TEAM

Álvaro González Alorda

CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER

With six years of experience in the corporate world and 14 years in the world of consulting, he has worked with more than 100 companies in 25 countries throughout Europe and the Americas.

He is a Lecturer for Headspring [by Financial Times & IE] (London-Madrid) and Visiting Lecturer at INALDE Business School (Colombia), ESE Business School (Chile), IAE Business School (Argentina) and IEEM Business School(Uruguay), amongst other business schools. He has also worked as a Guest Speaker at IESE Business School (United States).

He studied at the Universidad de Navarra (FCOM’96), at IESE Business School(PDD’06), and at the Harvard Business School (Program: Building Businesses in Emerging Markets ’13). He also carried out a research period at Harvard Business School(2007).

He is the author of the books Los próximos 30 años (Alienta, 2010), The Talking Manager (Alienta, 2011)and Head, Heart and Hands (Alienta, 2020). He has published his first novel: Riverview (Amazon, 2021)

Raúl Lagomarsino

CO-FOUNDER AND SENIOR CONSULTANT

With more than 15 years’ experience in Executive Education, he specialises in Strategic Talent Management and in Innovative Cultures.

He is currently Associate Lecturer in People Management at the ESE Business School at Universidad de los Andes. He has worked as a Lecturer and Academic Director at the INALDE Business School (Colombia). He is a Guest Lecturer at ISE (Brazil), IEEM (Uruguay), IDE (Ecuador), IPADE (Mexico), INALDE (Colombia), PAD (Peru) and IESE (Spain), as well as an international conference speaker at events relating to talent and innovation management.

Raúl received his Degree in International Relations from Universidad de la República (Uruguay), and completed his Ph.D. at IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra). He also has an MBA (Master in Business Administration) from IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra) and completed the CPCL Program at Harvard Business School.

He is a member of various Boards of Directors and the author of numerous publications in management journals and books.

Joaquín Trigueros León

SENIOR CONSULTANT

He is the Co-founder and Co-director of the Instituto de Estudios Empresariales (IEE) in Costa Rica, which, over the last eight years, has worked with more than 120 national and multinational companies, training their potential high-fliers and key performers. He is a Lecturer in Business Communication at IEE. He has also worked as a Lecturer in Process Design and Operations Research.

He coordinated the early stages of the work carried out at the IPADE Business School in Costa Rica and contributed to the founding of IPADE in Panama. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry, in international trade (Colón Free Trade Zone, Panama and Costa Rica) and in areas relating to data gathering and digital indexing. He has advised companies on matters relating to institutional communication. Over a number of years he has mentored final-year university students in order to help them join the labour market. He has headed a press office and promoted Cooperation Projects with European NGO’s in Nicaragua.  

He graduated as an Industrial Engineer at Universidad Autónoma de Centro América (UACA) and achieved his MSc. in Social Communication at Universidad de Costa Rica. He also trained at the IPADE Business School, taking part in the AD-2 Programme (Upper  Business Management Program); at the University of Santa Cruz (Italy) in matters relating to Strategic, Institutional and Crisis Communication; at Universidad de Navarra in matters relating to Reputation; and at Universidad Panamericana (Mexico) in aspects relating to Management and Political  Communication.  He completed the Leadership Development Program at the Center for Creative Leadership (Greensboro, NC, USA).  

He is the author of the book entitled Framing del Referendo sobre el TLC en Costa Rica (Editorial Académica Española EAE, 2011).  

Ernesto Barrera Duque

SENIOR CONSULTANT

John Almandoz

SENIOR CONSULTANT

He has worked as a Lecturer at IESE Business School since 2011, imparting courses on leadership, human resources and personal leadership. His experience prior to his career as a lecturer and researcher includes a Doctorate at Harvard Business School on Organizational Behavior and a Master’s Degree in Sociology. He also worked in the management of non-profit organisations, in the world of banking (Bank of America) and the field of consulting (Milliman, Inc.).

He is a Lecturer at IESE Business School and Academic Director of the New York Campus and Program for Leadership Development in New York and Miami, which attracts participants from around the world. He imparts a very diverse range of courses: MBA’s, Global Executive MBA’s and Upper Management Programs. He has published in the leading journals within his field, such as The Academy of Management Journal and Administrative Science Quarterly, on matters relating to Top Management Teams and Boards of Directors within the banking industry in the United States. His research has been disseminated in publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, LSE Business Review and IESE Insight.

He trained at IESE Business School (PDG, 2011), at Harvard Business School (PhD, 2011 and Master’s Degree in Sociology, 2009), at Southern Methodist University (MBA, 1998) and at The University of Dallas (Economics Undergraduate, 1991).

Juan Carlos Valverde

SENIOR CONSULTANT

Juan Carlos has 15 years of experience in Financial Services in Latin America.  He is specialized in business transformation, large scale project management and management of distribution channels.

He held multiple director-level roles with HSBC in Mexico, both within the retail and enterprise banking segments.  During this period, his responsibilities covered product improvement, direct sales channels management, business transformation and project management.  He received recognition for leading the transformation of the complaints management process in Mexico, and for leading the renovation of the entire ATM network of the Mexican Operation.

Also with HSBC, Juan Carlos lead tactical aspects of the Latin America cultural transformation programme, aimed at reducing the risk of Financial Crime in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.  In this position, he contributed to implementing a substantial change in the regional´s organizational culture.

In Central America, Juan Carlos worked as senior consultant in the Financial Services practices of KPMG and PwC. With these entities, he led several operational risk management projects for banking, pensions, and other financial services entities. 

Juan Carlos has lectured in strategic management at postgraduate level and has been a guest speaker at financial services and risk management summits. 

Juan Carlos was educated in the United Kingdom, France and Costa Rica.  He holds and MBA from the Alliance Manchester Business School in the UK (Merit, 2004) and carried out advanced management studies a the  École HEC in Paris (2003).  He also holds and licentiate degree from the Universidad de Costa Rica (2000).  He has participated at numerous continuing education events with entities such as The Corporate Executive Board (Mexico, 2012), ITESM (Mexico, 2009) and KPMG (Amsterdam, 2002).

Rolando Roncancio

SENIOR CONSULTANT

With more than 15 years of experience as a manager, entrepreneur, board member and professor, he has specialized in Strategy Execution, Corporate Sustainability and University Education.

He is currently Academic Vice-Rector of the University of La Sabana (Colombia), Professor of Strategy and Corporate Governance of Inalde Business School and member of several Boards of Directors. He is a visiting professor at Barna Business School (Dominican Republic), IGEZ Business School (Venezuela) and IPADE Business School and an international lecturer on Corporate Reputation and Sustainability issues. He has held senior management positions in several companies and institutions in the financial sector, retail, real estate and education, as well as the social sector. He has been founder of companies (Mall Solutions S.A. and Novus Financial Group S.A.) and foundations (Famof Foundation).

Rolando has studied Law at the University of La Sabana, Colombia, has a Ph.D in Government and Culture of Organizations and is MGO (Master in Government and Culture of Organizations) of the University of Navarra, Spain. He is also an MBA (Master in Business Administration) by INALDE Business School and has done studies in Philosophy.

He has published academic articles on sustainability, corporate governance and strategy, as well as cases in these matters (An uncomfortable board member: the case of Interbolsa Holding, At Five: a Seed Born of Scandal, among others). He was awarded the extraordinary prize in his doctoral thesis, “Benefit Corporations: from the primacy of the shareholder to that of the common good”, by the University of Navarra.

Gonzalo Valseca

SENIOR CONSULTANT

Gonzalo has more than 20 years of experience in business consulting, leading digital transformation initiatives for its clients, mainly in Europe and Latin America. Throughout his career in PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM Global Business Services, Gonzalo has helped global Fortune 500 clients to innovate and rethink their business.

Gonzalo has held a number of senior management positions, heading as a senior partner the business growth in the financial services sector for IBM Global Business Services in Southern Europe and Spain. He has also been General Manager for Mormedi, a leading customer experience design consultancy based in Madrid.

Gonzalo has worked for leading international companies in financial services (Santander, BBVA, ITAU, Banorte), insurance (Nationale Nederlanden, Mapfre), retail (Carrefour, El Corte Inglés), transportation (Amadeus, Iberia, AENA, Renfe, Adif), energy (Naturgy, Iberdrola), amongst others.

Gonzalo graduated as Civil Engineer by the Polytechnic University of Madrid, has a business degree in IESE Business School (PDD ’06). He has also collaborated with several business schools, IE Business School, and Madrid´s Escuela de Organización Industrial.

Cristina Abecia

SENIOR CONSULTANT

With experience in the fields of strategic management and people development, she has led the implementation of new work models in organizations for more than 15 years. She specializes in talent and learning consulting. She currently leads various transformation processes with teams from Spain, Italy, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.

Graduated in Audiovisual Communication and Master in Communication Research (MIC) from University of Navarra, and Chief Learning Officer (Specialization Program in Innovation and Learning) from University of Mondragón & Teamlabs.

An expert in the design of learning experiences, she has collaborated in several projects with different universities: Tallinn (Estonian Academy of Music and Theater), Porto (University of Porto) and Milan (School of Management – Bocconi University).

Co-founder and, until 2018, Talent Manager at Talentum Youth, a talent platform that seeks to develop young talent through training and challenging experiences.