Fernando Aguirre is a speaker, multinational business executive, marketing & leadership expert. He has spoken at numerous Universities such as Duke, USC, Kellogg, IPADE, Queens, and other public forums on leadership, strategy, branding, governance, social media, and has appeared on business shows such as Squak Box and Fox & Friends. 
Fernando Aguirre served as Chairman & CEO of Chiquita Brands International from 2004 to October 2012. He currently serves as a Consultant to its Board of Directors. The company has $3.5 billion in revenues and sells products worldwide with the Chiquita brand on bananas, healthy snacks, smoothies, and Fresh Express salads in North America.

Prior to Chiquita, Aguirre worked for more than 23 years in brand management, general management and turnarounds at Procter & Gamble (P&G). Aguirre began his P&G career in 1980 in marketing in Mexico, moved to Cincinnati, Canada, and Brazil before becoming President of P&G Mexico in 1996 and President of Global Feminine Care in 2001. While working for P&G’s Chairman & CEO on strategy, he was hired away by Chiquita in January 2004.

He currently serves on the boards of Aetna Inc, and the Levi Strauss & Company. He is a member of Duke University Fuqua's School of Business and Coach K Center On Leadership and Ethics (COLE) board. He was recently named to the Advisory Council of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He served on the boards of Coca Cola Enterprises, the largest Coca Cola bottler in the world at the time from 2005 to 2010 and also served on the Board of Univision Communications from 2003 to 2005. He served as a member of the International Board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation from 2006 to 2012. He joined Young President's Organization (YPO) in 1991 and served as the President of the Mexico City chapter in 1997. He is a member of YPO's Intercontinental Chapter and is a member of WPO's Rebel chapter (Charlotte/Atlanta). In 2001, Aguirre was a founder and first Chairman of the advisory board to the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

A native of Mexico, Aguirre obtained a baseball scholarship at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business with a marketing major in 1980. He was elected to the Athletic Hall of Fame at SIUE in 2007 and to the alumni Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2012, Aguirre received an honorary doctoral degree from SIUE. Aguirre also attended the prestigious YPO Harvard President’s seminar for ten years earning HBS graduate status in 2009. Aguirre is married and has two sons. In 2010, Aguirre became the first Hispanic CEO to participate in the CBS hit reality television series Undercover Boss. In 2011 he was recognized as one of the 100 Influentials by Hispanic Business Magazine, and was also honored with the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award by the National Football League.

Aguirre believes in the power of social media. Follow him on twitter @FdoAguirreCEO

Antonia Gutierrez
General Manager, American Airlines Mexico

Widely known in the tourism industry and aviation, Tony has worked at American Airlines for 37 years.

Her first job in the business was as a secretary in the area of reservations, with a strong commitment to develop her career within the company. Her determination and professionalism led to occupy various positions in areas such as tickets, finance - head of budgets and costs for Mexico and Central America-, and also as Manager of the three Call Centers in Mexico.

In 1995 she was appointed as Commercial Director of American Airlines and has since led a talented team of employees, to contribute to the expansion of the company in Mexico.

Her outstanding track record of success has earned her appointment as General Manager of the airline in Mexico, starting May 24, 2012.

Tony is originally from Mexico City, and studied psychology and then specialized in Marketing at the ITAM in Mexico City.

With this position, Tony Gutierrez is responsible for the operation of up to 413 weekly flights between Mexico and the United States from 18 domestic destinations - starting November 15 with the addition of Puebla -, as well as its new plans for growth and expansion.

Marcelo Montero
President, Cargill Health & Nutrition

Marcelo Montero was named President of Cargill Health & Nutrition (CHN) in June 2007. CHN develops and markets specialty ingredients and systems that offer functional, nutrition, and/or health benefits to the consumer. These include the broad portfolio of Cargill’s specialty sweetener ingredients and systems, with products such as polyols, specialty carbohydrates, functional and application sweeteners, high intensity sweeteners such as Truvia™, as well as other health ingredients and systems like sterols, vitamin E, barley beta fibers, inulin, and arachidonic acid. CHN products are specifically developed to help our customers capitalize on the growing demand for healthier consumer packaged goods, from sports drinks to margarine to dietary supplements and more, our ingredients are helping to sell numerous health-promoting products throughout the world.

Marcelo joined Cargill in 1991 as a financial and business analyst in Cargill’s Strategy and Business Development (SBD) unit. He became vice president of Marketing, Sales and Distribution in Cargill de Venezuela in 1993 then returned to his native Argentina in 1995, where he served as general manager of Cargill’s Argentine flour milling business and subsequently president of Cargill Flour Mercosur, which included operations in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. He returned to the United States in 2004 to serve as VP and North America Enterprise Leader in the Cargill Food System Design platform, Cargill Sweetness Solutions business unit leader, and currently Cargill Health & Nutrition business unit leader. In February 2013, Marcelo will assume the responsibility of President, Cargill Salt, based in Hopkins, Minnesota.

Prior to joining Cargill, Marcelo consulted as senior economist for several United Nations and World Bank projects in Argentina, and also worked for two commercial banks in Argentina. In addition he taught economics at Universidad Catolica in Buenos Aires, and Universidad Nacional de Cordoba.
Marcelo received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina in 1985, a master’s in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 1990, and a master’s in business administration (MBA) from the University of Minnesota in 1991. Marcelo was an AFS exchange student in 1979-1980 in Owatonna, Minnesota. He was born in Cordoba, Argentina in 1962. He, his wife Josefina and their four children live in Hopkins, Minnesota since 2004.



 

Carlos Molina
Drirector, Barclays Wealth

Carlos Molina has over 16 years of wealth management experience, working with high net worth individuals and families in Latin America. He is currently a Director at Barclays in New York. Prior to Barclays he spent three years at Morgan Stanley and seven years at Merrill Lynch as an International Financial Advisor. Before this, Mr. Molina was a Capital Markets analyst at Acciones Y Valores de México, covering sector companies listed on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. Mr. Molina holds a B.S. from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México and an M.B.A. from HEC School of Management in Paris, France.