbia Business School, a master’s degree in finance from the London Business School, and several advanced law degrees.

Christian Mürrle, B'80, P'24 - Colombia: Mürrle is managing director and principal of PanAmCap, LLC, a company he founded that sources investment and merchant banking opportunities in the United States and Latin America. From 2002 to 2016, Mürrle was a principal at PanAmerican Capital, LLC. He sits on the board of directors of Grupo Nutresa and of the Colombian American Association, a 93-year-old organization that promotes investment and commerce between the United States and Colombia, and where he served as president for over a decade. He is a past board member of AID FOR AIDS and past honorary consul of Sweden in Cali, Colombia.

Luis Alberto Moreno - Colombia: Moreno is managing director at Allen & Co LLC, a private investment bank. Previously, he served three terms as president of the Inter-American Development Bank from 2005 to 2020 and served as Colombia's ambassador to the United States from 1998 to 2005. He has also held roles as Colombia's minister of economic development and head of the Instituto de Fomento Industrial. He serves on the boards of Dow Inc., Nubank, and Coinbase, as well as the Center for Global Development and the World Wildlife Fund; he is a member of the International Olympic Committee and the Latin American Conservation Council.

Moisés Naím - Venezuela: Naím, an internationally syndicated columnist and author of several bestselling books, served as Venezuela’s minister of trade and industry, director of Venezuela’s Central Bank, and executive director of the World Bank in the early 1990s. From 1996 to 2010, he was editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy and, in 2011, he launched Efecto Naím, an innovative weekly television program highlighting surprising world trends. He is also a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the board of directors of several global companies.

Alejandro Poma, P'24 - El Salvador: Poma is director of Grupo Poma, a Salvadoran-based multinational company with interests in automotive retail, parts, service, and finance; hospitality; real estate development; construction materials; and architectural products and investments. Poma is also a board member of Fundacion Salvadoreña para la Salud y Desarrollo Human (FUSAL) and INCAE Business School, and he serves as president of the Salvadoran National Committee of INCAE. For many years he has also been a member of the Salvadoran chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.

Philippe Stiernon, B'03, MBA'15 - Colombia: Stiernon is founder, CEO, and managing partner of ROAM Capital, one of Latin America’s leading placement agents. He also serves as CIO of Hoya Capital, a family investment vehicle. Before founding ROAM, Stiernon served as the co-head of investor relations for a Latin American private equity fund and a hedge fund in London. Prior to that, he spent five years working for Merrill Lynch, starting in the firm’s investment banking division in New York and transitioning to the private wealth management division in Miami.

Andrés Tesak, B'95 - El Salvador: Tesak is an executive at Bocadeli, a snack producer that operates in almost all countries in Central America, in the United States, and in the Dominican Republic. He was named honorary consul of El Salvador to Hungary by the national Congress in 2012. The Tesak family are the patrons of the Cultural Center Pablo Tesak, which promotes social unity and child development through educational and cultural initiatives.

Alessandro Zema, P'28 - Brazil: Zema is Brazil country head for Morgan Stanley, where he also serves as co-head of Investment Banking for Latin America. Before joining Morgan Stanley in 2008, Zema was an executive director at Lehman Brothers and a director at Credit Suisse in London. He is a member of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council Board of Directors.