November 14, 2019
Atlantic Council Launches Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Advisory Council
Led by Center Founder Adrienne Arsht and Chaired by HSBC’s Gerardo Mato, the Advisory Council will bring new perspectives and innovative solutions to harness opportunities with Latin America
November 14, 2019 – Washington, DC. – The Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center on October 31 launched its Advisory Council to further its mission of broadening understanding of changes and advancing innovative, locally-driven solutions for hemispheric prosperity.
The Advisory Council was founded by Atlantic Council Executive Vice Chair and Center Founder Adrienne Arsht and is chaired by Gerardo Mato, chairman of Global Banking and Markets – Americas at HSBC. This select group of prominent leaders from the private and public sectors will work with the Center to advance Latin America’s strategic role in a global context, with a priority on pressing political and economic issues that will define the region’s trajectory.
Having spent years of my life in Miami, where Latin American culture flourishes and where discussions about critical policies play out first-hand, I was inspired to create a Center whose mission would be to broaden the conversation about the region.
The nonpartisan Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Advisory Council’s twelve inaugural members include a number of global leaders from the United States and the region. These include a former president and member of the US Congress, cabinet-level officials, a former governor, business leaders, and innovators from the arts.
“Having spent years of my life in Miami, where Latin American culture flourishes and where discussions about critical policies play out first-hand, I was inspired to create a Center whose mission would be to broaden the conversation about the region. The Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Advisory Council will advance new ideas and innovative policy recommendations to challenge the conventional wisdom of Latin America and its role in the world,” said Adrienne Arsht, founder, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center.
Since being established in 2013, the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center has strategically focused on a core set of high-priority issues facing the hemisphere, delivering innovative solutions and cutting-edge tools to ensure that recommendations reach policymakers, business leaders, and media.
“Today, citizens increasingly question whether their leaders and their broader reform agenda can deliver the tangible results they need. My vision is that the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center will continue to help to bridge growing polarization to offer consensus-based solutions to broader regional challenges,” said Gerardo Mato, Advisory Council chair.
Alongside its Advisory Council, the Center will continue highlighting the region’s reform agenda; building strong trade and investment ties; looking to the future of the democratic world order; and emphasizing an increasingly global profile.
“As part of the Atlantic Council, the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center embraces the defining challenges of our organization. This Advisory Council will have a significant impact by navigating major power competition with friends and allies in Latin America, the United States and beyond, through embracing the technological revolution, and in defending open markets across the region,” said Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council.
Heading into 2020, the Center will focus on facilitating a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela, on emphasizing the importance of US-Mexico relations, and on providing new understanding to fast-moving regional developments in countries ranging from Colombia to Brazil, among other priority areas.
“For six years, the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center has contextualized how the region is a powerful and influential actor in the new global order. Looking to the future, we will double down on advancing longstanding priority areas and will focus on providing strategic, concrete ideas and solutions for how the region – in partnership with the United States – can navigate a new period of political and economic uncertainty,” added Jason Marczak, director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center.
The following are inaugural members of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Advisory Council.
Chairman: Gerardo Mato
Chairman of Global Banking and Markets – Americas
HSBC
Founder: Adrienne Arsht
Executive Vice Chair, Board of Directors; Founder, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, Atlantic Council
Ed Royce
Former US Representative (R-CA); Former Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, US Congress
Terry McAuliffe
Former US Governor (D-VA)
Commonwealth of Virginia
Carlos Gutierrez
Former Secretary of Commerce, United States
Co-Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group
Luís Pérez Companc
President and CEO
Molinos Rio de la Plata
Laura Chinchilla
Former President
Costa Rica
Mauricio Cárdenas
Former Minister of Finance;
Former Minister of Mines and Energy, Colombia
Ildefonso Guajardo
Former Secretary of Economy
Mexico
Erika Ender
Singer, Songwriter, and Philanthropist
Panama
Al Cardenas
Senior Partner
Squire Patton Boggs
Carlos Vives
Grammy Award Winner
Colombia
About the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center
The Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center broadens understanding of regional transformations and delivers constructive, results-oriented solutions to inform how the public and private sectors can advance hemispheric prosperity. The Center focuses on Latin America’s strategic role in a global context with a priority on pressing political and economic issues that will define the trajectory of the region now and in the years ahead. Select lines of programming include: Venezuela’s crisis; Mexico-US and global ties; China in Latin America; Colombia’s future; a changing Brazil; Central American prosperity; combatting disinformation; shifting trade patterns; and leveraging energy resources. Jason Marczak serves as Center Director.
For more information, visit atlanticcouncil.org, follow the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center on Facebook, and on Twitter @ACLatAm.
With questions, please email aalac@atlanticcouncil.org.