María Carla Chicuén is founding executive director of CasaCuba at Florida International University, where she leads the effort to build this cultural center to preserve Cuban heritage. Previously, Chicuén managed special projects in the Miami Dade College president’s office. Earlier in her career, she was a consultant for integration and trade at the Inter-American Development Bank in Panama City and for the education sector of the Latin America and Caribbean region at the World Bank. Chicuén is the author of Achieve the College Dream: You Don’t Need to Be Rich to Attend a Top School. A term member of the Council of Foreign Relations, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Jose Diaz is a tax accountant with his own firm and an entrepreneur. He chairs the Miami Dade County Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board and is a member of the county’s Dr. Antonio Jorge Social and Economic Development Council. A Cuban-Venezuelan servant leader who has dedicated his life to supporting immigrant entrepreneurs to realize their American Dream, Diaz has helped business leaders from many states build their start-ups as an advisor. From 2012 to 2015, he was executive director of FL Dream, overseeing the implementation and management of immigration legal clinics where over 3,000 undocumented youth obtain free legal support services. Diaz is completing his master’s degree in taxation at the University of Miami; he earned bachelor’s degrees in finance, real estate, and economics from Florida International

Jack Edwards is a volunteer senior advisor for Ashoka, a global nonprofit that identifies and supports social entrepreneurs and works toward a world in which everyone is a changemaker. In this position for over 18 years, he has helped elect and support more than 500 social entrepreneurs, mainly in Latin America, who have new ideas with the potential to create system-changing social impact in their country or region. Edwards had a more than 30-year business career with multinational engine, filtration, and power product corporation Cummins Inc., which culminated in running its Power Generation Group. He received his BA from Claremont McKenna College, studied at Stanford Business School, and earned an MA in economic development from Vanderbilt. Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia before beginning his career with Cummins.

Sandra Louk LaFleur is director of changemaking education and social innovation at Miami Dade College, since 2016. With a career focus on strategy-setting, operational planning, organizational growth, and more, LaFleur was previously national vice president of program for Summer Search. Before that, she was national associate vice president of research, evaluation, and innovation for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, where she worked for almost 20 years. LaFleur is national board chair for the Children’s Literacy Initiative, a national board member for The National Mentoring Partnership, and an advisory board member for the American Psychological Association’s Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology. Currently pursuing a doctorate in higher education leadership and innovation from Arizona State University, she earned her MS in sociology from Florida State University and a BS in sociology and history from University of Miami.

Cindy Montgenie is the founder and managing director of New Skies Nation, a leadership development firm where she partners with passionate leaders and future-focused organizations to increase performance and drive transformation without burning out employees, so they can create a better tomorrow where everyone thrives. With clients ranging from global corporations to nonprofit organizations, she has equipped thousands of leaders worldwide. Mongenie is an award-winning high-performance strategist, international keynote speaker, certified executive coach, and active leader in her community. Prior to starting New Skies in 2017, she worked at HP for 20 years, most recently as the go-to-market business manager for most of Latin America. Montgenie has lived in five countries on three continents, speaks fluent English, French, and Spanish, and earned her MBA from the Grenoble School of Management in France.

Florencia Olivera is a Communication Manager at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) where she leads external communications and public relations for the company’s clean technologies including FPL’s EVolution electric vehicles program, green hydrogen and shore power, among others. Florencia also oversees communications for FPL’s Manatee Lagoon, an eco-discovery center in Palm Beach County, and is supporting the launch of new education centers for the company in Charlotte and Miami-Dade Counties. Prior to this role, she led external communications for FPL’s External Affairs, Community Relations and Economic Development teams. Previously, Florencia supported Customer Service and Power Delivery external communications. She is a bilingual spokesperson for the company. Florencia holds a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication from Florida International University.

Isabelle Pike is senior vice president of development for Branches, a position she’s held since 2009. During her tenure at Branches, which provides opportunities to working families to help break the cycle of generational poverty, the organization’s budget has more than doubled, corporate and foundation relationships have grown, and she helped launch and complete a $5 million capital campaign for one renovated and one new Branches facility. Pike previously worked as manager of special events for Celebrity Cruises and as a senior development officer for United Way of Miami-Dade. She moved to Miami after graduating from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French.