Hans de Wit, Director, CIHE, Boston College

Hans de Wit is Director of the ‘Center for International Higher Education’ (CIHE) at Boston College, USA, and professor of the practice in International Higher Education at the Department of Higher Education and Leadership of the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. He has a bachelor, master and PhD from the University of Amsterdam.

He is the Founding Editor of the ‘Journal of Studies in International Education’ (Association for Studies in International Education/SAGE publishers), and Consulting Editor of the journal Policy Reviews in Higher Education (SRHE). He publishes a monthly blog in University World News on internationalisation of higher education, www.universityworldnews.com. He has been Director of the ‘Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation’ (CHEI) at the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, and Professor of Internationalization of Higher Education at the Amsterdam, University of Applied Sciences. Hans de Wit is founding member and past president of the European Association for International Education (EAIE).

Francisco Marmolejo, Lead Tertiary Education Specialist, World Bank

Francisco Marmolejo is the World Bank’s Lead Tertiary Education Specialist and Coordinator of its Network of Higher Education Specialists. He serves as the coordinator of the internal thematic group on higher education, which helps facilitate the exchange of ideas on higher education initiatives across the globe. Previously, he served asfounding Executive Director of the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC), a network of more than 160 higher education institutions primarily from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, based at the University of Arizona (UA), where he also worked as Assistant Vice President. At UA, he was Affiliated Researcher at the Center for the Study of Higher Education and Affiliate Faculty at the Center for Latin American Studies.

Marcia is the Vice President of Curitiba Angels, an organization highly committed to innovation in support of society, education and business in Brazil and abroad.  She is involved in many dialogues related to innovative methodologies and technologies to support national, university and business policies and objectives. Marcia holds a Ph.D. degree in Technology and Development from Technological University of Paraná in Curitiba and she holds a master degree in computer science on software engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canadá. Her doctoral thesis developed and validated a reference method for portfolio generation for innovation opportunities (InovaXpress), which has enabled business organizations to create and select a portfolio of innovation opportunities with more accuracy. InovaXpress has become a reference model for associations and federations and has been applied in the following economic sectors: food, beverage, construction and electronics. This method has successfully supported 200 Brazilian enterprises to generate new products and launch new start-ups. 

Jaime Reyes Robles, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology in the State of Jalisco, Mexico

Jaime Reyes obtained a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1968. He has a Master Degree in Chemical Engineering, granted by the University of Minnesota in 1970. In 1999 he attended the program of Wharton Advance Management in Pennsylvania. After graduating from his master degree, Jaime worked at Kodak, from 1970 to 1985. In 1985 he joined Hewlett Packard as Manufacturing Manager in Network Printer Operation and WW Vice President of Business Unit at Imaging and Printing. He retired in 2004 after 20 years in HP. He was President of CANIETI west region from 2000 to 2002. From 2002 to 2006 he was Vice Coordinator for the Council of Industrial Chamber. Husband and father of 4. At this moment, Jaime is Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology in Jalisco.

Stephanie Bermudez, Founder & Host, Startup Unidos

Stephanie Bermudez, podcast and events host, entrepreneur and regional influencer covers the topics that are most important to the border region's innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems offering unfiltered insights and actionable advice.

Outside of SUU, Stephanie is Program Manager for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. She has a successful background developing coworking and maker spaces having previously launched Connect Coworking and consulted on the RAIL YARD expansion, both in Tucson, Arizona. Stephanie is also actively involved with Co+Hoots in Phoenix, Arizona, ranked #1 Most Innovative Space in Arizona.

Carlos J. Alsua, Academic Director, McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Arizona

Dr. Alsua's global expertise has brought him to work with a number of public and private organizations on over four continents. His interests include global entrepreneurship and innovation, cross-cultural management and leadership, global ethics, positive psychology, motivation in an international context, and the implementation of managerial practices and entrepreneurship in developing economies.

Dr. Alsua has held previous faculty positions at the University of Alaska, Anchorage; Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Business School, Chile; as well as numerous visiting positions in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Russia. His research appears in academic and practitioner journals, and in numerous national and international conferences.

David Wilkin, Founder, Ten Thousand Coffees

I started working with youth in high school, and had the opportunity to really embrace that passion in university when I sawthe gap between the real world (companies, brands, and government) and the next generation.  After running an award winning youth company, we developed www.TenThousandCoffees.com to globally bridge the gap between the real world and the next generation.

The best advice I have ever received: Over coffee a mentor saw the entrepreneurial opportunity to help organizations better connect with millennials. After seeing this opportunity and what I had been working on for over a decade, she told me "Well, I’d like to hire you, but I’m not going to. You need to start your own business, and I won’t talk to you again until you do.” From there, we've now become a global tech company with a mission to connect the next generation with the experiences they need to unlock opportunity.

Peter Lewis, Co-Founder, La Bicicleta Verde

Born in Kansas, Peter started traveling through Latin America on a regular basis at age 19 before landing permanently in Santiago, Chile. He finished his MA in International Politics and after working a few years as a professor at the Universidad de Chile and a CNN Foreign Affairs correspondent, Peter took a leap of faith in 2007 and decided to start La Bicicleta Verde.

Since then, Peter and his business partner have been mentioned 2x in NYTIMES and even Paul McCartney has been known to visit them when in Santiago. In 2011 the duo started Tours4Tips, which now operates in 4 cities in Chile. In 2017, along with 2 new business partners, they launched ChileGuru, adjusting from the tour operator angle to the agency business model. In mid 2018, Peter will be the face of a new cultural TV show called 'Aqui Te Las Traigo Peter.'

Anita Gordy-Watkins, Associate Vice Chancellor of Global Economic Development, Dallas County Community College District

Anita provides strategic leadership for building strong international alliances to support the workforceinitiatives with colleges and to support economic development initiatives of the District and its communities. Previously, Anita was executive vice president of Oklahoma State University’s Institute of Technology, holding many positions there throughout her 26-year career with the university. As former chair of the Oklahoma Governor’s International Team, she was actively involved in leadership of the state’s global efforts, mobilizing key partners and resources to position Oklahoma for growth in foreign direct investment, trade and state-wide internationalization initiatives.

She has traveled and worked extensively with various countries to include; China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, India, UAE, Jordan, Israel, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kenya, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, and throughout Europe. Anita is a graduate of Oklahoma State University.  When not at home in Ovilla, TX, Anita enjoys traveling the world with her husband and 3-year old daughter.

Dr. Daniel Moska Arreola, Director, Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute

A graduate with honorable mention from Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey Campus in the Public Accounting department. Master of Administrative Sciences from the same campus. Master of Administration with a specialization in Finance and a Doctorate in Finance from Tulane University. 

He was Director of the School of Business and Humanities of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara. He participated in the creation of the Business and Financial Research and Consultancy Center and the start of the Business Accelerator, Investors Club and the Academic Leaders program in Campus Guadalajara. He was later appointed President of the Santa Fe Campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. Member of the technical committee of the Best Mexican Companies project with Deloitte, Banamex, Grupo Imagen and the Tecnológico de Monterrey. He is currently the Director of the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute.