Reports found pumps abandoned, broken, unmaintained. Of the more than 1,500 pumps that had been installed with the initial burst of grant money, one-quarter already needed repair. It’s not surprising that cultural differences lead a great idea from one location to quick scaling and then failure. This failure, and other stories like this are based in learning how to best navigate the culture where ideas are implemented.

Good relationships make for good work. These bonds are the conduits of culture, and while they don’t guarantee success, you can be sure it won’t happen without them. Without culture business would just be a pile of old laptops and financial documents.

VFF USA and USEC are proud to provide insight from our specialized panelists on how to avoid these classic cultural mistakes to make your next venture a true success.  On June 8th, 2017 a panel discussion and networking opportunity will bring together people interested in investing in different cultures both in the profit and non-profit sectors.

“VFF USA’s work is run by the community, they are the leaders of the projects from design, to implementation, to monitoring and evaluation. Partnering with community leaders has allowed us to navigate cultural barriers in India and help more than 3.6 million people escape extreme poverty”, VFF USA Executive Director, Angelina Klouthis says , “Ensuring that culturally appropriate activities drive decision making is at the heart of our organization. Bringing together panelists with first hand experience in a variety of cultures to share their best practices is an amazing opportunity”.

“The goals of this open event are fully aligned with the mission of our US Spain Executives Community (USEC). Learning from the experience of international leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds and getting high value networking opportunities will make this a very attractive evening for our members”, says Gonzalo Garcia, Executive Director of USEC. “We are honored to partner with VFF USA in the organization of this event”.

Moderator: Maria Rozman:  Maria is a journalist from Tenerife, Spain, recipient of the prestigious Emmy Award from the National Television Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Maria has over 16 years experience in news. Before her current position as head of the news department for Telemundo Washington, Rozman worked at CNN Español in the nation’s capital. Previously, in Telemundo Denver, Maria was also the News Director and main News Anchor, responsible for launching two new daily newscasts in association with NBC KUSA. Among her achievements, Maria interviewed in exclusive in two occasions President Barack Obama during his last term. She also worked as News anchor and Executive Producer for Univision Colorado.

Panelists:

Venkatesh Raghavendra: Venky is a social entrepreneur with nearly three decades of philanthropy, CSR and development experience. He has successfully built global partnerships and mobilized significant resources for a number of international and national organizations. Venky works as consultant in the areas of philanthropy, fundraising and social entrepreneurship. His current and recent clients include the UK based Common Purpose [www.commonpurpose.org], New York based American India Foundation [www.aif.org], Open Society Foundations and Washington DC based Ashoka: Innovators for the Public [www.ashoka.org].

Cecilia Neher: Cecilia has experience working with people from a broad range of cultures and countries in both the corporate and non-profit sector. Currently she leads the MICP Engineering Corporate Social Responsibility department. In her previous experience she headed  the World Bank Family Network social media team to provide support to new staff and their families, among other notable volunteer positions.  Her experience has allowed her to scale from her own business to collaborating with huge teams as a volunteer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

Blanca Moreno: Blanca is an experienced development macroeconomist with over twenty five years of World Bank service, including operational and analytical work worldwide, with deeper regional expertise in Africa and Latin America. She is accomplished in macroeconomics and fiscal policy for developing countries, with a focus on growth, inequality and poverty reduction. She is skilled in public expenditure analysis, fiscal sustainability, public finance, tax policy reforms and transfer pricing. She has published four World Bank books as well as numerous papers. She has been a guest lecturer at the Universities of Duke and John Hopkins (USA) and other institutions in France and Spain, as well as a frequent speaker in international conferences.

Alfredo Escriba: Alfredo  is a seasoned executive with a broad international experience in the Intelligent Transportation Technology sector. He has spent his more than 20 years of professional experience leading multicultural and diverse teams. He has lived in Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the US,  having managed teams and leading business units in China, Europe, Latam and the US. He’s got a Masters degree in engineering from the Polytechnic University in Madrid, MBA from IAE ( Argentina ) and a MS in Data Analytics from Texas A&M ( US). Alfredo lives in the US and has a global function in Kapsch Trafficom as head of the Urban and Mobility Solution Center.

Welcome: Jonathan Mansfield is the Community Manager at WeWork,  an international company which provides shared workspace, community, and services for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups and small businesses. The reception will be hosted by WeWork.

About USEC: National Association of Business people, Executives and Entrepreneurs from the US and Spain. A highly connected and collaborative community of leaders that promotes effectively the professional goals of its members and proactively encourages business activity between both countries. For more information, please visit www.usspainexecutives.org/.

About VFF USA: Vicente Ferrer Foundation USA (VFF USA) is a non-profit organization committed to eliminating poverty in rural India. The organization works to empower the most marginalized communities by focusing on six major areas of interest in rural India including: Health Equity, Education for Empowerment, Rural Infrastructure, Sustainable Environment, Women’s Development and People with Disabilities. For more information, please visit www.vffusa.org.

Come and join a wide variety of leaders in our community as part of this networking event:

NETWORKING DINNER: Thursday October 27^th, 2016, 7 PM

Restaurant Mission (upper floor) – 1606 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC (just by Dupont Circle)

Admittance is $35 per person, includes buffet dinner. Drinks not included. Space limited, advanced registration is required:

REGISTER

Recommended attire: Business or Business Casual.

Special Guest: Doug Lemonds, Executive Vice President, MDL Partners

“If You are NOT Networking, You are NOT Working: Networking and Business Development”

Yes, everybody in business knows about the importance of networking but just a few people excel at doing it effectively following a strategic approach. You will learn techniques that you can apply both to develop a business and to advance in your career.

Learn from an expert in the subject just before having an opportunity to practice in a networking session with a variety of leaders from the public and private sectors having an interest in Spain and the US.

AGENDA:

6:30pm – 7:00pm: Registration, Casual Networking

7:00pm – 7:50 pm: Special Guest Presentation + Q&A

7:50pm – 9:00 pm: Casual Networking

9:00pm: Adjourn

DOUG LEMMONDS (bio)

Doug Lemmonds, Executive Vice President of MDL Partners, is responsible for the Mid-Atlantic and Southern Operations for the company. Doug is a native Virginian who now lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.

Doug’s career spans over 30 years and he has held Executive and C Level positions in several multi-national organizations both in the United States and in Europe. Doug has led multi-cultural and geographically dispersed teams of up to several hundred professionals. His experience includes leading sales, marketing, key account management, risk management and operational groups, all at the executive level.

Doug has worked for Sun Trust Bank (Executive Vice President), the Deutsche Bank Group (Managing Director of Deutsche Bank AG and President of Deutsche Bank Trust Company), Bank of America and Swedish based management consultancy Mercuri Urval (Vice President and the International Business Manager). In addition, as a consultant he has worked numerous clients across a diversity of industries and sizes including companies such as Credit Suisse, Broadridge Financial, Charles Schwab Volvo North America, Marriott International Lodging, the European Space Agency and BT North America.

Doug specializes in both implementing change management and the building of successful businesses — both as an executive and as a consultant. He understands the global nature of today’s business environment and has hands-on experience in working with global companies, both large and small.

Doug passionately believes that the success of a company is attributable to the quality and dedication of its people. He is highly experienced in enabling people to recognize and utilize their business potential to further their career aspirations.

Doug has his undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech and his graduate degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

February 4th, 2016 from 6 pm to 8:30 pm

Georgetown University – Business School – Rafik Hariri Building – Room 440 (4th floor)

37th and O St., N.W., Washington, DC 20007

ROUND TABLE: moderated by PABLO GATO, CEO at GATO Communications.

• MANUEL SÁNCHEZ, Managing Director at BlackRock – Washington D.C. Metro Area Renewables & Environment.
• Professor CHARLES SKUBA – Professor of the Practice at Georgetown University Washington D.C. Metro Area International Trade and Development.
• JOSE MONTERO – CEO | International Business | P&L Management | M&A | Revenue Growth Strategies | Global Market Development | Branding

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY AND THE ORGANIZATION USEC (US SPAIN EXECUTIVES COMMUNITY) DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF THE SPANISH COMPANIES IN THE US MARKET.

The event, a joint initiative between Georgetown University and the business organization USSEC, was held at the prestigious McDonough School of Business, located at the university capital campus in Washington, DC.

“Spanish business schools are among the best in the world and their graduates can compete internationally at the highest level”, said Charles Skuba, professor of International Business and Marketing at the Georgetown Business School.

Manuel Sánchez (currently managing director of the largest investment Company in the world, Black Rock) and José Montero (President of the business consulting company The Montero Group) completed the roster of panelists. Pablo Gato (journalist and President of Gato Communications, a communications consulting company) moderated the panel.

The event was attended by around forty professionals, both from Spain and the US. The focus of the discussion was the future of Spanish companies in the United States.

The US is a market of growing interest for Spanish corporations to the point that Spain has become of the largest foreign investors in this country. The US is the largest economy in the world, with a GDP of seventeen trillion dollars.

“Spain is ahead of even the US in specific sectors of the economy, such has infrastructures, financial services, energy of fashion. Spain is a world leader in these sectors and therefore its companies compete with a lot of success in the US market”, stated José Montero, who advises international companies how do to business in the US.

The corporate Spanish investment in the US is growing. However, it still only represents 4% of the total business volume of corporate Spain. 70% is focused in the European Union market.

“This is a natural evolution. Because of cultural proximity and language, the Spanish companies that wanted to do international operations expanded first to Latin America. After that, the investments went to the European Union market since Spain is a member. Now it is time for the next step, which is to penetrate the US market. This market brings great opportunities for long term investments”, said Manuel Sánchez.

All the panelists agreed that Spain must continue its efforts to boost its promotion as a country and thus assist the Spanish companies to compete internationally.

“Organizations such as USEC are valuable and USEC has to keep developing relationships and contacts to add value to the project” said professor Skuba.

Gonzalo García, President of USEC, encouraged Spanish executives and entrepreneurs to join the organization so the Spanish community is better represented.

Sorry, this event will be held in Spanish. More information in the Spanish version of our archive.