Executive degree programs make their mark in so many ways by transforming the lives of students, who in turn contribute to the economy, their communities, and society at large. This year’s plenaries will help you continue to enhance the impact of your program and your impact as well.
Special Note: This year’s conference will offer a unique opportunity to hear firsthand from the highest-level CEO in government – a president. Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, who just finished his term as president of Panama, is scheduled as a plenary speaker. Look for more details in the upcoming weeks.
Education plays a fundamental role in responding to the need for high-quality talent who can face the challenges of our times. Education offers the driving force to go beyond prejudice or societal status. Education offers the possibility to improve and enhance people, allowing them to fully reach their potential: A win-win situation for individuals, corporations, and society in general.
Bringing talent to the next level is critical to maintain the competitiveness of the Panama Canal and assure its sustainability in the long run. The Panama Canal faces multiple challenges in that quest – a limited pool of resources, domestic and global market demand for high-quality talent, and limited local educational platforms – all of which require innovative solutions.
This plenary will describe the challenges in developing talent, as well as how the Panama Canal defines the problem and addresses its potential solution.
About the speaker
Panamanian economist Ricaute Vásquez Morales has spent his career of more than 40 years in financial, economic, and administrative management both for the government sector and private companies.
In September 2019, he was appointed as the Panama Canal Authority Administrator for a seven-year period. The first non-US Chief Financial Officer for the Panama Canal, he also previously served as deputy administrator and board chair for the Panama Canal.
His previous prominent positions in public administration include Minister of Finance and Treasury, Minister of Planning and Economic Policy, and Minister of Economy and Finance. In the private sector, his experience includes working in banking at Chase Manhattan Bank and in mining development with Rio Tinto Zinc for the development of the Cerro Colorado copper project. His employment with General Electric involved regional responsibilities and gas-to-power initiatives in Latin America. He retired in 2015 to focus on his professional practice with SIGMA Management Advisors Corp.
Vásquez Morales received his bachelor’s degree from Villanova University, as well as his PhD and M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic and his M.E. from North Carolina State University. A professor of economics and finance in Panama and abroad, he has been a professor of economics at the Panama campus of Florida State University.
In today’s fast-changing world, the right innovation at the right time can make all the difference in the success of the venture. Often at the forefront of change in business schools, executive degree programs face greater-than-ever competition and need to evolve – or find themselves struggling to adapt.
The new reality means executive degree program leaders, faculty, and staff must truly look to innovate, fully developing their inner entrepreneur and applying strategic thinking in the search for the changes that will help them, and their programs, continue to thrive.
This plenary explores ways you can apply entrepreneurial principles and strategic thinking for the nonprofit sector to your program. Learn more about appreciating and tapping your entrepreneurial spirit to discover new opportunities and keep a competitive edge.
About the speaker
Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., PhD, professor emeritus at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management at UCLA, has both studied and experienced entrepreneurship.
At UCLA, he most recently served as interim dean for the Anderson School of Management, and his past positions include senior associate dean for external affairs, professor of global economics, management and entrepreneurship, and the founder and faculty director of the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Anderson School.
In addition to his academic interests in entrepreneurship and corporate governance, Osborne also has developed approaches that apply business models and methodologies to management and governance in the nonprofit sector. Under his leadership, the Price Center created several leadership development programs in partnership with Johnson & Johnson for Head Start agencies and community health centers in the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as programs for emerging-minority, women, and veteran-owned business enterprises.Currently a director of Wedbush Capital, Osborne most recently retired from the board of directors of Kaiser Aluminum, Inc., and First Pacific Advisors (FPA) family of mutual funds. His experience also encompasses many years on the corporate boards of The Times Mirror Company, US Filter Corporation, Greyhound Lines, Inc., First Interstate Bank of California, Nordstrom, Inc., and K2, Inc., among others. His nonprofit affiliations include contributions as a trustee of Harvard-Westlake School, trustee and chair of Fidelity Charitable, and a director of the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation. In 2021, Osborne received the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)’s B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award, acknowledging his extensive board service that spans more than 40 years.
Born and raised in Panama, Osborne received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, his master’s degree in economics, his MBA in finance, and his PhD in business economics from Stanford University.
The more executive degree programs understand their alumni, the better they are positioned to understand the changing needs of the market, to discover effective ways to maintain mutually productive relationships with alumni, and to realize the impact of the executive degree experience on alumni and their organizations.
Bolster your knowledge about your largest group of advocates and supporters. In this plenary, a moderated panel of distinguished alumni will share their experiences and the impact of those experiences on their organizations and their careers, as well as their thoughts about the most valuable aspects of their time in the program and on trends they see that might change the way executive degree programs do business.
About the speakers
Manuela Alves Nunes completed her EMBA Program at Fundação Dom Cabral in 2023. She graduated in law from UniCeub and has a latus sensus postgraduate in tax law from IBET. For more than 17 years, she has practiced law in Brazil, specializing in issues related to competition, regulatory concerns, and strategic litigation. She joined Unilever Brazil in 2020 as senior legal counsel. Alves Nunes currently serves as general counsel – Unilever Brazil and general counsel – Personal Care Latam.
Tatsuki Tomita brings extensive experience in technology entrepreneurship, co-founding Vivaldi Technologies, Orbweb, and several nonprofit organizations. He has served in various executive capacities at Opera and as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he worked on carbon removal technologies. Currently an advisor and board member for several organizations, Tatsuki received his MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, his mechanical engineering degree from Kagoshima National College of Technology, and his economics degree from Hokkaido University.
In her current role as Executive Director: Faculty at GIBS, Hayley Pearson oversees all degree programs, including the EMBA Program. At GIBS, she combines her love for learning, academic administration, and teaching to help students succeed and support innovations in business. She joined GIBS as a program manager in the Personal and Applied Learning division, later advancing into positions of increasing responsibility, including MBA program director, associate director, and interim executive director. As a faculty member since 2018, she also teaches and serves the executive degree community as an EMBAC board member.
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