Awards 2015

Architect and Founder of Tatiana Bilbao S.C

Tatiana Bilbao was born in Mexico City in 1972. She graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana in 1996, where she obtained her Architecture and Urban Development degrees. During 1998-1999 she was the advisor for Urban Projects at Urban Housing and Development Department of Mexico City and she became a member of the urban council of the city. In 1999 she joins and co-founds the LCM S.C. architectural practice with two other partners. In 2004, she became the founder of Tatiana Bilbao S.C and has worked in projects in China, Europe y Mexico. Along with three other partners she launched that year MXDF, an urban research center with attention to production of space, its occupation, its defense and control in Mexico City. In 2005, Bilbao became a design professor at Universidad Iberoamericana and throughout 2008 she was a visiting professor at Andres Bello University in Santiago, Chile. In 2009 she was named as an Emerging Voice by the Architecture League of NY and in March 2010 she was recognized as Endeavor Entrepreneur. In December of 2010, three of her projects were acquired by the Centre George Pompidou in Paris, France, to be part of their Architectural Permanent Collection. Other accolades of Bilbao include Best 2012 Mexican Young Architect, Kunstpries Berlin Award, and two silver medals at the Mexican Biennale of Architecture. In 2013 Bilbao became a visiting professor at the Peter Behrens School of Architecture in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2014 she received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture by the LOCUS Foundation, Cité de l’Architecture of Paris, and the patronage of UNESCO.

President of the Colombian Society of Engineers

Diana Maria Espinosa Bula graduated from Colombia’s Julio Garavito School of Engineering with a degree in Architecture and a specialization in Environmental Sanitation. She received a Masters in Natural Resources Law from Universidad Externado of Colombia. She later obtained a post graduate degree from the INALDE Institute at the Universidad de la Sabana in the Executive CEO Business Management Program. Espinosa has worked and excelled in different engineering consulting firms, as well as in government positions. She was the general manager for the National Institute for Land (INAT) from 1996-1997 and the deputy manager for infrastructure for the Colombian Institute for Rural Development (INCODER) from 2003 to 2004. Today Espinosa is a partner and general manager for Ambiotec Ltda, a firm that specializes in environmental consulting of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. Since March 2013 she has served as president of the Colombian Society of Engineers. In 2014 she was appointed member of the Pan-American Academy of Engineering.

Executive Director of the National Agency for the Development of Economic Infrastructure of Guatemala

Since 2012, Julio Héctor Estrada has been the Executive Director of the National Agency for the Development of Economic Infrastructure of Guatemala (ANADIE). He has a graduate degree in Economics from Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala and an MBA from INSEAD in France. In March 2014 the World Economic Forum nominated Estrada as Young Global Leader. From 2010 – 2012, he was President and CEO of Palo Blanco SA Development, a Guatemalan company dedicated to construction and real estate in Guatemala. Also during this period, Estrada was the leader of the “Let’s improve Guatemala” initiative under the direction of the Foundation for the Development – FUNDESA. From 2008-2010, he was Director of Guatemala’s National Competitiveness Program PRONACOM. From 2006 to 2008, Estrada was Deputy Director for Latin America at the World Economic Forum, based in Switzerland. In 2004 and 2005, he served as a consultant to the firm HV KEARNEY International in Zurich, Switzerland.

President and CEO of Darby Overseas Investments Ltd.

Richard Frank is Darby’s President and Chief Executive Officer, responsible for management of firm-wide activities and Chairman of the firm’s Private Equity, Mezzanine Finance, and Venture Capital Investment Committees. Frank joined Darby in July 1997 after a long and distinguished career at the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington, D.C. In his last assignment he chaired the Private Sector Group, coordinating the private sector activities of the World Bank, IFC, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). During his career at the World Bank Group as Managing Director, Frank oversaw the South Asia and Latin America operations and chaired the Banks Finance Committee. At the IFC, he served as CFO leading the Corporation to become an AAA borrower and securing two capital increases. Earlier in his Bank Group career, he was active in project and investment work throughout Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Frank is a Director of Templeton International Funds and of the Boards of several Latin American companies and banks. He serves on the Board of Georgetown University; the international strategic board of Banco Finantia, S.A. (Portugal); Inter-American Dialogue; Institute of International Finance; Bretton Woods Committee, and is the former Chairman of the Latin American Venture Capital Association. He earned a Bronze Star for his service as Captain in Vietnam. Frank holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and an MS from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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.

Director of LatAm Confidential at the Financial Times

Richard Lapper was the Latin America editor at the Financial for ten years. His success at FT can be traced back to his debut in journalism with the Latin America newsletter in 1980. He was correspondent in Central America for that publication in the early 1980s and subsequently wrote for a range of publications including the Economist Intelligence Unit. He joined the Financial Times in 1990 and was previously the insurance correspondent, capital markets editor, and financial news editor. He was the Latin America editor at the FT for 10 years until 2008. He then headed the newspaper’s Southern African bureau until 2010. Currently, Richard Lapper directs LatAm Confidential, a research service published by the Financial Times. Based in the United Kingdom, he heads a team of researchers located in London, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and other Latin American cities. His current focus involves producing independent data-driven predictive analysis, aimed at investors and focusing on the region’s resources, infrastructure and consumer industries. Lapper is also director of the broader FT Confidential group, which includes China Confidential, Asean Confidential, and a custom research unit. In his spare time, Lapper also writes broadcasts and frequently speaks about the region for a range of other institutions and the media. He writes a regular monthly column for Poder magazine in Mexico City and recently authored a special report on US policy towards Venezuela for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Chief Strategy Officer at Meridiam

Julia Prescot was educated at Cambridge University and has worked as an investor and advisor for numerous PPP projects across the globe. She served as Head of Project Finance with Hill Samuel Bank in London, then as Co-Head of Project Advisory at Charterhouse Bank. In 2000, she joined Bank of Scotland, first as Senior Director, then becoming Head of Eurozone Infrastructure Finance. There she played a leading role as a financial equity investor, provider of mezzanine funding and arranger of senior debt. Since joining Meridiam in mid-2005, Prescot has been involved in PFI/PPP programs in the UK and in a number of other European countries. She is in charge of Meridiam’s strategy. Having a particular interest in supporting ESG and CSR issues, Prescot has engaged in numerous sustainable and responsible investment initiatives. She is the non-executive President of the Sustainable Infrastructure Foundation in Geneva, non-executive director of the IPFA and founder of Women Leaders in Infrastructure. She was nominated for candidacy for the UN PRI’s Advisory Council election in September 2014.

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.

Managing Director of GP Investments

Dr. Helcio Tokeshi serves as managing director of GP Investments. He has been the head of infrastructure investments at GP Investments since joining in 2014. Prior to joining the firm, Dr. Tokeshi served as the managing director of the Brazilian Project Structuring Company (EBP). Prior to EBP, he served at the Ministry of Finance in Brazil where he was the head of the Competition Agency (SEAE). Dr. Tokeshi has also worked at McKinsey & Co. in São Paulo and NewYork, and was an economist at the World Bank and at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP). He also served on the Board of Directors of Caixa Economica Federal, Brasil Veículos and Energy Research Agency (EPE). Dr. Tokeshi holds a Doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley in Economics, a Master’s in Economics from the State University of Campinas, and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of São Paulo.