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- Summary
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Leaders & Collaborators

Rene Salgado

Founder and President

Rene Salgado

Founder and President

Rene is interested in leveling entrepreneurial opportunities particularly for the less privileged. He is a strong believer in the power of ecosystem actor synergies, entrepreneurial social capital, and in the ethical and productive use of Internet technologies for positive social change. Rene combines his entrepreneurial skill-set and values, with an intrapreneurial experience of more than thirty years in economic and social development projects, entrepreneurship growth, and higher education. He has worked with international organizations, private companies, and university institutions in the US and Latin America. Rene holds a PhD in Policy Sciences (Policy and Economics) from the University of Maryland.

David Audretsch

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

David Audretsch

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

David Audretsch is a Distinguished Professor and Ameritech Chair of Economic Development at Indiana University, where he is also serves as Director of the Institute for Development Strategies. He is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal. He was awarded the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research by the Swedish Foundation for Entrepreneurship. Audretsch is a member of several advisory boards, including the American Center for Entrepreneurship and the Scientific Advisory Board of the University of Siegen in Germany.

Patricia G. Greene

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Patricia G. Greene

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Professor Emeritus, Babson College. Most recently, Patricia served as the 18th Director of the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor. Previously, she held the Paul T. Babson Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies at Babson College where she served first as Dean of the Undergraduate School, then Provost, and the founding National Academic Director for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses. Dr. Greene holds a BS from The Pennsylvania State University, MBA from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Octavio Martínez

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Octavio Martínez

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Director of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, INCAE Business School, Costa Rica, where he is a Professor of Competitive and Corporate Strategy. Octavio has significant experience as a Business Planning and Evaluation consultant for companies in the food and beverage, agribusiness, energy, and real estate industries. He has also conducted several pioneering studies on current managerial and economic challenges faced by small and medium enterprises in Central America. Octavio holds a PhD from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Antje Fiedler

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Antje Fiedler

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Antje Fiedler is the Associate Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute (NZAI) and a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland. She is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Small Business Management. Antje has undertaken extensive research on the internationalization of businesses with a particular focus on emerging markets. Her work has been published in international journals such as International Small Business Journal, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Human Relations, Small Business Economics, European Journal of Industrial Relations and New Political Economy. Her research has been informed courses at the Business School (University of Auckland) and practitioner workshops around New Zealand. Her current teaching is in the MBA and other postgraduate programs, including Executive Education. Antje has received two Excellence Awards for her Teaching at the University of Auckland Business School.

Daniel Prokop

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Daniel Prokop

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Daniel is an associate professor (senior lecturer) in Economic Geography at Cardiff University. He studies regional economic development, and is specifically interested in the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation, and networks. His published work has focused on university entrepreneurial ecosystems, academic entrepreneurship, university-industry collaboration, and competitiveness. Daniel holds a PhD in Economic Geography from the School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University.

Samuel Salazar Genovez

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Samuel Salazar Genovez

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Director of PROinnova, Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES) that promotes SMEs’ technological Innovation and entrepreneurship development in El Salvador. Samuel has worked on the design and implementation of investment events with innovative entrepreneurs and SMEs. He was responsible for the Introduction of the First-Tuesday Platform in El Salvador and supported the introduction of the platform in other Central American countries. Samuel has Engineering degrees from the Latin American Technical University and the University of Utah, and a specialization in Business Administration from the Francisco Marroquín University.

Steven Koltai

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Steven Koltai

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Steven Koltai is a Research Affiliate at MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) Senior Advisor for Entrepreneurship at MIT D-Lab, and until May 2022, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is also Managing Director of Koltai & Co, an entrepreneurship development consultancy. In the startup space, Koltai is a frequent angel investor, Supervisory Board Chair of Skilllab (an Amsterdam-based developer of skills assessment apps for refuges, migrants and other job seekers), General Partner and Entrepreneur in Residence of Atlantica Ventures (a Series A-B venture investor in African tech startups), and a member of the Board of Omnic.ai, an esports artificial-intelligence powered analytics company. Among his non-profit activities, Koltai is a board member of HIAS, one of the largest and oldest refugee resettlement agencies in the world, TechStars Maine where is a Lead Mentor, a board member of the National Digital Equity Center. Koltai earned a BA in History, magna cum laude Tufts University, MA Tufts’ Fletcher School. Licence in European Economics (as Fulbright Scholar) from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. Koltai was an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (where he has been a member for over 30 years) Koltai was a Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow in 2018.

Plubio Monterroso

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Plubio Monterroso

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisor

Plubio is president of the Asociación de Emprendedores de Guatemala and teaches at the Entrepreneurs Development Program of Rafael Landivar University and Universidad Galileo, Guatemala. His areas of work include business development, development of entrepreneurial skills, application of the Business Model Canvas, international marketing, and Internships Supervision. Plubio is the creator of two Guatemalan companies -- Deregreso and Apollo Cargo – and provides advisory and consulting services in international marketing. He is a graduate of the Marketing, International Trade, and Commercial Propaganda Program, Rafael Landívar University.

Gustavo Montúfar

Social Media Strategist

Gustavo Montúfar

Social Media Strategist

Gustavo Montúfar is a member of the Empresomos team. He is the pro-bono coordinator of the planning and execution of social media strategies and digital campaigns on Facebook/Instagram and Google Ads. Gustavo has a BS in Business Administration from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala – and has served as Adjunct Professor in Digital Marketing and Electronic Commerce. He has certifications from Google Ads and Facebook Meta and is completing his Master´s in Digital Marketing and Electronic Commerce at Rioja International University in Mexico.

Graciela Aldana

Digital Marketing Associate

Graciela Aldana

Digital Marketing Associate

Graciela Aldana is a member of the EmpreSomos Digital Marketing team and responsible for its Facebook page, including the design of infographics and the preparation of messages for the growing EmpreSomos audience. Graciela is a student of International Marketing at the prestigious Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala and has participated in a variety of conferences and workshops on entrepreneurship, business, and digital marketing strategies on social networks.

Sabrina Martínez

Digital Marketing Associate

Sabrina Martínez

Digital Marketing Associate

Sabrina Martínez is a member of EmpreSomos' digital marketing team. She coordinates the preparation, publication, and distribution of its newsletters in Spanish and LinkedIn Newsletters in English. As part of her work, Sabrina manages the logistics of exchanges and interviews with Central American entrepreneurial ecosystem leaders. Sabrina is a Bachelor of Business Administration from the prestigious Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica and is currently completing her Marketing specialization at the same institution. As part of her activities within the Instituto Tecnológico, Sabrina participates in a university extension program designed to prepare practical manuals to facilitate entrepreneurial skills development among indigenous women of her country.

Ben Taitelbaum

Information Technology Advisor

Ben Taitelbaum

Information Technology Advisor

Technical Solutions Consultant at Google, San Francisco Bay Area, Ben is a serial entrepreneur. Most recently a CTO of Reframe it, and previously a founder and president of Coshx Labs, a technical consulting and development firm. Between running a business, doing development, and advising, he finds time to teach web development to aspiring developers. He has a Master in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.

Daniela Herrera

EmpreSomos Knowledge Repository Coordinator

Daniela Herrera

EmpreSomos Knowledge Repository Coordinator

Daniela has participated in several applied research projects at the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, School of Business Administration, some of them related to the comparative analysis of Costa Rican universities entrepreneurship ecosystem vis-à-vis others in the Latin American region. She has also worked as a volunteer for national and international nonprofit organizations in social and environmental projects. Daniela has a Bachelor in Business Administration from the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica and is a graduate student at the same institution.

David Morera

Information Technology Advisor

David Morera

Information Technology Advisor

David is a current Director of User Experience at ExpatBuddy. He is a conscientious and methodic interaction designer who works with cross-disciplinary teams to create innovative products, services, and ventures that tackle complex design challenges; from a mobile application that helps smallholders adapt to climate change, to more empathic and inclusive government services, to ventures that can help people better accommodate to a new culture or feel safer in conflictive zones. He holds a degree in Graphic Design from the Universidad de las Ciencias y el Arte, Costa Rica, and a Master’s degree in Interaction Design from Universidad Veritas.

Earlier Advisors, and Pro-bono Professionals

Karen Wilkins

Karen Wilkins

Karen is an experienced project manager professional with a demonstrated history in the aerospace industry, along with many years of volunteer service in the nonprofit sector. She is skilled in Customer Service Management, Product Support, Contracts Management, and Cross-Functional Team Leadership. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Aerospace Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology and a Master's in Business Administration from Seattle University.

Juan Jose Juarez Calvo

Juan Jose Juarez Calvo

Senior Project Manager at Fundación Bertelsmann, Spain. On the basis of experience from other countries and relevant studies, the Foundation designs and carries out sustainable and scalable pilot entrepreneurship projects in partnership with other business development entities. Juan José holds a Master Degree in Coaching and Talent Management from EUDE, and a Master in Management of Non Profit organizations from ESADE.

Ralph Griffith

Ralph Griffith

Ralph is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and business incubation, business planning, and commercialization expert at Lenoir-Rhyne University. He also consults with universities and corporations on creativity, workforce development, incubation, and creating innovation within organizations.

Tom Georgevitz

Tom Georgevitz

Tom is a Senior Project Analyst at Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. He is a consulting professional with experience working in developing countries and a track record of quantifying business opportunities, building partnerships, and selling recommendations to stakeholders. Expertise in unstructured problem solving, strategic planning, and gathering and analyzing data. Tom holds a Master of Business Administration from the Universidad de Notre Dame.

Matthew Zamora

Matthew Zamora

Serial technology entrepreneur who previously founded Enact Productions, a digital marketing and production company. He has a diverse set of technical knowledge and skills including advanced web application development, mobile application design, and digital marketing. Matthew holds dual degrees in Psychology and Physiology/Neurobiology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Jose Enrique Samayoa

Jose Enrique Samayoa

Financial Consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank, where among other things, monitor services provided by counterparties for the operation of cash and safekeeping accounts.

Ascanio Graziosi

Ascanio Graziosi

President of Innovative Financial Inclusion Solutions, a finance boutique that provides advisory services with financial and digital providers to deliver sustainable, market transparent and affordable products. Specialization in Start-up, Growth-up enterprises. Ascanio holds a doctoral degree in Economics from La Sapienza, Universita di Rome.

Boone Gorges

Boone Gorges

Lead Developer of the City University of New York Academic Commons. Boone is interested in creating tools for individuals and organizations to reclaim their online lives from corporate entities. Boone is a Core Committer for WordPress and a Lead Developer for BuddyPress. He is a consultant specializing in custom plugin development, code review, and WordPress/BuddyPress architecture. He attended Cornell College and the CUNY Graduate Center.

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