The 15th Annual Latin Trade Symposium & BRAVO Business Awards

Led by Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, winners of the 15th BRAVO Business Awards walked down the red carpet to the evening gala to receive their 2009 awards for excellence and achievement. More than 350 leading business executives, government officials, academics and environmental and humanitarian leaders attended the 15th bravo Business Awards dinner and ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami on October 30.

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President Calderón, who received the award as Leader of the Year, was the first to receive his BRAVO Business Awards statuette in the event. Also winning awards were (pictured above left to right): TOTVS CEO Laércio Cosentino (Technology CEO of the Year); Empresas Públicas de Medellín CEO Federico Restrepo Posada (Pioneering CEO of the Year); ASEMBIS Founder Rebeca Villalobos (Humanitarian of the Year); Corporación Andina de Fomento President and CEO Enrique García (Financier of the Year); President Calderón; Empresas Polar CEO Lorenzo Mendoza (Social Responsibility CEO of the Year); Foundation for Deep Ecology President Douglas Tompkins (Environmental Leader of the Year); Igal Magendzo, coordinator of macroeconomic policy at the Chilean Finance Ministry representing Chilean Finance Minister Andrés Velasco (Innovative Leader of the Year); Grupo Bimbo CEO Daniel Servitje (CEO of the Year).

Past bravo Business Award winners attending the gala included: Americas Society/Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan L. Segal, Visa International President Eduardo Eraña, Masisa CEO Enrique Cibié Bluth and Michel Chancy, Haiti’s Secretary of State for Animal Production.

The gala capped a day of activities that began with the latin trade Symposium, organized in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. At the symposium, winners and other invited speakers held a CEO roundtable on corporate social responsibility, a panel discussion on the region’s recovery from the global financial crisis and a discussion about new horizons for Mexico held between Mexican Social Development Minister Ernesto Cordero and ProMéxico CEO Bruno Ferrari.

The presenting sponsor was the InterContinental Hotels Group; the gold sponsors were Chevron and Copa Airlines; and the silver sponsors were HP and HSBC. Ashoka and The Nature Conservancy were partners, while media partners included: CNN en Español, Financial Times and Google.

2008 Commemorative Issue

To dowload the entire 2008 Bravo Business Awards Commemorative Issue, click here.