Aldo Alvarez serves as the managing partner and founder of Mercatoria, a private Cuban company that specializes in local food production, international importation of food products, wholesale distribution, and retail sales within Cuba. In addition to leading Mercatoria, Alvarez is a Cuban-trained attorney based in Havana, offering commercial analysis, independent legal advice, and market entry planning assistance to U.S. and international companies navigating the Cuban market.

Alain Garafalo is the CEO of GSI Software Inc., a company with over 25 years of experience in the software development and IT consultancy sectors. With a background that spans academia and industry, including professorship roles and leading the Telecommunications and Telematics Department at the Technical University of Havana, he has significantly contributed to computer networking and telecommunications. Beyond academia, he has served as an IT consultant to diverse companies and institutions.

Nora Gamez Torres is the Cuba/U.S.-Latin American policy reporter for El Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald. She studied journalism and media and communications in Havana and London. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from City, University of London. Her work has won awards from the Florida Society of News Editors and the Society for Professional Journalists.

Erik Bethel is a global finance professional with experience in the private and public sectors. In 2020, he was nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. Previously, he was nominated by the President and confirmed unanimously by the Senate to represent the United States at the World Bank. At the World Bank, Mr. Bethel spearheaded a number of technology initiatives including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the tokenization of World Bank loans. Earlier in his career, Mr.

Dr. Jin (Julie) Zeng is Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Ph.D. in Political Science in 2007. Her primary research interests are Chinese investment in Latin America, agrarian studies in contemporary China, and political economy of development. She is the author of the book, State-Led Privatization in China—The Politics of Economic Reform (Routledge, 2013). Dr.

Hardik Sheth is a leader of Boston Consulting Group's CFO Excellence practice area in North America, and a member of the Corporate Finance & Strategy and Insurance practices globally. Hardik has over 15 years of experience advising CFOs on a broad range of strategic topics so they can determine their vision, mission, strategy, organization structure, capability profiles, engagement models, and supporting processes and systems. 

Ricardo V. Lago is an economist, financial analyst, and lecturer of Macroeconomics at the Miami Herbert Business School of the University of Miami. Previously, Mr. Lago held senior positions at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1993- 2003), the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the World Bank. In these institutions, he negotiated development programs with countries of Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union , and Africa.

John Twichell is a Ph.D. (University of Miami, 2015) and lecturer in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Miami, where he instructs undergraduate courses in the Departments of International Studies, Latin American Studies, and Political Science. His course offerings are in the areas of international relations, international political economy, Latin American and Caribbean politics, Middle Eastern politics, and research methods. Dr.

Rosa Francisca Zavala Correo is Peru's vice minister of the environment. She has been president of the Board of Directors of FONCOPES, member of the Board of Directors of the National Water Authority (ANA), of the Board of Directors of the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Investments (Senace), president of the Environmental Dispute Resolution Tribunal of the Ministry of the Environment, director general of fisheries and aquaculture environmental affairs and director general of fisheries sustainability at the Ministry of Production.