Latin Trade presents the Top 25 Businesswomen in Latin America, a renewed annual list of the top women in business in the region.
Many of the names on our list include women who have won awards for their achievements, or have made significant contributions through their leadership skills, such as steering their companies successfully through the financial crisis of 2008 and other challenges.
Their achievements are even more remarkable given that the number of female CEOs in Latin America is still lower than other regions, according to experts. That is why many of our honorees are actively working to promote a more equal business climate through foundations and CSR initiatives for female entrepreneurs.
Some names this year include Mexico’s fifth wealthiest person, Eva Gonda de Rivera; Linda Rottenberg, CEO of Endeavor, who has won several awards for innovation, and Isabel Noboa, head of one of Ecuador’s largest business groups.
Among the new names are Annette Franqui, founding partner of Forrestal Capital, the company that advised Arcos Dorados in the acquisition of McDonald’s in all of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Veronica Allende, founding partner at Pacific Investments with a 19-year career in private and growth equity investments across the US and Latin America.
The women on this list include those who have inherited and manage some of the largest fortunes in the region and women who have managed and directed large mergers and acquisitions.
See the full list below:
Eva Gonda de Rivera, Stakeholder FEMSA
Mrs. Gonda de Rivera is the fifth wealthiest person in Mexico (189th in the world) with a wealth estimated at around $6 billion. She holds along with her daughters a majority stakehlold in FEMSA, the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the world and operator of Oxxo, the largest convenience store in Mexico.
She was married to former FEMSA chairman Eugenio Garza Lagüera.
Rivera holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology.
Linda Rottenberg (USA), CEO and Co-founder of Endeavor
Rottenberg’s many distinctions include Innovator for the 21st Century by Time Magazine, one of the top 100 innovators in the world under 35 by the MIT Technology Review and 1st female chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East.
She co-founded Endeavor, a pioneering non-profit organization in the field of high-impact entrepreneurship in emerging markets. In the region it has presence in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, but also has satellite offices in South Africa, UAE, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Morocco, among others.
Rottenberg is also a bestselling author, with her book Crazy is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags.
Rottenberg holds a degree in Social Studies from Harvard and a JD from Yale Law School.
Aimeé Sentmat de Grimaldo, President Banistmo
Panama-born Aimeé has been the President of Banistmo since 2013. Aimeé has a long career in finance having served as Vice President of Commercial Banking at the Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, and Director of Commercial Banking at HSBC in Panama.
Banistmo is part of HSBC Group and is present in Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, Peru, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Colombia.
Aimeé holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Universidad Católica Santa María la Antigua and an MBA from Universidad Nova Southeastern.
Donna Hrinak, President of Boeing Brazil, President Boeing Latin America
Since November 2014 Hrinak is responsible for the development and implementation of Boeing’s strategy in Latin America. She was appointed President of the aircraft company’s Brazilian operations in October 2011.
Before these posts, she was the Vice President of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs of PepsiCo, and previously was the corporate affairs director of Kraft Foods for Latin America and the European Union.
Hrinak also has strong diplomatic experience, having served as the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, and deputy assistant secretary of state for Mexico and the Caribbean.
Hrinak holds an honorary doctorate of humanities from Michigan State University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s in Social Science.
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Mexican biologist Alicia Bárcena has been the Executive Secretary of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean since July 2008.
Prior to her current position, Bárcena was ECLAC’s Deputy Executive Secretary, where she promoted the implementation of the Millenium Development Goals and Financing for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has also served as ECLAC’s Chief of the Environment and Human Settlements Division, where she worked on public policies for sustainable development.
Other posts Bárcena has held during her career are Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme, and UN Under-Secretary-General for Management, appointed by Ban Ki-moon
Bárcena holds a degree in Biology from Mexico’s UNAM, and a Master’s in public administration from Harvard.
Isabel Noboa, CEO Consorcio Nobis
Since 1997 Isabel Noboa has been at the helm of Consorcio Nobis, one of Ecuador’s largest business groups with operations in agriculture, industry, real estate and tourism.
Other roles Noboa has held include President of the INCAE Business School in Ecuador and President of the Ecuadoran Competitiveness Committee.
Noboa also dedicates her time to several philanthropy causes, and is the founder of FANN, an adoption foundation, and founder of Fundación Nobis, which benefits more than 100,000 people in Ecuador living in poverty.
Noboa holds a degree in Economics from the University of London and post graduate studies in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Maria Novales-Flamarique, Principal, McKinsey Mexico
Maria joined McKinsey in 2005 at their London office and transferred to Mexico in 2007. She has served leading financial institutions and insurance companies in Mexico and across Latin America, as well as in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Examples of Maria’s client work include defining a wealth-management strategy for a leading local financial institution in Latin America, diagnosing and redefining its organizational structure to deliver on the strategy. She identified growth opportunities in the Mexican wealth-management market for a leading global insurance company, and she supported a regional Latin American asset manager in developing its governance and organizational structure. Prior to joining McKinsey, Maria worked at Citigroup Global Investment Banking as an associate and as an analyst, advising Latin American corporates on M&A transactions, restructurings, and financings.
Ernestina Herrera de Noble, Chairwoman Grupo Clarín
Ernestina Herrera is the largest shareholder of Argentina’s Grupo Clarín, the country’s largest media conglomerate with net sales of more than $2.08 billion in 2014, a 39 percent increase from the year before.
She also serves as the director of the group’s newspaper, Clarín. The newspaper’s website is the 10th most visited in Argentina, according to analyst firm Alexa.
Ana María Ibañez, Grupo Exito Board of Directors
Ibañez studied Economy at Colombia’s Universidad de Los Andes, and holds a Master’s and PhD in Agricultural Economics and Natural Resources from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is currently the Dean at Los Andes University’s School of Economics, as well as a researcher.
Ibañez has been a member of Grupo Exito’s board since March 2014. Grupo Exito operates in 479 stores directly and others indirectly in both South America and Europe.
Previous posts held by Ibañez include consultant of the World Bank’s Social Protection program for Latin America.
Iris Fontbona, Owner of Grupo Luksic
With a fortune estimated at $11.7 billion, Iris Fontbona is the richest woman in Chile and the 10th wealthiest woman in the world. She co-owns with her family Grupo Luksic, a conglomerate with business in mining, industry, finance, food and telecommunications.
The group controls 65 percent of miner Antofagasta, has a controlling stake in Quiñenco, and owns two hotel chains in Croatia.
Carmen Rosa Graham, Board of Directors Camposol, Ferreyros, Interbank, and Nextel
Graham is one of Peru’s most powerful businesswomen, serving on the board of directors of several large Peruvian companies, including agro-industrial company Camposol (since 2014), equipment-supplier Ferreyros (since 2011), Interbank (since 2007), and wireless company Nextel (since 2013). Before this she served as CEO at various IBM local offices in Latin America including for IBM Colombia and IBM Peru & Bolivia. She also served as President of Peru’s Universidad del Pacífico from 2007-2009, and worked for four years with Peru’s ProMujer, which provides microfinance opportunities to empower Peruvian women. Graham holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Universidad del Pacífico in Peru, and an MBA from Adolfo Ibañez Business School in Miami.
Susana de la Puente
Among de la Puente’s current titles are Executive Director at Futura Schools, Executive Board Member at Grupo Wiese-Peru and Founder and Principal Consultant at Private Investment Banking Advisory Practice in Peru and New York.
Grupo Wiese is a conglomerate with presence in the financial services, real estate, retail, investment fund and shipping sectors.
She is also a Senior Advisor at Hypatia Capital Group, a private equity and advisory firm focused on sponsoring femal CEOs.
Previously she was Vice Chairman for the Latin American division of JPMorgan.
De la Puente studied business administration and management at the Universidad del Pacífico in Peru, and an MBA at the Arthur D. Little School of Management in Boston.
Veronica Allende Serra, Founding Partner Pacific Investimentos, Member of the Board MercadoLibre
Allende Serra is a founding partner of Pacific Investmentos and has 19 years of experience in private and growth equity investments across the US and Latin America. Serra is also a founding partner of Innova Capital Fund.
Allende is a mentor for entrepreneurs, and in this way helped establish companies such as Patagon in Brazil, which was later sold to Santander.
Other posts held by Allende include head of investments for Latin America at IRR LLC, and CEO of Leucadia National Corporation.
Allende studied Law at the University of Sao Paulo, Art and Advertising at the Escola Panamericana de Arte, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Julie T. Katzman, Executive Vice-President and COO of the Inter-American Development Bank
Katzman has held her role – one of the highest at the IDB – since 2011, 18 months after joining the organization. In her current role, she is responsible for managing the overall operations of the IDB, and is focusing especially on pioneering an institutional transformation in measuring and reporting the bank’s tangible results through tools such as mapping software. Katzman began her career in investment banking, focusing primarily on private equity, developing expertise in financial structures across numerous industries. She graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and earned a Master’s in Management from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.
Maria Luisa Solari Falabella and daughter Maria Cecilia Karlezi Solari
Both Solari Falabella and Karlezi Solari hold a 13 percent stake in Chilean retailer Falabella. The estimated fortune of the family is $2.1 billion
Falabella is the 8th largest retailer in the Latin 500 ranking and the second largest Chilean retailer, having posted revenues of $11.54 billion and profits of $765 million in 2014.
The company operates supermarkets, department stores, home improvement stores, as well as a banking unit.
Violy McCausland-Seve, CEO Violy & Companay
Violy McCausland-Seve has been carrying out value-added transactions and advisory services for 30 years. She is the CEO and President of Violy & Company, a boutique investment bank founded in 2003 that offers financial advisory services, mergers and acquisition, corporate reorganization and restructuring, and sweat equity advisory services. Among the firm’s strategic partners are The Americas Group, Merril Lynch and PanAmerican Capital Group.
McCausland-Seve has personally led some $65 billion in successful transactions, and is recognized as the most successful banker in Wall Street focusing on Latin America.
Katia Bouazza, Co-Head of Global Capital Markets for the Americas, HSBC
Bouazza became the Co-Head of Global Capital Markets for the Americas at HSBC in 2011. Under her leadership, she has helped the bank expand its business throughout the region. She was previously the head of HSBC’s debt capital markets team, and constantly features in rankings of the world’s most powerful women in finance.
Laura Albornoz Pollmann, Board of Directors Codelco
During Michelle Bachelet’s first term, Albornoz was Minister of the Servicio Nacional de la Mujer. Albornoz has also served as President of the Inter-American Women’s Committee of the Organization of American States.
Currently, she serves as adviser to Bachelet since 2010 and is also a professor at the Universidad de Chile’s Law School.
Annette Franqui, Founding Partner at Forrestal Capital
Franqui became a founding member of Forrestal Capital in 2003, the company that advised a client (Arcos Dorados) in the acquisition of McDonald’s in all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Franqui has been a member of the board in Arcos Dorados since 2007.
She has also served as CEO of Panamco, a NYSE listed company that was, at the time of its sale, the largest Coca Cola bottler outside the United States. Franqui was instrumental in its sale for US$3.6 billion, delivering a significant premium to its shareholders.
Franqui holds a BS in Economics from Wharton, and an MBA from Stanford Business School.
Sylvia Escovar Gómez CEO, Terpel
Escovar became CEO of Terpel, Colombia’s largest gasoline and oil derivatives retailer, in 2012 after 10 years with the company. Terpel is the third-largest company in Colombia by revenues, and the 101st in Latin America. Escovar holds a Bachelor’s degree from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, with studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, and began her career in the public sector.
Patricia Angelini Rossi, Stakeholder Inversiones Angelini
Patricia Angelini Rossi inherited a stake in Inversiones Angelini, the investment group headed by her brother and fellow billionaire, Roberto. The group’s largest holding is publicly-traded Antarchile, which distributes fuel, operates fishing and shipping businesses and invests in energy and forestry. Antarchile’s forestry subsidiary, Arauco, entered North America with the purchase of Canada’s Flakeboard
Luiza Trajano Donat, Founder and President Magazine Luiza
Magazine Luiza is the ninth largest retail company in Brazil, operating some 731 stores across 16 states in the country.
The company also operates its own insurance subsidiary, Luizaseg, which generated gross revenue of $52.8 million in 2013, 26 percent more than in 2012.
Magazine Luiza employs some 24,000 staff and runs eight distribution centers.
Luiza Trajano studied Law at the Faculdade de Direito de Franca in São Paulo state.
María Isabel González Rodriguez, director of ENAP
María Isabel González Rodriguez became a member of the board of directors at Chilean oil firm Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP) in mid-2015. ENAP is the seventh largest company in Latin Trade’s Top 500 companies ranking.
From 1990 to 1999, she was at the government’s Comisión Nacional de Energía, where she reached the post of Executive Secretary.
She has also been Vice President of Chile’s Institue of Mining Engineers.
González has been the director of consultant form Energética since 2004, and member of the board at Sysred since 2011, a company specialized in studying the energy sector to help investor decisions and projects.
Gonzalez studied Mining Civil Engineering at the Universidad de Chile and Public Management masters from IEDES and the University of Barcelona.
Irina Maslennikova, Vice President and Regional Manager Xerox Latin America
Irina Maslennikova became Vice President and Regional Manager at Xerox Latin America in July this year.
Maslennikova has been the manager of Xerox Mexicana, where she conquered the local market and substantially increased the female staff in the directory. She was also the co-leader of a program in which she served as a mentor for high-potential women in other companies.
Maslennikova holds a doctorate in environmental protection and speaks seven languages.
Bel Pesce, co-creator of Lemon Wallet and founder of FazINOVA
Sao Paulo-born Bel Pesce has been named one of the most influential women in Brazil. She studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the MIT and created mobile application Lemon Wallet with two other partners. Back in Brazil, she founded online school FazINOVA, aiming to transform the education system in her country. The school has earned worldwide recognition as a company that can truly change education at a global level.
Pesce has also worked in large tech firms, such as Google, Microsoft, as well as financial companies such as Deutsche Bank, where he helped launched startups.
As an author, Pesce has written three bestsellers.