Francisco Pérez is a distinguished expert in entrepreneurship, innovation and family business management, with an outstanding academic career that includes a PhD in Business Administration from SDA Bocconi, and an Executive MBA from INCAE Business School. His research work delves into the intersection between entrepreneurship and family businesses, providing valuable insights into how these areas complement and enhance each other.

With more than two decades of professional experience, Francisco has played a crucial role in fostering entrepreneurship in Latin America, leading both national and regional initiatives that seek to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem. His commitment to the development of productive and social entrepreneurship has been recognized internationally, being named a Social Entrepreneur by the U.S. State Department in 2016.

As Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at INCAE since 2017, Francisco has implemented a visionary strategy to empower regional innovation, promote venture capital investment and accelerate the growth of technology startups. His leadership has been instrumental in establishing INCAE as a catalyst for entrepreneurial change in the region.

In his role as an educator, Francisco is in charge of the Entrepreneurship curriculum at INCAE Business School, where he inspires and guides future entrepreneurs, equipping them with the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in their endeavors. He currently oversees the Entrepreneurship concentration programs in the MBA and MAIT programs offered by INCAE, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to educational excellence.

Communication Director of the Entrepreneurship Center of INCAE (LACE), graduated from a degree in Collective Communication Sciences with emphasis in Advertising and candidate for a Master's Degree in Digital Marketing from Cenfotec University. Throughout her professional career she has developed strategies for brands in the portfolio of Nestlé, Davivienda, Claro, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and currently for the Entrepreneurship Center of INCAE.

Place of work: Centro de Emprendimiento de INCAE
From: 2017 To: Present
Position: Director of Communication
Description:

• Design and implementation of the communication strategy of the Entrepreneurship Center.
• Support in the definition of strategies and programs.

Place of work: Darwin by Lionbridge
From: 2015 To: 2017
Position: Social Media Lead
Description:

• Creation of Social Media strategies for regional and national brands such as Malher, Unidos por Niños Saludables de Nestlé, Nestlé A gusto con la Vida, Davivienda and Coca-Cola FEMSA.
• Elaboration of digital marketing strategies in conjunction with the Development, Paid Media, SEO, Audiovisual and Graphic Design teams.
• Leadership of a work team made up of Community Managers.

Bernard Kilian is Dean of Faculty and Research at INCAE Business School, where he also teaches courses in the areas of Microeconomics and Operations Management as a full professor. A native of Germany, he holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Resource Economics and an M.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences with emphasis in Economics, both from the University of Hohenheim, Germany.

Prior to joining INCAE, he was in charge of the economic project within a national macro project in Germany called precision agriculture. He also taught at the graduate level at the University of Hohenheim, and was a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota. He has led numerous market studies on sustainable products in international markets.

As a full professor of INCAE in the master's degree programs, he has a vast experience, backed by several years of professional practice. Professor Kilian teaches courses in the areas of Microeconomics and Operations Management.

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Research work

Full Professor in Operations Management and Microeconomics, INCAE Business School.

Sustainable Market Intelligence Center CIMS, Costa Rica. Former Production and Research Manager.

Since May 2005, part-time. University of Hohenheim, Department of Agricultural Economics. Project Manager

March 1999 - July 2002 Economic Project part of the National Research and Development Project Administration and Management System for Precision Agriculture to increase the efficiency of agricultural activity and promote its compatibility with the environment. Promoted and directed by the German Ministry of Education and Science.

• Responsible for applying methodology and managing the finances of the economic project.
• Consultancy to farmers to improve the management of their activities and management of farmers' meetings in different regions of Germany.
• Lecturer on the Economic Aspects of Precision Agriculture in national and international forums. Professor of Undergraduate and Grade Studies

1999-2000.

Courses given:

• Applied Natural Resource Economics and Operations Research.
• Departments of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Policy and Markets.
• Research Assistant

1993-1994.

Emphasis:

• Analysis of empirical data from market research and Linear Programming.

Consulting:

• BASF Ludwigshafen 1998 - 2000 (Contact: Dr Zerulla)
• Economic evaluation of optimized input management in the long term. John Deere, Mannheim 2002 (Contact: Dr Neuhaus)
• Economic Consulting in Precision Agriculture. Industrieverband Agrar (IVA), Frankfurt am Main 2001 (Contact: Dr. Prath.)
• Farm Administration and Management and Sustainability Presentations. International Experience University of Minnesota
• Department of Applied Economics Exchange Professor November 2000 - April 2001

Concentration: Econometrics -The objective of the visit was to exchange metrological concepts for testing improvements in precision profitability in agriculture. Timirjasew-Akademie. Moscow, Russia, May 20-28, 2000 Tiblise State University. Tiblise, Georgia,

19 -26 October 2001 TEMPUS Project: Restructuring of the economic program in universities in Eastern European countries. Promoted by the European Union. -The purpose of the exchange was to support Eastern European Universities to develop in them Economics departments, and I also offered courses in Natural Resources Economics. Workshops promoted by the European Union: Joint Action: Policies to Control the Environmental Impacts of Agriculture.

• German representative and presenter of national reports at the following venues: Thessalonica, Greece Workshop on Nutrient Management Legislation in European Countries,

17-19 May 2000 Oslo, Norway Workshop on Mineral Emissions from Agriculture,

January 25-28, 1996 European Commission (EU), Directorate for Agriculture, Brussels, Belgium.

November 25-27, 2001. -Representative of Germany to inform and consult to the European Commission the point of view of Applied Economics about the introduction of Precision Agriculture in the different countries. INCAE. Alajuela, Costa Rica. Carlson School of Management Seminar-INCAE.

January 7-18, 2001. The seminar covered the following topics: Management, resource economics, environment and sustainable development and their management in Latin America (local cases). Languages: German, English, Spanish and French.

Alberto Trejos received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. As an academic, he has been a faculty member at Northwestern University and INCAE, where he also served as Dean and as director of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan, the Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica de Barcelona, the University of California and the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. He has published extensively in both academic journals and practitioner media, especially in monetary theory, macroeconomics, international trade and development.

He is currently the president of Grupo Cuestamoras, and for two decades has been part of the governance (in Costa Rica and regionally) of the financial group BAC-Credomatic. He is a partner of the consulting firms CEFSA and DRP, and has provided his services to governments, international organizations and companies in 60 countries, mainly in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

In Costa Rica he was minister of foreign trade, a position from which he led the negotiation of CAFTA. He was one of the original members of the Financial System Supervisory Council and, for almost a decade, president of CINDE, the agency for attracting foreign direct investment. He participated in the design and negotiation of the Worker Protection Law, which constituted the integral reform of the pension system.

He has been a founding director of the Brenthurst Foundation in South Africa, the Democracy Lab and the advisory board of the New York University School of Public Health. He also chaired the Arias Foundation for Peace and Democracy. He has been a judge in international disputes before the World Trade Organization.

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Research work

Alberto Trejos received his Ph.D. in economics with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. He has been a faculty member at Northwestern University, and a visiting professor at the University of Michigan and the Institut d Analisi Economica de Barcelona.

At INCAE he has served as dean and director of his think-tank, the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development. His academic work focuses on monetary economics, macroeconomics, international economics and development.

In public policy, he served as Costa Rica's Minister of Foreign Trade, during which time he led the negotiation of CAFTA. He has also been president of CINDE, the investment attraction office, and a member of the National Council of Supervision of the Financial System. He participated in the design and negotiation of the pension system reform.

In private practice, he is a partner at CEFSA, the leading macroeconomic consulting firm in his country. He is a member of the board of directors of several important companies in Costa Rica, including the bank BAC San José, Corporación Cuestamoras, the newspaper El Financiero and the distributor DIPO.

Internationally, he has been a consultant and expert for governments, international organizations and companies in 50 countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa. He is a director of the Brenthurst Foundation in South Africa. He directs the International Council on the Economy for the President of Malawi, and is a member of the Board of International Advisors for the President of Mozambique.