Fostering Bilateral Trade and Investment Flows Between Brazil and Florida

2018 Brazil Business Forum Speakers


FORUM CHAIRMAN

SUELI CRISTINA BONAPARTE, Founding President, Brazil-Florida Business Council, Inc.

Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil and former Executive Director of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York, Sueli Bonaparte has devoted more than 25 years of her professional career to forging closer ties between the businesses communities of Brazil and the United States.

During Ms. Bonaparte's 17-year tenure, the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York grew into one of the most active and respected bilateral chambers of commerce in the United States. Ms. Bonaparte was awarded the prestigious Foreign Policy Association Meritorious Honor Award to recognize her immeasurable contributions to the success of the Chamber and to the establishment of a stronger relationship between Brazil and the United States.

She earned a BA degree in History from the University of São Paulo, a MS degree in Bicultural Education from St. John's University, and was also bestowed the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from St. Thomas Aquinas College

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS


AMBASSADOR ADALNIO S. GANEM
, a career Diplomat, assumed his position as Consul General of Brazil in Miami on September 9, 2016. Prior to that, he was the Brazilian Ambassador to Panama. Ambassador Ganem served Brazil as Consul General in Atlanta, Director of the Brazilian Trade Bureau in New York, Chief International Advisor to Vice President Marco Maciel and Minister-Counsellor and Charge d'Affairs of the Brazilian Embassy in Paris. As first assignments, he served at the Brazilian Mission to the European Communities and at the Brazilian Embassy in Lima, Peru. In addition, Ambassador Ganem was Chief International Advisor to the Governor of the State of São Paulo. He earned his law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and completed diplomatic academy at Instituto Rio Branco, followed by Post Graduate degrees in Economics and Trade at the New York University and Instituto Rio Branco.

GABRIELLE MANDEL currently serves as a Senior Country Manager for the Latin America and Caribbean region at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). In this capacity, she is responsible for business development, project preparation and evaluation, and supervision of USTDA activities in Brazil and Paraguay. Ms. Mandel is also a member of USTDA’s transportation team. She is based out of Tampa and represents all regions for the Agency locally in Florida.

Prior to joining USTDA in February 2007, Ms. Mandel was a Senior Program Coordinator at the U.S. Energy Association. In that capacity, she managed utility, transmission, and regulatory partnerships in Africa, Latin America, and the Philippines for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ms. Mandel holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations, with a concentration in International Development from the Elliott School of the George Washington University. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree from The University at Albany, where she graduated with honors in Latin American Studies. She speaks Portuguese and Spanish.

RICARDO U. SENNES is Partner Director of Prospectiva, the Brazilian public policy and governmental relations advisory firm. He holds a Ph.D in International Relations and a MA in Political Science from the University of São Paulo and a bachelor's degree in Economics from the Catholic University of São Paulo. Sennes also conducted research for the Woodrow Institute in Washington and for the Iberian and Latin American Studies Center at the University of California, San Diego. He has been engaged in projects related to political and economic developments in Brazil and throughout Latin America; South America regional integration; international trade; energy and the aerospace and defense industry.

FREDDY RUSSIAN, as CEO and founder principal of American Family Legacy Group in 2009 and American Private Equity in 2012, Mr. Freddy Russian has led AFLG Holdings, Inc. (“AFLG”) to become a highly successful and trusted global firm. Mr. Russian has a proven executive management track record and experience guiding AFLG to become a powerful player globally. Mr. Russian began his career in 1991 as Head Currency Trader managing over a billion dollars in currencies. In addition, he has held distinct roles in Wall Street as Financial Analyst, Senior Rating Bond Analyst (Dow Jones), and as an Assistant Vice President of the Private Client Group (Bank of America/Merrill Lynch).

Mr. Russian has a BA in Business Administration and Finance from the University of Central Oklahoma. In 2016, he attended the Harvard Business School Executive Program in Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout his career, Mr. Russian has numerous industry certifications and has been recognized with many awards, including the “Silver Spur” award, the “Director’s Club” award, and Finalist in the 2016 Tampa Bay Business Journal CFO of the Year Award.

CARLOS DERRAIK, a Partner with Derraik & Menezes Advogados, has substantial experience in several areas of law, in Brazil and abroad, including tax, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, real estate, privatization and antitrust. He helps foreign clients (companies, joint ventures and other entities or bodies) in establishing their businesses in Brazil and local companies in their restructuring, financing, tax planning and real estate transactions.

Mr Derraik provides assistance in power projects, from generation (in wind, thermal and hydro projects) to distribution, including transmission, as well as infrastructure projects, focusing mainly in the relations of owners and construction companies, especially in EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contracts. He also works with clients in the entertainment business connected to sports and in the airline business.

He was an attorney and consultant at one of the biggest auditing companies worldwide, specialized in tax and international transactions, and worked in the general counsel’s office of one of the South American major mining companies, where developed his knowledge in real estate and mining areas.


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