Zoom Events Are Here!
A recap on the recent Public Policy Forum
This summer, a new member of our alumni community in Mexico, J. Esteban Castañeda (MBA ’20) took the lead in organizing a set of panels addressing Mexico´s key Public Policy issues. In collaboration with the NU-Kellogg Club of Mexico Board, he co-led two events focused on Entrepreneurship and Financial inclusion. The events took place on September 11th and 24th, respectively.
09/11 Entrepreneurship: education and incentives are needed
Moderated by Kellogg Alumn Enrique Évoli (MBA ’19), the first panel included a diverse set of Kellogg and Weinberg Alumni who are active participants of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Mexico.
The participants were:
- Lorena Sanchez (MBA ’11) — Director of The Founder Institute (Mexico) and entrepreneur
- Ricardo Carriedo (MBA ’09) — Co-CEO of IPM Montessori, search fund manager and former corporate venture capitalist
- Yelena Ioffe (Econ ’02, MBA ’08) — angel investor, venture fund manager, and entrepreneur
- Eduardo Cortina (MBA ’17) — AMEXCAP (Private Capital Association of Mexico) President and former private equity fund manager
The discussion was broad, covering areas like entrepreneurship education, government fund distribution, cultural influences, government transparency, and the case of informal businesses in the country.
Here are some key quotes from our panelists:
We spend about a third of our time working on incoming entrepreneur confidence, coaching them on having the right mindset they need to succeed — Lorena Sanchez
When I arrived to Mexico, I realized that the level of transparency was lacking, even compared to Brazil — Yelena Ioffe
One of the key issues in our system is that small enterprises have no incientive to becoming formal businesses — Eduardo Cortina
From the 600 companies we looked at, the fiscal burden was many times higher than the enterprise value — Ricardo Carriedo
09/24 Financial Inclusion: fintech could come to the rescue
Moderated by Esteban Castañeda (MBA ’20), the second panel of the Public Policy Forum touched upon the Mexican financial history, the achievements made after the 2009 global crisis, and the key opportunities and challenges revolving around financial inclusion in our country.
The panelists included two NU Alumni and a special guest, Bernardo González, who graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in Public Policy in 2004. The guests were:
- Bernardo González — President of the Mexican Association of Afores (AMAFORE)
- Mary O’Keefe (BS ’05) —Senior Advisor DAI
- Pascual O’Dogherty (MA Econ ’83) — General Secretary of the Association of Banking Supervisors of the Americas (ASBA)
One of the leading creators of Basel 3, Pascual O’Dogherty opened this panel with a briefing on the recent history and status of the Mexican financial system, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He stated that the big financial institutions are well prepared given the measures taken in 2009, but that financial inclusion efforts will likely be damaged if profits are affected.
Bernardo González assertively pointed out that one of the reasons for the lack of financial inclusion is that the top of the pyramid is more profitable, together with the fact that those incumbent financial consumers are quite inelastic with respect to price – they do not change their consumption patterns as a result of price changes.
Mary O’Keefe came to the rescue, stating that even with the current stress on the financial system, there are ways to continue the financial inclusion efforts. She also asserted that only by understanding the financial life of the people will we, as a society comprised of government and private institutions, be able to create products and regulations that might help solve this issue.
All in all, the panel seemed to agree that fintech might be a solution to this haunting problem for a country like ours.
An invitation
We are delighted to have inaugurated events via zoom. Alumni Events are a great opportunity to foster community within our Alumni in Mexico. If you have an idea or want to hear about a specific topic, we would love to hear from you. Simply comment at the bottom of this article or contact any member of the Club’s Board.
Enrique Carral Trevino graduated from the McCormick School of Engineering with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Cum Laude, in 2007.
