Nathalie Cely
Creative, social entrepreneur, focused on innovating and creating solutions to boost competitiveness, private sector development and economic inclusion. With more than 20 years of experience working in Latin America and Ecuador on issues related to economic structural transformation, export diversification, investment attraction and competitiveness.
She is currently sharing her time between her participation in advising the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils based in Washington, the gestation of the Center of Competitiveness and Productivity of Ecuador, and the accompaniment to Stratega as President of the Advisory Council.
She recently served as Ambassador of Ecuador to the United States, where she had the opportunity to promote the great tourism potential of the country. Also, in her previous public service positions, as Coordinating Minister of Production and Competitiveness as well as Coordinating Minister of Social Development give her a wide experience in the design and implementation of policies of productive diversification, public-private projects, and inclusion policies Economic and social.
Mark Cowan
Mr. Cowan draws on more than 35 years experience working on complex domestic and international public policy issues. He advises corporations, government entities, and foreign sovereigns on a wide array of business, regulatory, and trade issues. He has headed three companies of his own, and been a senior partner at Patton Boggs, LLP, wherein he both created and directed the firm’s Business Development Department and effort for over 500 lawyers.
Before entering the private sector, Mr. Cowan held presidential appointments in three administrations as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Secretary of Labor, and Commissioner on the National Commission on Employment Policy.
Mark Cowan
Mr. Cowan draws on more than 35 years experience working on complex domestic and international public policy issues. He advises corporations, government entities, and foreign sovereigns on a wide array of business, regulatory, and trade issues. He has headed three companies of his own, and been a senior partner at Patton Boggs, LLP, wherein he both created and directed the firm’s Business Development Department and effort for over 500 lawyers.
Before entering the private sector, Mr. Cowan held presidential appointments in three administrations as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Secretary of Labor, and Commissioner on the National Commission on Employment Policy.
Bob Dorf
Allegedly retired serial entrepreneur, co–author of The Startup Owners Manual.
Bob Dorf is likely the second most knowledgeable Customer Development expert on the planet, second only to its developer and Godfather, Steve Blank. Together the two spent nearly two years conceiving, outlining, drafting, rewriting, and revising the global bestseller, The Startup Owner’s Manual, now a business bestseller in the U.S. and many countries around the world.
A serial entrepreneur, Bob left a lucrative broadcasting job at the age of 22 because he had a passion to start his own company, which he did seven times over three decades. Bob’s track record as a founder, as he says: “two home runs, two base hits, and three great tax losses.”
Bob invested in and coached or advised more than two dozen startups over more than a decade. Seven of them IPO’ed, while six went “straight into the toilet.” In all, he says, “an incredible 42 year entrepreneurial education!”
In March, 2012, Bob published The Startup Owner’s Manual: A Step–By–Step Guide to Building a Great Company, along with Steve Blank. Two years of virtually fulltime research and development yielded his magnum opus: 608 page, painstakingly detailed guide is the most comprehensive, rigorous step–by–step roadmap that is guiding startup founders throughout the world. The Owner’s Manual offers parallel Customer Development pathways for companies in the web and mobile channels, as well as traditional physical goods and enterprise software startups; it also includes indepth web marketing tutorials.
Bob travels the world, helping startups, incubators, governments, and established corporations learn how to effectively deploy Customer Development process through speaking, workshops, and in intensive 8-10 week hands-on Startup Boot Camps. His training takes many forms, including speeches, workshops, and hands — on consulting.
He teaches Customer Development and Business Modeling in full-semester and week-long classes at Columbia Business School, where he is an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship, and has led training sessions at Tech de Monterrey, Mexico, Skolkovo Business School in Moscow, and many other places around the world. He’s counseled dozens of nonprofits probono as well, including the legendary Acumen Fund, a sustainable venture fund.
Michael Fairbanks
Michael Fairbanks was a U.S. Peace Corps teacher in Kenya (1979-1981). He is a Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University; a director of the Akilah Institute for Women, the first women’s college in Rwanda; a director of the Rwanda Biomedical Center, which oversees that nation’s healthcare system. He has been a Chief Executive in both the private and philanthropic sectors.
Michael has advised two dozen presidents in Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Asia on their export competitiveness and private sector development. He is Senior Advisor since 2001 to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. He co–authored Harvard Business School’s landmark book on business strategy in emerging markets, “Plowing the Sea, Nurturing the Hidden Sources of Advantage in Developing Nations,” and edited, “In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty.” He is a citizen of the United States, the European Union (Ireland), and Rwanda.
Michael Fairbanks
Michael Fairbanks was a U.S. Peace Corps teacher in Kenya (1979-1981). He is a Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University; a director of the Akilah Institute for Women, the first women’s college in Rwanda; a director of the Rwanda Biomedical Center, which oversees that nation’s healthcare system. He has been a Chief Executive in both the private and philanthropic sectors.
Michael has advised two dozen presidents in Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Asia on their export competitiveness and private sector development. He is Senior Advisor since 2001 to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. He co–authored Harvard Business School’s landmark book on business strategy in emerging markets, “Plowing the Sea, Nurturing the Hidden Sources of Advantage in Developing Nations,” and edited, “In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty.” He is a citizen of the United States, the European Union (Ireland), and Rwanda.
Pilar Rios
As a specialist in corporate communications, public relations and branding, Pilar has been a part of the Comunicación Corporativa Ketchum team in Nicaragua since 2003. Her clients include Amanco, B2Gold, Delta Airlines, Dole Food Company, Payless Shoe Source, Noble Energy and Walmart. She has also consulted to the Nicaraguan Embassy, Benelux, and the European Union, and has worked for companies such as Femsa de Mexico, Shell in Nicaragua, and Corporación Roberto Terán.