Council of the Americas Announces First Group of Honorees of the 2018 BRAVO Business Awards

Miami, July 16, 2018 – Council of the Americas (COA) is pleased to announce the first group of distinguished leaders from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States who will be honored at the 24th BRAVO Business Awards gala ceremony on November 2, 2018, in Miami. This annual event and preceding one-day symposium will bring together leaders from business, government, and multilateral institutions to recognize outstanding corporate success stories in the Hemisphere.

“Our 2018 BRAVO Business Award honorees are extraordinary. They reflect a diverse group of visionaries and leaders,” said Americas Society/Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan Segal. “We are honored to recognize their achievements and highlight each one of them as role models in their fields and in the Hemisphere.”

Fabio Schvartsman, CEO of Vale, will be recognized as CEO of the Year for his accomplishments at the helm of one of the world’s most successful multinational companies. Schvartsman implemented a series of ambitious changes, bringing the company to the highest level of governance at the Brazilian stock exchange, the Novo Mercado segment, and making Vale a more predictable company. As a consequence, the stocks of the company have almost doubled in value from 43.8 billion to 78.8 billion dollars during his first year in charge. Under his leadership, Vale’s iron ore production hit record levels in 2017 and its EBITDA increased by 28 percent to a remarkable 15 billion dollars with free cash flow generation achieving the highest level since 2011.

Eduardo Tricio, Chairman of Grupo Lala, will be honored as the Transformational Leader of the Year for his impact on business and society. Under his leadership, Grupo Lala has experienced strong domestic performance as well as significant expansion outside of Mexico, into the United States, Central America, and Brazil. Additionally, Fundación Lala has raised millions of dollars to provide quality education and fight hunger and poverty, transforming the role of a company operating in today’s society.

Patricia Menéndez-Cambó, Vice Chair of Greenberg Traurig, will be recognized as the Visionary Leader of the Year for her contributions to private sector growth and expansion, as well as her outstanding leadership promoting diversity in the Americas. Menéndez-Cambó has advised clients on significant cross-border investments and mergers & acquisitions in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Moreover, she has championed the cause of diversity and inclusion, and serves as a mentor for the next generation of women leaders in the Americas.

Eugenio Von Chrismar, CEO of Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI), will be presented with the Financier of the Year award for his impressive culmination of BCI’s internationalization strategy. Under his leadership, BCI has become an innovator in banking in Latin America. The expansion over the last several years continued in 2017 and built on BCI’s digital transformation program, positioning the bank as a cutting-edge financial institution and an example in the region.

Carlos Mario Giraldo Moreno, CEO of Grupo Éxito, will be recognized as the Dynamic CEO of the Year for his outstanding performance leading the company’s diverse portfolio of brands across many countries and its remarkable internalization strategy. As part of this process, Grupo Éxito announced a major step expanding its market for the first time to Brazil, the largest economy in the region, and Argentina; consequently, creating a “Multilatina”. Grupo Éxito’s strong and diverse presence has resulted in more than 1,500 stores across four countries in the Americas, and in 2017 reached a net revenue of nearly 20 billion dollars, an increase of 9.4 percent relative to the net revenue of 2016.

Sponsors: HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, LLORENTE & CUENCA, The AES Corporation, The Boston Consulting Group, Bombardier, Emerson, Florida International University, Microsoft, and SAP.

Media partners: CNN and Financial Times.

Symposium Partner: Inter-American Development Bank.

For more information, please visit: www.as-coa.org/bravo

Press inquiries:
Yndira Marin | ymarin@llorenteycuenca.com | 1-646-386-6523
AS/COA Media Relations | mediarelations@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8384 | 1-212-277-8333