Elisa Madriñán & Felipe Sardi // Co-founders, La Palma y el Tucán

Elisa and Felipe co-founded La Palma y el Tucán in 2012, with the goal of redefining coffee farming by treating specialty coffee as a holistic, interconnected system and by challenging deeply rooted practices that focus on mass production and cost minimization. Their ‘Neighbors & Crops’ program is revitalizing an entire region by working closely with 200 coffee-growing families within a 10km radius of their farm. Through a combination of innovative practices, a unique business model that revolves around the needs of small farmers, high quality standards, and both monetary and non-monetary incentives, the program has turned these small farmers into active players in the growing specialty coffee movement. 

Juan Pablo García // COO, MullenLowe SSP3

As the COO for Colombia, Juan Pablo Garcia has contributed to making MullenLowe SSP3 the most creative agency of the MullenLowe network in Latin America, and second overall globally. Much of his work has focused on peace-building, most notably an ongoing peace campaign for the Colombian Ministry of Defense to reach guerrillas in the jungle, asking them to lay down their weapons and return to society. These campaigns have contributed directly to the demobilization of over 17,000 guerrillas to date; one of them was recognized as The Most Effective Campaign in the World in 2011, receiving awards such as a Titanium Lion and D&AD's Black Pencil. This work has also even been adapted for demobilization efforts in Uganda against the LRA (Lord Resistance Army).

Tomás Rueda // Founder and executive chef, Tábula

Tomás’ dishes and ideas find their roots in the time he spent in the Colombian countryside during his childhood. As head chef and co-owner of two restaurants, his goal is to bring the richness of the Colombian countryside to life through simple, unassuming, and authentic dishes. Tomás and one of his restaurants, Tábula, were beautifully featured in Anthony Bourdain’s famous show Parts Unknown.

Nini Diaz // Business Operations Manager at Rappi

Nini is responsible for turning data analysis into business insight at Rappi, a company founded in 2015 with the mission of connecting users with more than 50,000 products and services quickly and efficiently through technology. Valued at over $1bn and having secured $300m in funding to date, Rappi has become one of the fastest growing companies in Latin America, experiencing 20% monthly growth in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

Prior to joining Rappi Nini worked at Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics brand that uses sustainably sourced plants from the Amazon. From here, she travelled extensively doing social work before settling back in Bogotá. Nini holds a dual degree in Business Management and Economics from Universidad de los Andes. 

Adri Senior // President, Corporación Colombia Internacional

Adri is the President and CEO of CCI, an organization dedicated to re-establish and grow agrarian production in Colombia. In 2005 she introduced an innovative model named MACS, which has improved the lives of over 1.8 million small farmers and their families. Ms. Senior has been recognized by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture, the Congress of Colombia, Colciencias, and a number of international organizations.

Laura Adiwasito // CEO, Out of the Blu

Born in Colombia and half Indonesian, Laura is a global citizen who has lived for almost half of her life in Europe. She is currently CEO at Out of the Blu, a creative and strategic communications agency with offices in Bogotá and Washington D.C, that focuses on projects with social, economic and public impact. 

Javier Guillot // Public Innovation Leader

Javier leads the Public Innovation Team (EiP) at the National Planning Department (DNP) of Colombia. The EiP aims to enable experimentation as a mindset to generate public value and strengthen the government’s capacity to tackle complex challenges. He has consulted to UNICEF, World Bank, and NGOs in Colombia, Brazil and Uganda.