Renowned Entrepreneurs to Be Honored at Babson Connect: Worldwide in Panama

Stanley A. Motta (left) and Ramón Mendiola Sánchez (right)
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Their impacts have been felt far and wide, not only across Latin America, but also around the world.

And we will honor them for their role in creating lasting economic and social value at the sixth annual Babson Connect: Worldwide—the world’s premier entrepreneurship summit, this year in Panama City.

Editor’s Note: we have decided to postpone Babson Connect: Worldwide 2020 in Panama City, and reschedule to March 2021. Please visit the Babson Connect: Worldwide website to learn more

Stanley A. Motta

A 2020 inductee of Babson’s Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs®

He has sat at the helm of 12 different companies and is currently chairman of the board of Copa Holding, ASSA Group, and Inversiones Bahia, Ltd.

Stanley Motta has continually expanded his reach and social impact throughout Latin America, emphasizing the need for corporate social responsibility as chairman of Sumarse, an organization for the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); trustee of ANCON, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving biodiversity; and Latin American Council for Conservation (TNC) and the innovative City of Knowledge in Panama.

And he also is chairman of the Central America Leadership Initiative (CALI), co-chairman of the Advisory Board of INCAE, and member of the advisory board of IESE Business School.

This year, Babson College is honored to induct Motta into its Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs as part of Babson Connect: Worldwide in March.

“Stanley Motta joins a select group of entrepreneurial thinkers—some of the most driven, and action-oriented leaders this world has ever seen,” said President Stephen Spinelli Jr., MBA’92, PhD. “We are proud to welcome him into our community and induct him into the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs.”

As a member of the academy, Motta will be recognized as an entrepreneur who has contributed significantly to the development of free enterprise throughout the world, and joins some of history’s most visible and successful entrepreneurs, including Juan Roig, Eric Johnson ’72, P’08, Roger Enrico ’65, H’86, Sara Blakely, Diane von Fürstenberg, Jaime Gilinski, A. Andronico Luksic, Gustavo A. Cisneros ’68, H’19, and many more.

Ramón Mendiola Sánchez ’86, P’20’23

Lewis Institute 2020 Community Changemaker Award honoree

Ramón Mendiola Sánchez is a rare CEO who doesn’t make a choice between shareholder value and stakeholder value,” shared Cheryl Kiser, executive director of The Lewis Institute for Social Innovation and the Babson Social Innovation Lab.

When asked why he was chosen as Babson’s newest recipient of the Lewis Institute Community Changemaker Award, Kiser said, “His triple bottom line approach takes on global challenges both inside and outside his company, such as poverty alleviation. He is the best example of what Babson defines as an entrepreneurial leader creating social and economic value simultaneously for sustainable positive impacts.”

Alumnus and member of the Babson College Board of Trustees, Mendiola Sánchez has extensive experience leading companies in the food and beverages market in America. He started his career at Philip Morris International in 1992 where his last position was vice president for Central America and the Caribbean. Between 1998 and 2002, he was Kraft Foods international vice president for Central America and the Caribbean. In 2003, he took on his current position as CEO of Florida Ice & Farm Company (FIFCO), a Costa Rican public company with revenues of US$1.3 billion and more than 6,500 employees across Central America and the United States. FIFCO is a total beverage company with more than 1,700 products and exports to 23 countries.

This award recognizes recipients’ actions to set something in motion in order to create positive, global change. Past recipients include María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, permanent member of the Spanish Council of State and president of the Women for Africa Foundation; the late Leila Janah, “Give Work” author and founder and CEO of Samasource and LXMI; Catalina Escobar, founder and president of the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation; and Shainoor Khoja, managing director of Roshan Corporate Social Responsibility, among others.

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