The speakers participating in the second edition of the "Latam Virtual Innovation Summit" have extensive experience in Silicon Valley companies and startups, positioning them as key figures in sharing the culture of the region, also known as the Mecca of Innovation.
Richard Hua, Innovation Evangelist at Amazon; Klaus Wehage and Aaron McDanniel, CEOs and co-founders of 10x Innovation Lab; Abe Smith, Head of International at Zoom Video Communications; Joaquín Alfonso Flores, Global Vice President of Online at Kavak.com; Eugene Kwok, Regional Vice President for the Americas and Singapore at the Economic Development Board; Cindy Blanco Ochoa, MiSALUD, Mexico; and Jonathan Bournigal, Director and Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and MSMEs (MICM).
Following welcoming remarks from Roberto Herrera and William Malamud, president and executive vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR), the Innovation Summit will kick off on November 16 with an introduction from the co-founders and CEOs of 10x Innovation Lab, followed by a keynote address by Richard Hua, Amazon Innovation Evangelist.
The agenda will continue on November 17 with Abe Smith, Head of International at Zoom Video Communications, and Joaquín Alfonso Flores, Global Vice President of Online at Kavak.com. On the closing day, participants will meet with Eugene Kwok, Regional Vice President for the Americas and Singapore at the Economic Development Board, and Cindy Blanco Ochoa, MiSALUD, Mexico.
The event will feature success stories from companies that have scaled their businesses during the pandemic in both Silicon Valley and Latin America, digital transformation initiatives, and changes to their operating and business models. It will also showcase the role of government in creating an innovation ecosystem and driving economic transformation.
The Latam Virtual Innovation Summit is being organized to present the latest trends in digital transformation to AMCHAMDR members and the public in the context of the new normal, and to offer them the opportunity to interact and channel their concerns to participating experts.
Richard Hua – Amazon
He has been with Amazon Web Services for five years, starting as a Startup and Mid-Market Account Manager and then becoming a Global Go-to-Market Technology Specialist for Aurora PostgreSQL. He evangelized the AWS managed database platform to customers around the world, from enterprises to startups, and also created and executed a global go-to-market strategy for the most advanced relational database in the cloud, Aurora PostgreSQL.
His professional accomplishments include migrating legacy commercial databases to modern, cloud-optimized customer databases, enabling salespeople and technical account teams to deliver AWS managed database solutions to customers, and launching the Amazon Culture of Innovation program in the San Francisco Bay Area, delivering innovation briefings to over 3,500 senior executives around the world.
Hua earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, and was awarded the university's most prestigious honor, the President and Chancellor's Scholarship.
Klaus Wehage – 10X INNOVATION LAB
He is the founder and CEO of 10X Innovation Lab, an organization that builds entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems around the world. Klaus has earned a reputation as an ambassador of Silicon Valley to international corporations, entrepreneurs, government agencies, international investment firms, and accelerators, providing key insights into what makes the Silicon Valley ecosystem uniquely successful and serving as a conduit connecting the world to startups. He is known as the secret weapon for those looking to expand their businesses worldwide, raise capital, implement innovation programs, and strengthen their ties to the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
To date, Klaus has advised and supported over 2,000 founders and corporate executives. He has worked in over 50 countries, mentored executives from some of the largest global companies, and currently advises governments on ecosystem building, including those in Japan and Taiwan, among others.
Klaus earned an MBA from Hult University and a BA in Business and Culture from Copenhagen Business School, the most prestigious program of its kind in the country. Originally from Denmark, Klaus has lived and worked on four continents and has called Silicon Valley his home for the past six years.
Aaron McDaniel – 10X INNOVATION LAB
Aaron McDaniel is currently the co-founder of 10X Innovation Lab, a company focused on building innovation ecosystems around the world. He also teaches entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and is a managing director and founding partner of Grow Scale, a real estate private equity fund investing in multifamily properties across the U.S.
He is considered a serial entrepreneur, having founded three companies that were later acquired (Pong360, Tycoon, Access Invest). He is also the author of "The Young Professional's Guide to the Working World" and "The Young Professional's Guide to Managing." He has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Forbes, Inc., Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CBS Radio, Entrepreneur, and US News & World Report, and is trusted by leading companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, Deloitte Consulting, Wells Fargo, and UnitedHealth Group.
Aaron is the Vice President of Project Giving Kids, a nonprofit organization that helps children learn empathy through age-appropriate volunteer opportunities, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Abe Smith – ZOOM
He serves as Head of International at Zoom Video Communications. Smith is recognized as an industry-acclaimed technology executive and recognized for building high-growth, global teams at leading Silicon Valley Enterprise Cloud companies.
He has international go-to-market leadership experience in field sales, inside sales, business development, and channel sales management, with experience at the Enterprise, Mid-Market, and SMB levels. He has also distinguished himself with General Management responsibility for domestic and international expansions, focusing on emerging markets in Asia and Latin America.
Throughout his career, he has driven victories at Fortune 500 and Global 1,000 companies such as Boeing, Dow Chemical, McKinsey, Microsoft, Cisco, ING, Telstra, Softbank, American Express, Oracle, and Telmex.
Joaquín Alonso Flores – KAVAK.COM MEXICO
He is the Global Vice President of Online at Kavak.com and passionate about startups and using data to understand people. Alonso Flores is a mathematician by training. He started in performance marketing over six years ago, but has worked in all sorts of different areas, including marketing, finance, product, and operations.
He co-founded Madkting (now Yuju Apps) as well as several other smaller companies, but his current professional focus is on helping grow KAVAK, a company that buys and sells cars, seeking to create the best customer experience throughout the entire process.
Eugene Kwok – EDB
He is Regional Vice President for the Americas and Singapore at the Economic Development Board (EDB), where he runs the company's West Coast operations and is responsible for foreign direct investment and market discovery for the region.
According to his LinkedIn bio, Kwok leads a team of regional account managers in the San Francisco and Houston offices to discover new investment opportunities across all business sectors that may be relevant to Singapore. He studied economics and finance at the Singapore Management University.
Cindy Blanco Ochoa – MiSALUD. Mexico
She is the Chief Operating Officer of MiSalud, a Spanish-language app that seeks to make healthcare convenient, personalized, and affordable for the Hispanic community in the United States. She chairs the Socioeconomic Development Committee and serves on other committees such as Finance and Budget, Health, Education, and Culture.
Blanco Ochoa also serves on the Board of Advisors of Carabela Venture Capital Fund (IT Investments), the Investment Committee of Redwood Ventures (seed fund), and the Editorial Business Section of Mural (Grupo Reforma).
Prior to that, he was the co-founder and CEO of StartupGDL, an organization that helps fast-growing technology startups launch and operate remote IT teams in Mexico. Throughout his professional career, he has specialized in the IT industry, working with governments, nonprofits, and corporations in Mexico and the United States to contribute to the development of the Mexican startup scene.
Blanco Ochoa holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations from ITESO University and a diploma from Stanford University. She received the IVLP Delegate Award for Women in Entrepreneurship from the U.S. Department of State in 2018.
Jonathan Bournigal Read – Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs
He is the director and chief of staff of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and MSMEs (MICM). Bournigal is an experienced investor in mid-sized companies, with a proven track record of working in Latin America. He is an expert in mergers, acquisitions, and negotiations.
He studied Business Administration, Finance, and Economics at Babson College and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE), the Alaska Business Group, Enlaces Angel Investors Network, i-SIGMA, and Padilla Impresos, among others. Bournigal also serves as President of Carabela Search & Management.
About the “Latam Virtual Innovation Summit 2021”
The program, which will be conducted entirely in English and will have simultaneous translation into Spanish, is aimed at C-level executives, middle managers, technical specialists, and entrepreneurs who want to learn more about the culture of the Mecca of innovation.
The "Latam Virtual Innovation Summit 2021" is in collaboration with 10x Innovation Lab, a company that seeks to create a global entrepreneurial ecosystem that connects markets, entrepreneurs, and business leaders through programs that generate exponentially improved results. Additionally, the company has been a strategic partner of AMCHAMDR in conducting in-person learning missions in San Francisco, California, for the past three years.
For more information on how to participate in the event, you can write an email to sdemarchena@amcham.org.do either ccompres@amcham.org.do. You can also call 829-222-3220 and 829-222-3211.
