Awards 2014

CEO at ABCO Global Inc.

Alberto Alemán began his professional career in the construction field, serving as CEO of one of the largest construction companies in Panama. From ’96 to ’99, he served as Administrator of the former Panama Canal Commission. In 1998, he was appointed Administrator of the Panama Canal Authority. Throughout the following two years, he served simultaneously as Administrator for both the Panama Canal Commission and the Panama Canal Authority, ensuring that the decisions taken under the Panama Canal Commission would have continuity under the Panama Canal Authority. Under his leadership, the ACP´s vision is to transform the Canal into a world leader in services to the maritime industry, and be the cornerstone of the global transportation system, and a model of excellence, integrity, and transparency. In 2005, the Board of Directors re-elected him to lead the Panama Canal Authority for another seven years. He served as Administrator up until 2012. Currently, Mr. Aleman serves as CEO at ABCO Global Inc. He graduated from TexasA&M University in civil and industrial engineering, in 1973.

President of GIP

Marcela Huertas is an urban planner from New York University who specializes on urban innovation and technology implantation in cities of developing countries. She worked for the World Bank for 10 years developing urban sustainability projects, specializing on financial structuring, in selected cities in Africa, East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. After leaving the World Bank, she co-funded Metropolis Global with José María Figueres, the former President of Costa Rica. After 20 years of international experience, Marcela is back in Cali as President of GIP, the Management and Innovation Office of Colombia Pacific Region specialized on PPP projects. She has degrees from Los Andes University in Political Science and from Harvard University in International Development Assistance, a program specially designed by the Kennedy School of Government and the Business School, for international civil servants of the World Bank. Marcela has co-authored books with Guillermo Perry, former World Bank chief economist and Finance Minister of Colombia, with Mila Freire, Urban Ph.D specialist of the World Bank and has written many articles on urban development with internationally recognized urban specialists such as Berkeley Professor Tim Campbell.

Vice President of Sustainable Development at Stantec

Marty Janowitz is Vice President of Sustainable Development at Stantec, a global multi-discipline design, engineering and environmental planning firm. He has more than 25 years of experience consulting nationally and internationally in environmental and sustainability policy, social responsibility, strategic planning, community futures and stakeholder education and engagement. Janowitz leads Stantec’s initiatives to develop a progressive, integrated sustainability consulting practice, drawing on all the firm’s professional services and capabilities. He has a long background in organizational and business management, having held CEO or bottom-line responsibility for business units in a number of organizations, including vice president of Jacques Whitford Ltd., executive director of The Clean Nova Scotia Foundation—Atlantic Canada’s largest environmental education organization— and president of both the Nova Scotia Nature Trust and Genuine Progress Indicators Atlantic. He is involved in diverse initiatives locally and internationally focused on a sustainable future. Since 2010, Janowitz serves on the Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Board at the Zofnass Program at Harvard GSD and as Chair of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Resource Management Technical Sub-Committee. He holds a Masters of Environmental Studies from Dalhousie University and a B.A. in Sociology from Brandeis University.

Member of Iberdrola’s board of directors

Georgina Kessel is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Iberdrola. She has a master’s degree in Economics from Mexico’s Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM), where she has also worked as a professor and researcher, and a PhD in Economics from Columbia University (New York). Mrs. Kessel has broad experience in the energy sector. Between December 2006 and January 2011, she was Mexico’s Secretary of Energy, chairing the Board of Directors of PEMEX and the Governing Board of Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). She was also Managing Director of the National Bank for Public Works and Services (Banobras), a state-owned development bank. Mrs. Kessel was appointed as the first chairwoman of Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). She is also member of the World Economic Forum’s Energy Security Council and participates in the Sustainable Energy for All High-Level Group, advising the UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki- moon.

Chairman of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Rajendra Pachauri has chaired the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002 and has been director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) since 2001. He has been a leader in the global climate policy debate and played a major role in laying the groundwork for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. He accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, which shared the honor with former Vice President Al Gore. Under his leadership, TERI has become India’s most prominent center for research and education in the field of sustainable development. He has authored 23 books and more than 100 academic articles, and has held numerous positions at academic and research institutes. In addition to teaching a semester at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies as a Dorothy S. McCluskey Fellow in Conservation, he received an honorary degree from Yale in 2008. That same year, the government of India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan, one of the nation’s highest civilian honors. The Yale Climate and Energy Institute will provide seed grants, support postgraduate study, sponsor conferences and workshops and foster interdisciplinary research spanning from basic atmospheric science to public policy. Initial projects will focus on forecasting climate variability and its impacts on water supplies; studying the spread of infectious diseases; searching for microbial-based alternative fuels; and the science and economics of carbon sequestration.

Executive Manager of Minas Gerais´ PPP Unit

Marcos Siqueira Moraes is the Executive Manager of the Central PPP Unit of the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais. As such, he is responsible for managing a pipeline of PPP and concession projects that will attract $5 billion in the next 3 years in areas such as solid waste management, water, transportation and soft infrastructure. Before heading the PPP Unit, Marcos conducted the financial and legal structuring of concession contracts for prisons and sports infrastructure. He teaches Project Finance and Public Administration for several undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He received his B.S. in Law from Federal University of Minas Gerais and in Public Administration from João Pinhero Foundation. He also holds an M.A. degree in Public Administration and management from University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

Partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour

Simon joined Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 1991. He was project architect for the Stirling Prize-winning Terminal 4, Madrid Barajas Airport, moving to Madrid with the team when the project went on site. In 2004 RSHP opened an office in Madrid with Simon as director. Here, he worked on a wide range of urban design, architecture and industrial design projects. Most recently, Simon has led the design team on Campus Palmas Altas – headquarters for green energy company Abengoa and a model for more sustainable office complexes. He has played a key role in major projects including ParcBit’s sustainable masterplan (Palma de Mallorca), the redevelopment of the South Bank Centre in London, the National Assembly for Wales, and Antwerp Law Courts. Simon was made a partner in 2011 and is currently leading the development of the practice’s work in Latin America.

CEO of the Nature Conservancy

Mark Tercek is the president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the global conservation organization known for its intense focus on collaboration and getting things done for the benefit of people and nature. He is the author of the Washington Post and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling book Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature. Growing up as a city kid in Cleveland, Tercek was a late-bloomer to conservation. It was becoming a parent that sparked his passion for nature. “I want to be able to look my kids in the eye,” he says, “and tell them I did all I could to leave the world a better place.” A former managing director and Partner for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 24 years, Tercek brings deep business experience to his role leading the Conservancy, which he joined in 2008. He is a champion of the idea of natural capital — valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the services it provides for people, such as clean air and water, productive soils, and a stable climate. In 2012, he was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the New York State 2100 Commission, which was created in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to advise the governor and the state on how to make the state’s infrastructure more resilient to future storms. Tercek is also a member of several boards and councils, including Resources for the Future and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Tercek earned an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1984 and a B.A. from Williams College in 1979.

Manager of the Latin America Smart Infrastructure Regional Unit at the Nature Conservancy

Jerry Touval manages the Latin America Smart Infrastructure Program for The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organization with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. His focus is on working with governments, corporations, and finance institutions in achieving development of infrastructure projects (transportation systems, hydropower, mining, oil & gas) in a way that minimizes impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Mr. Touval has more than 30 years of experience working in the field of conservation and natural resource management. He joined the Conservancy in 1994 and has held several positions within the organization, including ten years as Regional Science Director for Latin America, and eight years as the Conservancy’s Colombia Country Program Director. Before joining the Conservancy, he worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Latin America Program, and prior to that as a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras. He has a Master of Science Degree in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry and Wildlife Management from Rutgers University.