Council of the Americas Celebrates Leadership and Innovation at the 22nd BRAVO Business Awards

Miami, October 29, 2016—On October 28, Council of Americas (COA) presented the 22nd BRAVO Business Awards at a gala that honored eight distinguished recipients for their excellence and leadership in the Americas. Hosted for the first time by COA, the awards ceremony, held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami, brought together close to 400 business, policy, and civil society leaders in recognition of these exceptional individuals who have shaped and continue to transform the hemisphere.

The 22nd BRAVO Business Awards recipients are former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso, BRAVO Legacy Award; Mexico’s Secretary of Finance and Public Credit José Antonio Meade, Innovative Leader of the Year Award; President of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company Ali Moshiri, Lifetime Achievement Award; Founder, President, and CEO of MercadoLibre Marcos Galperín, Visionary CEO of the Year; Arca Continental CEO Francisco Garza Egloff, CEO of the Year; Miami Dade College President Eduardo J. Padrón, Civic Leader of the Year Award; Humanitas360 Institute President Patricia Villela Marino, Humanitarian of the Year Award; and the City of Medellín, Colombia, Transformational City of the Year Award, accepted by Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga.

“We are thrilled to be able to recognize the lasting legacy of this outstanding group of honorees. Their leadership, vision, and unwavering commitment to the Americas have created a better, more prosperous, and more integrated region than ever before,” said Americas Society/Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan Segal. “Nothing could be more fitting than honoring these new BRAVO Business Awards recipients in Miami, the crossroad of the Americas.”

Interview with AS/COA's Susan Segal on the Symposium and 22nd Bravo Business Awards.

Panel on "Digital Innovation: Challenges for Latin America."

Prior to the 2016 BRAVO Business Awards ceremony, the Council of the Americas Symposium, a one-day conference, convened close to 400 leaders from business, government, multilateral institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations, to discuss critical issues in the Western Hemisphere including energy, the economic landscape, and entrepreneurship.

For more information on the BRAVO Symposium and Awards, please visit bravobusiness.com.

Sponsors of the Council of the Americas Symposium and 22nd BRAVO Business Awards include: HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Burson-Marsteller, AES, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, The Boston Consulting Group, Bombardier, Chubb, Emerson, Microsoft, and Softtek. Partners include ProMéxico, CNN, the Financial Times, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and The Miami Herald.

The Symposium was organized in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Press inquiries:
Victoria Peris | victoria.peris@bm.com | 1-305-347-4343
AS/COA Media Relations | mediarelations@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8384 or 1-212-277-8333

Council of the Americas (COA) is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation. Its sister organization, Americas Society (AS), is the premier forum dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas. Its mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social, and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship.