speakers and Supporters

 Joseph E. Aoun, a well-known higher education thought leader and renowned scholar in linguistics, is the seventh President of Northeastern University. He has led the global expansion of Northeastern’s signature co-op program, bringing experiential learning opportunities to more than 140 countries. During his tenure, the university has created a global university system spanning 14 campuses across North America and the U.K., increased external research funding sevenfold, and hired more than 800 tenured and tenure-track faculty.

Aoun is the author of numerous articles and books, including Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. He was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French government and is a recipient of the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a past Chair of the American Council on Education. Most recently, he received the Peter J. Tanous Founder’s award from the American Task Force on Lebanon for his exceptional achievements in education.

 Maria C. Alonso is a senior executive and community leader with a rich history of civic involvement in South Florida. She currently serves as CEO and Regional Dean of Northeastern University Miami, where she provides the strategic direction and vision for the programs, services, and operations for the campus. She works closely with the university’s academic leadership to identify and develop meaningful opportunities that respond to the needs of the community and address workforce gaps in the region’s evolving economy.

Among her many roles in the community, Alonso serves as an Independent Board Director of U.S. Century Bank, one of Florida’s largest community banks. Previously, as Bank of America’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for Miami, she was responsible for achieving the bank’s charitable giving objectives and employee engagement goals, strengthening the bank’s brand among clients, consumers, investors, and the community at large. Alonso was also tapped to become United Way Miami President and CEO in August 2017.

After graduating from Northeastern’s College of Science with a degree in psychology, Jude Albukari obtained her doctorate in clinical psychology, and completed her training at Stanford School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. She has since worked as an attending psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. With a passion for the intersection of technology and healthcare, she explores innovative healthtech solutions that enhance patient care and access, mental health accessibility, and digital therapeutics. Albukari sits on the Board of Directors of CISV USA, an international children’s peace education organization.

A sixth-generation leader of Becle with 28 years of experience, Juan-Domingo Beckmann has served as Chairman of the company, which crafts Jose Cuervo tequila, since December 2022. Under his management, Becle has received the Premio Nacional de Exportación and the Premio Nacional de Calidad.

Beckmann began his professional career at Becle as Manager of Tequila Centenario. Subsequently, as Manager of New Product Development, he launched the Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia brand and developed a solid track record of innovation, not only in the tequila category but also with rum, vodka, liqueurs, and energy drinks.

The family-run firm Becle first exported its tequila to the United States in the 1800s and offers tequila under a variety of brand names that include the 1800, Jose Cuervo Especial, Jose Cuervo Tradicional, and Maestro Dobel. Beckmann holds a degree in business administration from Universidad Anáhuac.

 Ben Brown is a Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Real Estate Group, and Head of the Americas region. In this capacity, he oversees all real estate operations, including investments and portfolio management. Brown has held various key roles at the firm, including Global Head of Office, and he has led acquisitions and dispositions for the office property business in the U.S. and London.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2010, Brown worked at the New Boston Fund, Sovereign Bank, and Thor Equities.

Brown holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University, and is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Executive Committee and Board of Governors.

 Ximena Caminos is a cultural entrepreneur and place-maker, celebrated for her unwavering commitment to public art. She is the President of the BlueLab Preservation Society, CCO of HoneyLab Creative, and Founder of The ReefLine. Caminos has pioneered new ways to engage with contemporary art, emphasizing its role in community building, urban development, climate change, and ocean conservation. She has played a pivotal role in creating large-scale cultural districts across North and South America. Currently, she is leading a team of experts on the realization of The ReefLine, a seven-mile public underwater sculpture park and hybrid reef off the coast of Miami Beach.

Caminos has served as Artistic Visionary Planner for The Underline, the largest public art project in the U.S., and as Founder and former Chair of Faena Art. She was Executive Creative Director and partner in Faena Group, Chief Curator at the Faena Arts Center in Buenos Aires, and founded the Faena Prize for the Arts.

 A leader in the field of nonverbal communication and leadership presence facilitation, Rachel Cossar’s work sits at the intersection of AI and human behavior. As a former nationally ranked athlete and professional ballet dancer, she has a knack for translating unique skills into relatable business skills and competencies.

Virtual Sapiens, Cossar’s most recent venture blending AI and communication coaching, comes as an evolution of her combined work as founder of Choreography for Business, a nonverbal communication consulting firm, as a faculty member with Mobius Executive Leadership, and as a leadership presence facilitator with Ariel Group. She has worked with leaders from GE, Boston Consulting Group, Pfizer, Accenture, McKinsey, Harvard Business School, and more.

Cossar believes in the power of leveraging unique channels of communication in their own unique ways and that human connection is the key to organizational impact.

 Lamar Cardinez is a Principal at Blue Owl and member of the GP Strategic Capital Investment Team. In his role, he focuses on evaluating investment opportunities, underwriting transactions, and capital raising for Blue Owl HomeCourt Partners Fund. Since joining the firm, Cardinez has been integral to the development of its HomeCourt Partners strategy, which was an early pioneer in private equity-sponsored professional sports investing.

Before starting at Blue Owl, Cardinez was an Investment Banking Associate at Guggenheim Securities. Prior to that, he was a member of the National Football League’s Junior Rotational Program, where he worked in various media and business development roles.

Cardinez received a BS in business administration from Northeastern University, where he graduated with honors. He also received an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson College of Business. He was recently named one of Private Equity International’s 40 Under 40: Future Leaders of Private Equity in the Dealmakers category.

 Rich D’Amore has three decades of experience in the venture business and has been with North Bridge since the company’s inception in 1994. Before co-founding North Bridge, Mr. D’Amore spent 14 years at Hambro International Equity Partners, establishing the firm’s Boston office. Before joining Hambro in 1982, he worked as a consultant at Bain and Company and was a Certified Public Accountant with Arthur Young and Company.

A dedicated supporter of higher education, Mr. D’Amore serves as chair of the Board of Trustees at Northeastern University, where he promotes innovation and research that can drive economic growth. He also served as campaign co-chair for the university’s historic Empower campaign, which surpassed its original fundraising goal, raising $1.4 billion for students, faculty, and research. He and Alan McKim, DMSB’88, propelled the campaign forward with a historic gift of $60 million in 2012 to name the university’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business.

Mr. D’Amore received a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern and has an MBA from Harvard University.

William Duran brings stablecoins to Latin America through his company Minteo, having successfully raised $4.3 million for the project. He also serves as a Mentor and Investor at Cube Ventures, supporting pre-seed startups in LATAM, and mentors at the Founder Institute, assisting Colombian startups in their global expansion.

John F. Fish is the Chairman and CEO of Suffolk, a national contractor and real estate enterprise that builds, innovates, and invests. Under his vision and leadership, Suffolk has grown to $6 billion annual revenue, and is ranked in the top 25 on the Engineering News-Record national list of Top 400 Contractors.

Fish serves as Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable, is a founding member and current Director of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, is former Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, serves as Director of the Real Estate Board of New York, and is a member of the Partnership for New York City and the National Business Roundtable. He serves as Chair of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and sits on the Executive Committee of Mass General Brigham. Fish is also the Chair of the Board at Boston College, his second time serving that role and first non-alum to fulfill that role. Further, he serves on the Board of Overseers for Home Base.

Laura González-Estéfani is Founder and CEO of TheVentureCity, whose product-led growth focus supports promising, early-stage to Series A startups around the world, in particular in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. Since founding TheVentureCity in 2017, González-Estéfani has supported over 78 companies through the first ticket product led growth support and an additional 30 companies through their first-round funds. She’s grown the reach of TheVentureCity to campuses in Miami and Madrid, as well as offices in San Francisco and Sao Paulo.

An early employee of Facebook, González-Estéfani spent almost nine years supporting the platform’s growth initiatives in Silicon Valley, Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Prior to Facebook, she held management roles at eBay and Siemens and co-founded Esplaya.com, the first beach tourism digital platform in Spain in 2000. An active equal rights advocate, angel investor, mentor, and board member, she serves as a board member for Caixabank, PayClip, and RecargaPay.

 Adolfo Henriques is Vice Chairman of The Related Group, a leading developer of sophisticated metropolitan living environments.

Prior to The Related Group, Henriques served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust, now part of First Horizon Bank. He was also Chairman, President, and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries, and Chief Executive Officer of the South Region for Regions Bank.

Active in his community, Henriques serves on numerous boards, including HEICO Corporation, Intcomex, Inc., Bradesco Bank, and Doctors Healthcare Plans, Inc. He is a member of the Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council, Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent’s Business Advisory Council, and a member of the Orange Bowl Committee.

Henriques received the 2018 Jay Malina Award from the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the Sand in My Shoes Award from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the Silver Medallion from the MCCJ, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship.

Alberto Ibargüen was the president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as well as the former publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. During his tenure, The Miami Herald won three Pulitzer Prizes, and El Nuevo Herald won Spain’s Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in journalism.

Ibargüen studied at Wesleyan University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is a former chair of the World Wide Web Foundation, founded by web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee to promote a free and universal web. Over time, he has served on the boards of arts, education, and journalism organizations, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Wesleyan University, and Smith College.

Ibargüen is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. For his work protecting journalists in Latin America, he received a Maria Moors Cabot citation from Columbia University.

 After graduating from Northeastern University with a major in international affairs in 2016, Daisy Kendrick founded the nonprofit Ocean Generation, becoming an award-winning social entrepreneur who sought to harness the power of future generations to protect our environment.

Next, Kendrick decided to transition out of the nonprofit sector, so she completed a Global Corporate Compliance master’s degree from IE University Law School in Spain. That led her to taking a business development and compliance role in her family office, responding to new and complex regulatory challenges in different marketplaces in the construction technology, affordable housing, and renewable energy sectors.

While remaining in her family office, in 2024 Kendrick began her entrepreneurial journey into bespoke shirt making, creating her own brand called DaisyK.Madrid, for which she combines the core principles of shirt making and elevates them to a master level, designing shirts that reflect one’s personality, taste, and lifestyle.

 As Vice President of Miami Hub Operations for American Airlines, Juan Carlos Liscano leads a team of 13,500 team members who operate almost 400 daily flights from Miami International Airport. He joined the airline in 1994 and has held numerous leadership roles there throughout his career, including Managing Director of Latin America, Managing Director of Los Angeles Hub Operations, Managing Director of Flight Service Strategy, and Managing Director of Customer Care in Miami.

Liscano currently serves on the board of directors for several of Miami’s civic and business organizations, including the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Miami, and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. He holds an MBA from Florida International University and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.

Cycling and diving are Liscano’s non-aviation passions, but his true passion is family time. He resides in Miami with his wife, Joanne, and his four children.

Diane Nishigaya MacGillivray is Senior Vice President for University Advancement at Northeastern University, where she oversaw the university’s largest ever campaign in 2017, raising $1.4 billion and setting a new a university record. Under her leadership, annual fundraising has increased from an annual average of $20 million to $110 million, including securing a gift for the first named college at the university and a $50 million donation for a second named college.

MacGillivray was also instrumental in attaining four $100 million gifts to launch an advanced technology campus in Portland, Maine. She currently leads the Experience Powered by Northeastern campaign, which—due to unparalleled early success—recently raised its fundraising goal from $1.3 billion to $1.75 billion.

MacGillivray also founded and leads Northeastern’s Women Who Empower initiative, which inspires future generations of trailblazers through its entrepreneurship initiative, events, mentorship, and more.

John Martinson has been a venture capitalist and software industry leader for 40 years. His firm, Martinson Ventures, is the primary investor in 42 emerging companies. He has invested in 35 private companies and 25 private equity partnerships, and has made an initial commitment for five first-time venture funds. Further, he is a member of the Golden Seeds, Jumpstart, and Delaware Crossing angel investor groups.

Martinson is an active individual investor and philanthropist. The Martinson Family Foundation makes grants to educational and charitable programs, funding and advising 50 multiple-year projects at 20 universities to improve K-12 instruction in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering.

A past Chairman and eight-year Director of the National Venture Capital Association, Martinson has also served as the Chairman of PACT, a leading venture and technology trade group in the Philadelphia area. In addition, he was a director of five trade associations, 10 nonprofit organizations, and six universities. He earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Laura Maydón founded Ascendo, a venture capital firm based in Miami, seeking to invest nationwide in early-stage companies led by exceptional diverse founders who are often overlooked and underfunded. She harnesses diversity as a strategic advantage in the pursuit of alpha. Ascendo seeks visionary entrepreneurs who are using disruptive technologies that address the needs of growing demographics and that empower women as catalysts of economic growth across fintech, healthtech, edtech, future of work, and enterprise software.

Maydón serves on the Board of International Money Express and as a member of the Investment Committee of Salkantay Ventures. She volunteers as a Steering Committee Member of AllRaise Miami Chapter, as Chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council Tech Committee, as a member of NWS Digital Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the HBS Women’s Alumnae Board. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in economics from I.T.A.M. in Mexico City.

Kaitlin McCarthy is the founder and CEO of Ionic Development Company, a Boston-based, woman-owned real estate development and consulting firm established in 2022. With over 15 years of experience in the real estate development, engineering, and construction industries, she has been instrumental in managing large-scale projects across various sectors, including life sciences, residential, and mixed-use developments.

With a BS in civil engineering from Northeastern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, McCarthy previously served as Vice President at The HYM Investment Group, where she contributed to significant Boston projects like The Sudbury, a 46-story residential tower, and One Congress, a 52-story office tower.

Under her leadership, Ionic Development has been involved in notable projects, including the first all-affordable housing development in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood. McCarthy’s commitment to effecting change within the real estate industry and the communities they develop is evident through her focus on representation and inclusivity in large-scale projects.

 As President of the Partnership for Miami, Raul Moas leads a dynamic group of business leaders acting in the civic interest to build a world-class Miami that works for all its residents. Through this organization, he collaborates with grassroots organizations, researchers, policymakers, and philanthropists to develop and implement solutions that improve Miami’s affordability, livability, educational systems, and resilience.

Prior to joining the Partnership for Miami, Moas served as senior director of Knight Foundation. In response to a growing number of Miamians seeking to participate in the city’s burgeoning tech economy, he directed over $60 million in grantmaking to accelerate Miami’s development as a tech hub.

Moas previously worked as a scout for Lightspeed Venture Partners, a global venture capital firm, and was managing director of Miami Angels, Florida’s largest angel investor collective. He also served as the executive director of Roots of Hope, an international non-governmental organization focused on youth empowerment in Cuba.

As a passionate technical program manager, Andrea Dorta Munoz has experience in planning and executing large-scale robotics cross-functional programs. She has worked for Amazon Robotics since graduating with both her BS in industrial engineering and MS in engineering management from the College of Engineering in 2020. 

Cynthia Orofo, PhD, RN, is a nurse scientist and the co-founder and CEO of Culture Care Collective. In addition to her critical care nursing experience, Orofo has worked in the COVID ICU and helped lead initiatives as a public health nurse on a mobile health van run by nurses and community health workers.

Merging the clinical and research experiences of these two spheres of healthcare, Culture Care Collective is led by a team uniquely poised able to address the social determinants of health from a comprehensive care lens.

Carlo Sartori holds a Mechanical Engineering degree and an MBA from Northeastern University. With a diverse background in strategic sourcing across industries such as medical products, construction, electronic components, and agriculture, he now leads the sourcing strategy for packaging at IPC. As a Sourcing Manager, he oversees cost competitiveness, supplier strategy, and sustainability for over 22,000 Subway restaurants across the U.S., Canada, and Central America.

 Throughout his career, Jim Pallotta has actively invested in and across seed/early stages, growth stages, and late-stage companies within the technology, consumer, financial services, healthcare, and sports and media verticals. Prior to founding The Raptor Group, he managed a $10 billion equities portfolio as the Vice Chairman of Tudor Investment Corporation. Between 2012 and 2020, Pallotta served as the President and Chairman of the Italian football club AS Roma, and he was Co-owner and Executive Board Member of the Boston Celtics between 2002 and 2020.

Pallotta is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for Northeastern University, the Santa Fe Institute, New Profit, Inc., and the Buoniconti Fund. He also serves on the Advisory Council for Tulco, LLC, and the MIT Media Lab, as well as on the External Advisory Committee for the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines at MIT.

 Mike Plehn is a retired 3-star general and former President of National Defense University. With more than 37 years of military service—13 of those as a General Officer—he has deep experience in building and leading teams, mentoring young leaders into successful executives, and generally getting hard things done right, with no drama.

Plehn has more than 2,000 flight hours on both manned and unmanned aircraft, including 375 combat hours. He has previously commanded special operations units at the squadron, group, and wing level, and was the Deputy Commander of Air Force Special Operations Command. I

During his military career, Plehn worked in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. And as the 17th President of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., he restored the university to a positive growth trajectory—saving two of the five colleges from being closed—securing an additional $110 million to renovate failing facilities, enable student success, and restore university operations.

Emmy award-winning journalist Rhondella Richardson is co-anchor of NewsCenter 5’s weekend morning newscasts, where she has worked for more than two decades. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has covered both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama during their Martha’s Vineyard vacations; and helped lead coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and Boston archdiocese’s sex abuse scandal.

During her tenure at WCVB, Richardson has held several roles, including serving as an original co-anchor of the weekend EyeOpener. Her career has landed her at #1 network affiliates including the NBC affiliate in Seattle, the NBC station in Providence, and the ABC affiliate in Manchester, NH.

Boston Magazine previously named Richardson one of The 50 Most Intriguing Women in Boston, and she was the first honoree of the Northeastern’s Medallion Award. Further, she serves on the board of

UNICEF and is a passionate supporter of The Home for Little Wanderers, Catholic Charities, and the Ellie Fund and her local elementary, middle and high schools.

 One of the most influential leaders in the world, H.E. Juan Manuel Santos was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018, and won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to peace and reconciliation in that country. His agenda, continued today in his varied global leadership roles, includes sustainable development, protecting biodiversity and fighting climate change, battling poverty and inequality, dealing with the world’s drug problem, and spurring successful economic integration in Latin America.

Santos was one of the initial promoters of the Sustainable Development Goals that dominated the world agenda in 2015. He was also one of the architects of the Pacific Alliance, promoting the economies of Latin American countries.

Santos is currently Chairman of the Board of Compaz Foundation, which he created to encourage peace, protect the environment, and fight poverty, mainly through grassroots leadership. He is Chairman of The Elders and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, as well as on the board of the International Crisis Group and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Helene Servillon began her entrepreneurial journey as one of the first female founders in Northeastern’s IDEA student-run venture accelerator. Currently she is the Founding Partner at JourneyOne Ventures, an early to growth stage VC fund that invests in frontier health and wellness, with a focus on software, biotech, consumer tech, and digital health. Her mission is to modernize forgotten wellness and ancient healing modalities with tech, data, and science, such as male birth control and alcohol-alternative beverages.

Servillon graduated from Northeastern University in 2012 with a degree in communications and a minor in business administration. Having played in the Junior Volleyball Olympics twice, she was recruited to play varsity volleyball at Northeastern and represented the Huskies in two CAA championship games.

Through mentorship roles at Huntington Angels and WISE, Servillon empowers Northeastern students and women entrepreneurs to be bold and curious. Her global perspective, shaped by experiences across 36 countries, fuels her ambition to build collaborative, purpose-driven communities.

Kathy Sun holds a BS in International Business, complemented by a minor in Japanese, which she earned in 2018 at Northeastern. Her studies primarily focused on finance and marketing. Since graduation, Sun has cultivated a diverse and dynamic career, gaining valuable experience in consulting and private capital investment with esteemed firms such as McKinsey, Ally Bridge Fund, and Morgan Stanley.

Leveraging her extensive professional background, Sun founded her own family office based in Hong Kong, Yatir Capital, where she serves as Managing Partner. Her robust educational foundation, combined with her comprehensive expertise, provides her with a nuanced understanding of international business dynamics and private capital investment strategies.

Custodio Toledo is a professional endurance racing driver, investor, and technology entrepreneur. He was the original developer and CTO of Investran, pioneering software for the private capital market. Next, he co-founded AltaReturn, a private equity software platform providing fund accounting, portfolio monitoring, and investor reporting solutions. After he successfully scaled the company, AltaReturn was acquired by Vista Equity Partners, later becoming Allvue Systems.

Following the sale, Custodio established OCTA Investments, a multifamily office managing his assets and investments. In 2022, he started from zero in professional motorsports, and in just three years progressed through the Ferrari Challenge and SRO GT4 America, quickly earning a place in the most competitive endurance racing championships. His 2025 season includes the European Le Mans Series, racing against some of the best endurance drivers globally.

Custodio studied mechatronic engineering at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He sponsors and mentors young racing talents, fostering the next generation of motorsport champions.

 In his role as Chief Administrative Officer at TelevisaUnivision Inc., Jose Tomás oversees strategic support areas essential to the success of this leading Spanish-language media and content company. A highly regarded business and human resources executive, he has effectively led corporate transformations, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures for some of the world’s largest companies, with a strong focus on people, culture, and communications.

Most recently, Tomás served as co-founder and managing partner of BrandSparc, a global communications, employment branding, and human resources consultancy firm. Prior to BrandSparc, he was a member of General Motors’ global senior executive leadership team, where he served as the company’s senior vice president of Global Human Resources, reporting directly to the CEO.

Tomás holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in management from Florida International University. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of Driven Brands Holdings and of the LPGA Foundation.

As Partner at LSN Law, P.A. (formerly Llorente & Heckler, PA), Adele Valencia provides counsel on navigating all aspects of local governmental law, including procurement, lease negotiations, bid protests, and code compliance. She brings a wealth of knowledge and invaluable advocacy, legislative, and management experience. Valencia is also a Partner at LSN Partners, LLC, a Miami-based government consulting firm.

Before joining LSN Law, Adele was the Director of Code Compliance for the City of Miami, where she led a department dedicated to promoting the life, health, safety, and general well-being of residents, visitors, and businesses in the city. She also spent four years serving in the office of Mayor of Miami-Dade County, where she led legislative initiatives focused on equal pay, open data, small business promotion, and naturalization services.

Before entering the government arena, Mrs. Valencia practiced criminal law in the private sector. She is a Miami Fellow, an avid reader, wife, and mother of two incredible girls.

 As President of the Latin American and Caribbean Division for FedEx, Luiz R. Vasconcelos maintains overall responsibility for the region, which includes approximately 23,000 team members in more than 50 countries and territories. His primary foci are the broader strategic direction of his division, magnifying the FedEx presence across the region, and integrating the region into the FedEx global network. In 2018, Vasconcelos was promoted to Vice President of Operations for FedEx Express in Brazil. Prior to joining FedEx, he held leadership positions at Rapidão Cometa, a transportation and logistics company, and in consulting.

Vasconcelos holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Catholic University of Pernambuco and an MBA from Northeastern University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Council of the Americas and CLADEC (Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Express Companies), and is the Co-Chair of the Trade Facilitation Working Group for the U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue.

Christopher Viehbacher joined Biogen as President, CEO, and member of its Board of Directors in 2022. He has extensive international experience in both large pharmaceutical companies and entrepreneurial biotech companies, and has a passion for advancing science for the benefit of patients and public health.

After 20 years with GlaxoSmithKline, Viehbacher served as global CEO of Sanofi for six years. Under his leadership, Sanofi strengthened and diversified its R&D pipeline and delivered significant value to shareholders. More recently, Viehbacher and Ernesto Bertarelli cofounded Gurnet Point Capital, a Cambridge-based healthcare investment fund. He has also chaired or been a member of the board of several entrepreneurial companies in biotechnology.

Viehbacher has always been a strong advocate for innovation and public health. He has received a number of awards, including the Légion d’Honneur from France. He is Trustee of Northeastern University, a member of the Board of Fellows of the Stanford Medical School, and a member of the MIT President’s CEO Advisory Board.

Josh Weinstein is president, chief executive officer, and chief climate officer of Carnival Corporation & plc, leading one of the world’s largest leisure travel companies. Carnival boasts a portfolio of world-class cruise line brands including AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.

A 20-year veteran of the company, Mr. Weinstein assumed his current position in 2022 after playing a critical role in planning the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and then its successful restart. His tenure at Carnival includes previous roles as chief operations officer of Carnival Corporation from 2020 to 2022, when he also oversaw Carnival UK, the operating company for P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard. He previously managed Carnival UK directly, serving as president from 2017 to 2020.

Mr. Weinstein also served as treasurer for Carnival Corporation from 2007 to 2017, following five years as an attorney in the corporate legal department.

Ahmad Zameli is the Founder & CEO of Untill, an agricultural technology company, and has been managing Untill since 2016. With a background in industrial engineering from Northeastern University, he combines engineering expertise with sustainable farming innovation, creating the next generation of vertical farming technology.

Yi Ya, with an international background spanning China and beyond, is passionate about culture, travel, food, and community building. Fluent in English and Chinese, she is involved in her family’s real estate and investment business, and is an entrepreneur and social media influencer in China who is committed to fostering connections between China and the world.

A graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in finance and entrepreneurship, Ya was actively involved in the International Student and Scholar Association, the Chinese Student and Scholar Association, and the Culture and Language Society, blending her global experiences with her business expertise.

 As the Founder of Yummy, an on-demand delivery service estimated to be worth more than $200 million, Vicente Zavarce climbed the ladder quickly after graduating from Northeastern in 2016 with a degree in finance and entrepreneurship. Recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30, Zavarce is thriving as an entrepreneur and growth marketer who uses technology to create more accessible and affordable services for millions of people in emerging markets.

Yummy, which Zavarce launched in 2020, was the first food delivery app available in Venezuela, where he grew up. Having hit an untapped market, he was soon able to grow the app into new areas such as grocery delivery, ridesharing, and shopping. Based in San Francisco, Yummy has now expanded to four countries, has four million registered users, and completes 800,000 orders a month. Zavarce is also a partner at Epakon Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in software companies across industries.