Our Team
CIPAE counts on a multidisciplinary team of qualified and experienced international professionals
Sylvia Rivera V, PhD
Strategy, business planning, sustainable business development and finances.
Vast experience in conducting business diagnostics and strategic planning for a diverse mix of entities in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and Southeast Asia. She also has experience in sustainable development, in particular, working on socio-economic issues of rural communities in developing countries.
Sylvia obtained her PhD degree in Management Sciences at Université de La Rochelle, France, and earned a MBA in Banking and Finances from Universidad de Costa Rica, where she also achieved a certificate in International Trade and a bachelor degree in Business Administration.
Juan Carlos Alvarado R, MBA
Consumer markets, food marketing and sales, and customer service.
Former marketing and commercial manager of important international food corporations in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Some of his areas of expertise are products development and brand management as well as driving positioning, pricing and go-to-market stategies.
Juan Carlos holds two masters, a MBA with emphasis in Marketing and a master in Industrial Engineering, both from Universidad Interamericana de Costa Rica. Previously, he earned a degree in Economy at the Univeridad de Costa Rica.
Fernando Schmidt M, BSc
Supply chain management, manufacturing, quality systems and food safety management.
More than 30 years of experience working for multinational companies like The Coca-Cola Company and Gerber Products across different geographies and business partners, with a strong business acumen that allows connection of the supply chain to the enterprise drivers. Vast experience leading successful supply chain, cost optimization and quality improvement projects.
Fernando holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry earned at the Universidad de Costa Rica as well as undergraduate diplomas on Supply Chain and Production Management from Georgia Tech (USA) and Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico).
Dennis Céspedes A, MBA
Digital technologies, IT products international sales and foreign trade.
More than 23 years of professional experience working in management, service delivery and service assurance, project management, sales and marketing at the digital technologies and telecom industry. He also has experience in the public sector since he is a former director of the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Cluster (COMEX/PROCOMER).
Dennis holds an engineering degree in Information Systems from Universidad Latina de Costa Rica and a MBA in Marketing from the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, as well as two international certifications in sales (Sollution Selling and Customer Centric Selling). He achieved a certificate in International Business, Trade and Commerce from IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lindberg Araya M, MBA
Human capital, organizational excellence and top executive performance.
Extensive international experience in the range of business human interactions and organizational performance, working for multinational corporations such as Deloitte, IBM, MAERSK, Teletech; as well as a board member or executive consultant.
Lindberg obtained a diploma on Leadership from Coady International Institute of Saint Francis Xavier University, Canada. He also gained academic degrees in Costa Rica; a master degree in Industrial Psychology from Universidad Latina, a bachelor degree in Finances from Universidad Panamericana, and a Top Management diploma from INCAE Business School.
Verónica Araujo A, MSc
Marketing, corporate communication, internal communication and group psychology.
With 20 years of experience in the area of communication, in its different areas, she has led marketing teams for the retail and telecommunications industry, developing strategies and mass and digital campaigns. She also has experience in the areas of human resources and corporate communication, for contact with external and internal audiences.
Verónica holds a bachelor honours in Communication Sciences with an emphasis in Advertising from the Universidad de Costa Rica, and a master's degree in Group Psychology from the Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional.
Daniel Henry, MSc
Usability expert specialized in computer interfaces and interactions as well as building environments.
More than 25 years of experience applying a user-centered design approach to conceive ergonomically designed products and spaces. Daniel has worked for large tech firms in the USA and in France, conceiving a wide range of products from Internet projects to Virtual Reality worlds. He also has applied his expertise to improve the spatial organization of work environments.
Daniel has a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering, specialized in Human Factors from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. He also has training in mediation and group facilitation.
Morgane Gaudin, MBA
Sustainable tourism enterprises development and solidary management.
Working experience in Madagascar in green tourism development and in Costa Rica, at the Sustainable Tourism Certification Department of the Costa Rican Tourism Board. Morgane, besides her professional career, is a singer and an active volunteer in several international charities.
Morgane obtained a double MBA diploma in Sustainable and Solidary Tourism Management from La Rochelle Tourism and Hospitality School in France. She also has a bachelor degree in Information and Communication Science from the Université Catholique de l’Ouest en Bretagne, France.
Hans J. Hartmann, PhD
Marine and freshwater ecology, coastal resource management and aquatic resources.
Internationally known for his expertise and research in marine ecology on fundamental and applied issues (plankton, mangroves/wetlands, small-scale fisheries and coastal resource management). He has worked widely in tropical, temperate and subarctic countries, including North America, Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Hans received his PhD degree from the University of Washington’s College of Oceans and Fisheries Science (Seattle. USA). He did post-doctoral work and research at the University of Washington, the Université du Québec at Rimouski (Canada), the Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont Ferrand, France) and the Université de La Rochelle (France).
Andreas Mende, PhD
Environmental geology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing.
More than 20 years of professional experience working in sustainable land management, management and protection of natural resources, risk analysis and prevention of natural hazards, hydrogeology and geographic Information systems (GIS) including remote sensing.
Andreas holds a PhD degree in Natural Sciences from the Universität Stuttgart (Germany) as well as a Diploma in Geology from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (Germany). He is member of the Professional Association of Geologists in Costa Rica (CGCR) as well as acknowledged environmental consultant of the Environmental Agency of Costa Rica (SETENA).
Mariano Castro J, MPhill, LLM
Environmental law and multilateral agreements; climate change, marine conservation and fisheries legal issues.
Experience as a policy and legal advisor in sustainable development and conservation. He has worked in areas such as climate change, multilateral environmental agreements, marine conservation, fisheries, environmental law, public-private partnerships and protected areas.
Mariano holds an Mphil in Conservation Leadership from Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and an LLM in Public International Law with specialization in peace, justice and development from Leiden University in the Netherlands, as well as a Law and Public Notary degree by Universidad Escuela Libre de Derecho in Costa Rica.
Georgina Jiménez E, BSc (Hons)
Environmental management, cleaner production, management of hazardous chemical substances.
Vast experience in implementation of environmental management systems (ISO 14000, cleaner production, ecodesign), management of hazardous chemical substances and contaminated waste. Georgina has also worked in the promotion of sustainable consumption and community agro-ecology.
Georgina holds a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Chemistry by the Universidad de Costa Rica. She also attended several specialized courses extended by different universities, among them, Univeristy of Michigan in USA; Technische Universiteit Delft in the Netherlands, and Abteilungen Institut für Umwelttechnik in Austria.
Patricia Allen F, MDs
Public Healt, assurance and evaluation of the quality of care, and acredditation processess.
Vast experience in quality and evaluation of health services at different levels of care. Long history in HIV AIDS (cost effectiveness studies, financing, counseling, measurement of spending), development of policies, programs, accreditation processes and economic evaluations. She has coordinated multidisciplinary and intersectoral teams, worked at the Costa Rican Social Health System (CCSS) and the Ministry of Health. She has carried out consultancies in Central America and Africa.
Patricia is a Doctor of Medicine with a specialty in Public Health and Health Economics, Pediatrics and Neonatology, from the University of Costa Rica, where she also obtained a bachelor's degree in Political Science.
Jessica Salas M, MDs
Health and public policies of vulnerable populations, human rights and gender.
Extensive experience in managing public health services and technical assistance in managing HIV prevention projects, human rights, gender perspective, sexual diversity, among others. Also in strengthening community systems, monitoring and evaluation of projects for NGOs and community-based organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jessica is a doctor of Medicine and Surgery, graduated from the Autonomous School of Medical Sciences of the Autonomous University of Central America (Costa Rica) and obtained her Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democracy from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO-Mexico).
Jorge Fernández Ch, LLM, ATC
Aviation and community law, human rights, Civil Aviation Authority, ICAO and regional Organizations in aviation.
More than 35 years of professional experience in aviation industry, as Air Traffic Controller, Air Navigation, Director General CAA, Deputy Regional Director of ICAO NACC Office, in the development and implementation of Civil Aviation Standards, Recommend Practices, Plans, Programs and Policies, in accordance with International Civil Aviation Convention.
Jorge initiated in aviation as an Air Traffic Controller in México and Costa Rica and holds a Law degree from Universidad Autónoma de Centroamerica. He is also a Public Notary, as well as a LLM in Community Law and Human Rights by Universidad de Costa Rica. Jorge has taken several technical courses in the aviation field. Since 2017 has been an international civil aviation consultant and an Aviation law college professor in Costa Rica, México and Central América.
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