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Roberto Artavia  

CEO, Social Progress Initiative

Dr. Artavia is President of VIVA Trust, an organization that combines in a single strategy investments in productive endeavours, particularly in forestry and fair trade, with philanthropic activities, focused mainly on the promotion of leadership, innovation, and the formation of networks in the organized civil society of Latin America. He is also President of Fundación Latinoamérica Posible, a private not-for-profit organization that promotes CSR and sustainable development in the productive private sector of Latin America.

From 1999-2007 Dr. Artavia served as President of INCAE Business School, a private, not for profit international school of business with operations in 12 countries in Latin America. ranked for ten consecutive years among the top 3 business programs in Latin America by both the Financial Times and America Economía rankings, and among the top 10 international business programs in the world by the Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Artavia is the strategic advisor for the Panama Canal Authority; Grupo Nación, the largest media group in Costa Rica, Toyota in Costa Rica and México, the ORREDES Foundation in Northwestern Argentina; FUNDESA, the Guatemalan Foundation for Economic Development, and many other profit and non-profit organizations in the region. His work in this area has received the recognition of the governments of Panama, Guatemala, and Nicaragua which have awarded him the highest civilian merit orders that their respective governments allow in 2007.

In 1996, Dr. Artavia founded the Latin American Centre for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, a Latin American think tank on the topics of national and industrial competitiveness, sustainable development, eco-efficiency, energy management, and institutional innovation, among others. He is also co-founder, in 2004,of the Central American Leadership Initiative, a joint venture of INCAE and the Aspen Institute.

Dr. Artavia serves on the Boards of INCAE Business School, World Resources Institute, Fundación Marviva Internacional, the Technology Research Club of Costa Rica, the Foundation for Management Education in Central America, Industrias Cerveceras de Centroamérica, COPA Airlines, and is advisor to many not-for-profit organizations throughout Latin America. His most recent publications are a series of six essays on the topics of sustainable development in Latin America, published in August, 2008.

He is married since 1983 to Marcella Cuadra and has two sons (Roberto 23, Eduardo 14) and one daughter (Marcella 21).

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