Speakers

Alejandro Aravena

Architect

ELEMENTAL  

Alejandro Aravena graduated as an architect at Universidad Católica de Chile in 1992. He established his own practice in 1994. From 2000 to 2005, he was a professor at the Harvard GSD, where together with transport engineer Andres Iacobelli, ELEMENTAL was first conceptualized. Nowadays, ELEMENTAL is a “do tank” with partners Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó, and Diego Torres.

Aravena was named Honorary RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) International Fellow (2009) and board member of the LSE Cities program of the London School of Economics (2011). He is also a board member of the LafargeHolcim Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of the Rolex Mentor Protegé Initiative in 2021 and founding member of the Chilean Public Policies Society. Alejandro Aravena contributed to the Rio+20 Global Summit on Sustainable Development in 2012. In 2016, he was appointed curator of the 15th Venice Biennale.

ELEMENTAL’s work has been exhibited at the MoMA in New York City in 2010 (Small Scale, Big Change), the Venice Architecture Biennale (2008, 2012, 2018, 2021), the Louisiana Art Museum in Denmark in winter 2018–2019 and is also part of the permanent collection of Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Among the awards, Alejandro Aravena and ELEMENTAL have received the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale (2008), the Index Award in Denmark (2011), the Design of the Year of the London Design Museum for the Angelini Innovation Center (2015), and the Gothenburg Sustainability Award (2017, first time awarded to an architect). Aravena was a member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize jury (2009–2015) and in 2016, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. From 2020 he will be acting as President of the Pritzker Prize Jury.  

Dr. Jamile Camacho 

Professor of Surgery and Breast Pathology and Magister in Bioethics, Clinica Alemana Universidad del Desarrollo

Past President of the Surgeons Society of Chile 

Member of IWF Chile   

Dr. Jamile Camacho is a Professor of Surgery and Breast Pathology and a member of the Breast Pathology Unit at Clinica Alemana de Santiago. She also serves as a member of the Bioethics Committee at Clínica Alemana de Santiago 

Dr. Camacho is the past President of the Chilean Surgeon Association. She holds various memberships such as in the Masthology Association, the Latin American Federation of Surgery (F.E.L.A.C), and the Chilean Breast Cancer NGO, Corporacion Yo Mujer.  

In 1983 she received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Universidad de Concepcion and an Interuniversity Master’s in Bioethics from Universidad del Desarrollo e Instituto Borja de Bioetica in 2020. Dr. Camacho also holds a specialization in General Surgery from Universidad de Chile (1987) and in Breast Surgery from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (1996), along with a degree in Biomedical Sciences Education.  

Dr. Sylvia Eyzaguirre

Researcher

Centros de Estudios Públicos  

Dr. Sylvia Eyzaguirre is a Researcher at Centro de Estudios Públicos, where her field of research is in education, childhood, and environment. 

She has a PhD in Philosophy from Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany and received her bachelor's in Philosophy from Universidad de Chile.  

From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Eyzaguirre served as the Director of the Philosophy Department at Andrés Bello University and was an Advisor of the Minister of Education from 2012 to 2013. 

She is a member of the Advisory Council to the Minister of Ciencia, Technology, and Innovation and a member of the National Council for Education. 

Dr. Eyzaguirre is also a columnist for La Tercera, a newspaper published in Santiago, Chile.   

Dr. Karen Feinstein 

President and Chief Executive Officer 

Jewish Healthcare Foundation   

Member of IWF Pittsburgh

Dr. Karen Wolk Feinstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) and its three operating arms, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, Health Careers Futures, and the Women’s Health Activist Movement Global (WHAMglobal). Combined, they perform a unique mix of grantmaking, research, teaching, coaching, and project management to serve as a catalyst for progressive health care. Under her leadership, JHF has always prioritized an agenda in aging, including producing numerous briefs and leading regional and national convenings on healthy aging, producing documentaries on long-term care and end of life care, and advocating for and running demonstration projects to re-envision nursing homes and at-home senior care. Dr. Feinstein is the author of numerous regional and national publications on healthcare and aging issues, women’s health, and she frequently presents at national and international conferences.  

Dr. Feinstein is a past President of Grantmakers In Health and Grantmakers of Western PA, founder and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative, and serves on many other national and regional boards and committees. She is a founding member of the national Women of Impact coalition, the first Chair of Pittsburgh’s International Women’s Forum chapter, and co-founder of the IWF Women in Health Care Special Interest Group. Dr. Feinstein is a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners and UPMC teaching hospitals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in American History at Brown University, her master's in Social Planning at Boston College, and her doctorate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. 

Gonzalo Gebara

President and Chief Executive Officer

Walmart Chile

CEO of Walmart Chile, he has 20 years of retail experience in the United States, Argentina and Chile, with experience in management, strategic planning, sales, operations, and e-commerce.

He studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and graduated from the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program for Leadership Development. 

He joined Walmart in 2000, taking on important responsibilities in the Finance, Strategy and Sale teams. He moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2004, where he took over as Senior Director of International Integration, leading these processes in the company in Brazil, Central America, Japan and China.

He arrived in Chile in 2009 to lead the process of integrating D&S and Walmart and his responsibilities included implementing a new corporate culture and developing a series of value creation initiatives. 

He was appointed Walmart Chief Administration Officer in Chile and Argentina in January 2019, where he was responsible for implementing the company's real estate strategy in both countries, facilitating the construction of new stores and the transformation of some existing ones, among other things.

As CEO of Walmart Chile, he has taken on the challenge of picking up the pace of the company's transformation under the purpose of making life easier for customers, giving them access to buying what they need when, where and how they need it.

Gonzalo Gebara currently sits on the board of the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Chile) and has been a member of the Walmart Chile Diversity and Inclusion Council since its creation in 2009.
 

Natalia González

Director of Constitutional Affairs 

Libertad y Desarrollo

Natalia Gonzalez is a lawyer with degrees from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Chicago and is a Fulbright, CONICYT and University of Chicago scholar.  

From 2002 to 2006, she was an Associate Attorney for the law firm Carey in the areas of corporate and financial law. Subsequently, she served as Legislative Advisor in the Ministries of Finance (2006-2007 and 2010-2011), Planning (2010) and Energy (2007-2008 and 2011-2012), participating in the design of public policies and in the drafting and negotiation in the National Congress of several bills related to social policy, capital and financial markets and regulation of the electric power generation and distribution segment.  

She first joined Libertad y Desarrollo as Director of the Legislative and Constitutional Program (2012-2014). Later, she worked at the newspaper El Mercurio, at the consulting firm Hohmann y Asociados; and then at Universidad del Desarrollo, where she was the first female Director of the Center for Regulatory Law and Business. Natalia has also been assistant professor to the Commercial Law chair at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.  

She has been twice awarded with the Women Leader Award by Diario El Mercurio and is a regular columnist at Diario El Mercurio and Tele13 Radio. 

Dr. Claudia Heiss 

Professor, Institute of Public Affairs  

University of Chile    

Dr. Claudia Heiss is a Professor at the Institute of Public Affairs, Universidad de Chile and head of the undergraduate program in political science. She has a Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research and an M.A. from Columbia University. Dr. Heiss is an adjunct researcher at the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES).  

She is the former president of the Chilean Political Science Association (2012-2014) and a current member of its board. Dr. Heiss published the book "Why do we need a new Constitution” (in Spanish, 2020), as well as articles and book chapters on constitutionalism, democratic theory, and Chilean politics. 

Marta Lagos

Founding Director

Latinobarómetro, MORI (Chile) S.A. 

Marta Lagos is Founding Director of Latinobarómetro, a market and opinion research company and the first regional barometer after the Eurobarometer. Marta was former head of the Chilean think tank CERC, and she has conducted opinion polls since Chile’s transition to democracy in the 1980s. She has correctly anticipated the results of presidential elections in Chile since 1988. Marta is Founding Director of MORI Chile, her own polling company associated with MORI UK. She is a member of the Steering Committee of World Values Survey Association (WVS) and was a member of the International Comparative Elections Studies (CSES) Steering Committee from 1994 to 2008. Marta was an editor of Oxford’s International Journal of Public Opinion Research (IJPO) and is extensively published in Spanish. 

She was the recipient of the 2008 Dinerman Award for her lifetime contribution to the field of public opinion. She holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

His Excellency Ricardo Lagos E. 

Former President of the Republic of Chile (2000-2006) and President of Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo 

Ricardo Lagos was President of the Republic of Chile between 2000 and 2006.  He is a lawyer and holds a PhD in Economics from Duke University. His professional career began as an academic and official of various international organizations linked to the UN. Between 1973 – 1989 he was a staunch opponent of the military dictatorship and founded the Party for Democracy.

As President of the Republic of Chile, he led processes such as the Constitutional reform; the improvement of the concessions system and with it a substantial improvement in the country's infrastructure; the creation of a health system that would ensure timely care known as Auge and the promotion of important advances in human rights matters such as the Valech Report and compensation for more than 30,000 victims of human rights violations during the dictatorship.

After the return to democracy, he was one of the leaders of the transition process as Minister of Education and Public Works. After his presidential term, he was President of the Club of Madrid , founder of the Council for International Relations of Latin America and the Caribbean (RIAL), visiting professor at Brown University in the United States, and special envoy of the United Nations for Climate Change. He is currently part of the group The Elders and President of the Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo, of which he is its founder.
 

Dr. Lourdes Melgar 

Research Affiliate, MIT´s Center for Collective Intelligence; 

Non-Resident Fellow, Center of Energy Studies, Baker Institute  

Member of IWF New Mexico

Dr. Lourdes Melgar is passionate about energy and sustainable development. She brings to the forefront strategic issues pertinent to the transition to a low-carbon economy. Her research centers on reconciling the challenges of energy security with mitigating climate change and boosting sustainable development. 

As a Research Affiliate at MIT´s Center for Collective Intelligence and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Energy Studies of the Baker Institute, Lourdes brings her policy experience in the search for solutions to accelerate the transformation of energy systems. 

Lourdes sits on boards of Banco Santander Mexico and Smurfit Kappa Group and holds positions in the advisory boards of Phius (formerly Passive House Institute USA), the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Chapter Zero Mexico, and Voz Experta, an organization that promotes the empowerment of women in the energy sector.  

During the time of design, negotiation, and initial implementation of Mexico´s 2013 Constitutional Energy Reform, Lourdes served as Deputy Secretary of Energy for Hydrocarbons (2014-16) and Under-Secretary for Electricity (2012-2014). She played a key role in the design of the new model and the inclusion of the social component of sustainability. Previously, as a career diplomat, she held various positions in Mexico’s Foreign Service.  

In the academic realm, Lourdes was Founding Director of the Center for Sustainability and Business at EGADE Business School. She was the 2016-17 Robert Wilhelm Fellow at MIT and has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and at the Jackson School of Geosciences (UT Austin). A graduate from Mount Holyoke College, Melgar holds a PhD in Political Science from MIT.  

A member of the International Women's Forum since 2008, Lourdes chaired the Mexican Chapter from 2014 to 2016. She has been included in Forbes’ list of 100 Most Powerful Women in Mexico in 2018, 2020 and 2021. 

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Dr. Mónica Rubio

Astronomy Professor

Universidad de Chile

Member of IWF Chile

 Dr. Mónica Rubio, winner of the 2021 National Prize in Science, obtained her Ph. D. degree at the Universitè de Paris, France. She is a full professor at the Astronomy Department of the Universidad de Chile. She served as Director of the Astronomy Program (2008-2014) and as Vice President of the National Commission for Science and Technology (CONICYT) in 2019. 

Dr. Rubio is an expert astrophysicist in the subject of star formation and molecular clouds. She has given numerous lectures in international conferences and visited institutions in Europe, United States, Japan, and Latin America. During her scientific career, she has obtained more than 700 nights in the observatories in Chile, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA Stratospheric SOFIA Telescope, and HERSCHEL Telescope satellite missions. She discovered, using the ALMA telescope, how low metallicity galaxies form stars, a discovery published in the prestigious Journal NATURE and covered by the media worldwide.

Dr. Rubio is President of Division H: Interstellar Medium and Local Group Galaxies of the International Astronomical Union (2021-2023) and former president of the Chilean Society of Astronomy (2021-2023). She is a member Board of Directors of the University of Santiago and of the Astronomy Advisory Council of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation.

Dr. Rubio was awarded the IWF “Women Who Make A Difference Award” in 2004 and has been recognized with the “100 Women Leaders” prize in Chile (2021, 2015, 2006). She is fluent in Spanish, English and French. Dr. Rubio is married and has three children. 
 

Dr. Maria Teresa Ruiz

Astronomy Professor, Universidad de Chile; Director, Center for Astrophysics and Associated Technologies 

Member of IWF Chile

 Dr. Maria Teresa Ruiz obtained her PhD in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University (USA) in 1975. After a postdoctoral position at Trieste Observatory in 1976-77, she held a position at the Institute of Astronomy (UNAM) Mexico. She is now a full professor of the Astronomy Department at Universidad de Chile, Director of the Center for Astrophysics and Associated Technologies (CATA). From 2015 to 2018 she was elected President of the Chilean Academy of Science. Dr. Ruiz received the Chilean National Award for Science in 1997, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001, and is a Honorary Member of the American Astronomical Society. In 2017 she received the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. She has been a member of several panels and committees at European Southern Observatory (ESO), Carnegie, AUI and AURA.

Dr. Ruiz is author of more than 200 scientific publications and 6 astronomy books for the general public and children.

Moderators

Mercedes Ducci

Journalist and Communications Consultant    

Member of IWF Chile  

Mercedes Ducci is a Journalist from the Catholic University of Chile and has a master's degree in Media studies from the New York institute of Technology (1981). 

She was the Executive Producer and host of Contacto, one of the most influential programs on Chilean TV. Her television career culminated as Executive Director of Channel 13, a position she held until 2010. Since then, she has been dedicated to consulting.  

Mercedes has been a member of the Board of Hogar de Christo, Prodemu, and Comunidad Mujer. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Social Communications Media Ethics Council.  

From 2018 to 2021, Mercedes was the President of Comunidad Mujer.  

She is the recipient of the Lenka Franulic, Carmen Puelma and Silvia Pinta awards, among others. 

Wendy Garen 

President & CEO

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation

Member of IWF Southern California

Wendy Garen has played an integral role in the life of the Parsons Foundation, becoming President and CEO in 2008 after working for the Foundation for more than twenty years.  

She is currently Chair of the Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families, serves on the advisory board of the Center for Philanthropy and Public Policy at USC, is Vice Chair of LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment, and serves on the LA Coalition for the Economy & Jobs. She is a founding member of the Non-Profit Sustainability Initiative, the Los Angeles County Center for Strategic Partnerships, and the Los Angeles County Arts Recovery Fund.  

Wendy formerly served as Chair of Southern California Grantmakers, helping transform the organization into an engine of collaboration and transformation increasing membership from 100 to more than 300. She was also on the board of the Broad Stage, First 5 Los Angeles, and The Trusteeship, the local affiliate of the International Women’s Forum. As a member of the Women’s Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School, she traveled with delegations to Egypt and South Africa.  

Prior to joining the Parsons Foundation, Wendy was Executive Director of the Los Angeles Child Care and Development Council, Program Manager at Children’s Home Society of Orange County, and founding staff member of the children’s nonprofit Crystal Stairs.  

Wendy is a sought-after speaker and panelist at local, national and international meetings. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois and has a master’s in urban planning from UCLA. 

The Honorable Hector Morales 

Managing Director and Chairman - Latin American  

Macquarie Capital   

The Honorable Hector E. Morales, Jr. is a Managing Director at Macquarie Capital and Chairman for Latin America of its Infrastructure and Energy Capital group (IEC). In this role, he oversees IEC’s principal business origination, provides guidance on investment execution, serves as a director on portfolio companies, and spearheads its government interactions in Latin America.  

Morales has over 20 years of experience in Latin America as an investor, banker, lawyer, and diplomat, and holds the unique distinction of having served as the senior United States political appointee at the two major multilateral institutions in the Western Hemisphere: U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, and U.S. Executive Director to the Inter-American Development Bank. 

Prior to his government service, Morales held several senior executive positions at financial and energy firms operating in Latin America and the U.S. He began his career in private practice as a corporate attorney.  

He is a member of the national board of the National Audubon Society and the advisory boards of the Inter-American Foundation, Woodrow Wilson Center Latin America Program, and Proyecto Mirador. Morales received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.A. from Columbia University. 

Soledad Onetto  

Journalist and TV Host   

Member of IWF Chile

Soledad Onetto is a journalist from Catholic University of Chile, who began her career hosting El Pulso, a news program on the now defunct channel 2 Rock & Pop.  A few months after, she transitioned to Full Canal, a Cable TV channel, to host a program covering the internet and commercial pioneering in Chilean television. Later she moved onto the television station MEGA, where she hosted one of the first and most successful docu-reality program, Cara y Sello.  

In 2002, Channel 13 hired her to develop and host a technology program that remained on air for years.  

Soledad was selected by her channel to animate and host the Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar alongside the renowned TV host Felipe Camiroaga in its 2009 and 2010 editions.   

Since 2012 the journalist was the host of Meganoticias the prime news program of MEGA, the channel leading in viewership, where she has been in charge of various news programs and talk shows such as Más Vale Tarde.  

Soledad, is the radio host of Radio Cooperativa and Radio Infinita and has participated in several successful programs, conducting interviews regarding current events and issues related to education, energy, commerce, economy and humanities.   

In parallel to her journalistic work in both radio and television, Soledad has worked successfully for years as a regular moderator and speaker in a range of topics from business, government, mining, technology and more.  Her experience and credibility in this area has made her into a competent voice to lead audiovisual pieces for different industries for the narration of informative texts.   

Accustomed to exploring new formats of journalism, Soledad continues leading projects that push for change in the challenging world of communications.  

Mariana Sanz

CEO Latam and Mexico General Manager

Edelman 

Mariana Sanz has long experience solving complex communications challenges for Mexican and global institutions, first from the public sector and international organizations arena, and then from the corporate sphere in her extensive agency practice. 

She joined Edelman as GM of the Mexico office almost six years ago. Since that time, she has successfully positioned Edelman Mexico as one of the strongest communications firms in the market, winning key industry awards, but most importantly, the trust and loyalty of global and local clients. Mariana has assembled a solid, stable, and diverse team and continues to push the boundaries on client service excellence and integrated work, both for clients in Mexico and the region. 

Prior to Edelman, she was a partner at a local strategic communications agency; she was also an advisor on communications and institutional relations for the CEO of Pemex. Also, in Washington D.C., she worked for the Inter-American Development Bank and for the Mexican Embassy in the United States; prior to that, she was at the Mexican Ministry of Finance. 

Mariana holds a degree in International Relations from ITAM, a masters in International Relations and International Communications from Boston University, and a masters in Political Management from George Washington University. She is a member of the Advisory Board for The Center for US-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego. 

She lives in Mexico City with her husband and their two boys.
 

Teresa Valdes-Fauli Weintraub 

Managing Director 

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc

Member of IWF Florida

Teresa Valdes-Fauli Weintraub joined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. as Managing Director – Wealth Management, Financial Advisor, in January 2016 where she advises high net worth families on their wealth management planning and estate planning needs.  She has over 40 years experience assisting families accomplish their goals and educating successive generations.   

For the prior 18 years, she was President, CEO and Board member of Fiduciary Trust International of the South, one of the largest trust and investment management companies in Florida.  She served on the Board of its Delaware affiliate and as a member of the Executive Committee of Fiduciary Trust Company International, the parent company. Teresa formerly was a Vice President and Trust Officer of the Northern Trust Bank of Florida, and previous to that was employed by the University of Miami for 11 years in positions of increasing responsibility.  Her last position at the University of Miami was as Executive Director of Development. She began her career in 1979 as a Tax Attorney with Exxon Corporation in New York City.  

Teresa has lectured and written extensively in the areas of leadership, trusts, estates and charitable gift planning. She has been recognized by many organizations for her leadership in the Greater Miami Community.  She has served on numerous not for profit boards including United Way, Carrollton School, Philanthropy Miami, Miami Children’s Health Systems, Miami Jewish Health Systems and many others.  From 2016 – 2018, Weintraub served as the President of the Global Board of the International Women’s Forum (IWF), an invitation only network of the most accomplished women in the world.  She was honored by IWF by receiving its Leading Light Award for her contributions transforming the organization.  Teresa has a B.A. and J.D. from Boston College.   

Emcee

Denise Ratinoff

Senior Vice President, Head of Regional Offices Chile, Peru and Ecuador

Christie's International 

Member of IWF Chile

Denise Ratinoff opened Christie’s in Chile in 1995 and has been successfully managing it for almost three decades. As a public auctioneer in Chile, she is the only woman in her country who specializes in art charity auctions. Denise has participated in over 200 auctions in recent years nationally and internationally, including at MALBA (Museum of Latin American Art Buenos Aires); the National Art Museum, Colombia; the Bendinat Castle, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; and the Contemporary Art Museum, Lima, Peru.  

In 2003, 2006, and 2015, she was awarded the Women Lider award by the newspaper, El Mercurio and Mujeres Empresarias in Chile. Denise won an award for the best event of the year for the first Blind Wine Tasting held in Chile, awarded by the Circle of Gastronomic Critics in Chile in 1998.  

She has been a jury member in various public and private competitions and, in 2013, she was the member of Imagen País (Country Image), the official committee for the selection of the artist representing Chile at the Venice Biennale, in Italy. 

Denise is an active member of various foundations. She serves on the board of Fundacion Nuestros Hijos, Children Cancer Hospital and Conecto-Aprendo, an educational digital platform for children in Chile. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Chilean chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC, USA.