Global Development Council

Mr. Alejandro Santo Domingo is a Senior Managing Director at Quadrant Capital Advisors, Inc. in New York City. He is a member of the board of Anheuser-Busch Inbev (ABI). He was a member of the Board of Directors of SABMiller Plc, where he was also Vice-Chairman of SABMiller Plc. for Latin America. Mr. Santo Domingo is Chairman of the Board of Bavaria S.A. in Colombia. He is Chairman of the Board of Valorem, a company which manages a diverse portfolio industrial & media assets in Latin America. Mr. Santo Domingo is also a director of JDE (Jacobs Douwe Egberts), ContourGlobal plc, Florida Crystals, the world's largest sugar refiner, Caracol TV, Colombia's leading broadcaster, El Espectador, a leading Colombian Daily, and Cine Colombia, Colombia's leading film distribution and movie theater company. In the non-profit sector, he is Chairman of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Fundación Mario Santo Domingo. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Member of the Board of Channel Thirteen/WNET (PBS), a Member of the Board of DKMS; a foundation dedicated to finding donors for leukemia patients, and he is a Member of the Board of Fundacion Pies Descalzos. Mr. Santo Domingo is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Mount Sinai Health System.

Mr. Santo Domingo is a graduate of Harvard College.

Mr. Iqbal Ahmad Khan is the Chief Executive Officer of Fajr Capital. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam, Cravia Group, Jadwa Investment and MENA Infrastructure. Prior to Fajr Capital, he was the founding CEO of HSBC Amanah, where he built the business and team over eight years into one of the fastest growing and most successful emerging businesses in the HSBC Group. He is a long-time advocate of the Islamic financial services industry, serving as an advisor to government initiatives in Brunei, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Ahmad Khan holds a master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics and Chemistry, both from Aligarh Muslim University. He is the recipient of several industry and global accolades, including the Royal Award for Islamic Finance, a biannual prize presented by HM the King of Malaysia, and a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE.

Gassan Al-Kibsi is McKinsey’s Chair and Managing Partner for the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Turkey, and leads a team of over 180 partners and more than 2,400 colleagues across the region. He serves in several global roles within McKinsey, including as a member of the Firm’s board known as the Shareholder’s Council as well as its global leadership team, known as the Acceleration Team.

He has been with McKinsey for over 25 years, having joined its Washington, D.C., office in 1997. In 2000, he moved to the region as a founding member of McKinsey’s Middle East office.

Mr. Al-Kibsi is passionate about supporting leaders on matters of economic growth and job creation for young people. Since 2000, he has been working with the public, private, and social sectors across the region to accelerate its economic and social transformation and develop next-generation talent. In addition, he has served some of the world’s leading companies in energy, technology, and consumer-facing industries to enhance growth and global competitiveness.

In 2014, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader. He also supports philanthropic organizations that fight disease and poverty and seek to create a more dignified life for children and young people in 50+ countries.

Mr Al-Kibsi is widely recognized for his expertise. His work has been published by the World Economic Forum, the Middle East Summit, and the McKinsey Quarterly.

He received his MBA and MS degree in operations research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also completed an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Abdullah Alrakhis is a Saudi Arabian industrialist, investor, venture capitalist, public policy expert, and philanthropist. He studied in Oxford and MIT, obtaining degrees in Civil Engineering, project management, public policy, and an MBA. In addition, he completed the 2015 and 2016 Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education programs on Leading Economic Growth.

He is the chairman of the National Development Program, the Health Transformation Cluster Board, the Regional Development Program, the Vision Leadership Development Program in Saudi Arabia, and board chair and member of several public and private institutions, universities, think tanks, and NGOs, including Oxford International Advisory Board and Singapore National University Council. He was previously a member of the Harvard Kennedy School Dean’s Council as well.

He serves as chief strategist, public policy expert, transformation lead, and advisor in several programs and institutions. He has been active as an investor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist in a portfolio that exceeded ten billion USD across telecommunications, IT, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, and infrastructure.

Armando Garza Sara currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of ALFA, S.A.B. of C.V. He was born in Monterrey, Mexico.

Mr. Garza also serves as Chairman of the Boards of Alpek and Nemak, and he is a member of the Boards of Axtel, BBVA Mexico, CEMEX, FEMSA, Lamosa, Liverpool and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Mr. Garza joined ALFA in 1978. Prior to his current position, he was Vice Chairman of the Board and Senior Vice President of Development of ALFA. He is also the former President of Versax and Sigma Alimentos. Previously, he was Vice President of Corporate Planning of ALFA and President of Polioles and Selther.

He is the former President of the Nuevo León State Chamber of the Transformation Industry (CAINTRA) and of the Business Economic Council of the Private Sector (CEESP).

Mr. Garza received his undergraduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master’s degree from Stanford University.

Silvia Gold is the President of the Mundo Sano Foundation, whose vision is to change people's lives affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), promoting field research in strategic locations throughout Latin America, Europe, and Africa, producing evidence that can contribute to public health policies. The Foundation works with multidisciplinary work developing management models focused on preventing and controlling neglected tropical diseases with public‐private cooperation achieving vast experience in sustainable partnerships.

Dr. Gold holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Universidad de Buenos Aires. Dr. Gold is a member of the National Academy of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of Argentina. In 2019, she was awarded the Gold Medal from the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Murcia, Spain. Gold leads the Consortium for Research, Development, and Innovation (R&D+i) on innovative oncology therapies, whose accomplishments include the launch of Vaxira© in 2013, the first therapeutic vaccine designed to treat lung cancer in Argentina.

Dr. Gold has contributed to numerous scientific publications and has actively participated in international meetings and conferences related to the NTDs and Global Public Health. Besides, Dr. Gold is a member of several boards, including the World Health Organization (WHO) Foundation Board, Uniting to Combat Executive Board, Advisory Council of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Board of Trustees of the Reina Sofia Foundation in Spain, and Economic and Social Council of Universidad Torcuato di Tella

Together with Hugo Sigman, she founded Grupo Insud and Insud Pharma, a multinational pharmaceutical company with a direct presence in 45 countries across four continents.

Sandra Hoffen is the President of the Hoffen Family Foundation. Previously, she served as Partner at First New York Securities, Managing Director at Deltec Asset Management, and Principal at American Industrial Partners.

She sits on the Dean's Advisory Board at the Harvard Business School, on the Board of Trustees at the Lincoln Center Theater, the Riverdale Country School (Vice Chair), and Volcani International Partnerships, and on the Chairman’s Council of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Vikram Mittal is an entrepreneur, angel investor, banker and philanthropist. He is currently a Fellow at the Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) at Harvard University. Prior to ALI, Mr. Mittal co-founded a healthcare services company that was subsequently acquired by private equity firm, Salt Creek Capital. He started a foundation to provide free medical care to migrant workers in California.

Previously, Mr. Mittal held various positions of increasing responsibility at HSBC culminating as the Global Head of Enhancement Services, Insurance. Prior to HSBC, he was the Chief Technical Officer at GE Supply.

Mr. Mittal has had stints in private equity, strategy consulting and as Chief Technical Officer at a Benchmark Capital backed startup.

Mr. Mittal was born in Mumbai, India. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode is a business leader, social sector expert, and human rights activist with over 20 years of demonstrated experience in development, specialising in gender, youth, and inclusion initiatives. As Chief Executive Officer of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, an independent non-governmental organisation advocating for democratic and social reform in Nigeria, she has been instrumental in implementing sustainable development programs dedicated to engendering socio-economic change on the African continent. Through the Foundation, she drives impactful stakeholder-driven interventions and advocacy activities, with particular emphasis on education, capacity building, and disaster risk management especially in the insurgency and terrorism affected north-eastern region of Nigeria. She has also devoted her career to exploring opportunities for thought leadership on the role of INGOs in Africa across a range of sectors.

An entrepreneur, Ms. Muhammed-Oyebode is Group Chair at Asset Management Group Limited (AMG), a real estate development and management firm with a diverse portfolio of social initiatives. In addition, she chairs the boards of Lekoil Limited, an Africa focused oil and gas exploration company, and the NEEM Foundation, an organisation devoted to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of communities in conflict zones. She is also a member of the Harvard Kennedy School's Women's Leadership Board (WLB) of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP). She serves as an advisor and country expert to the University of Pennsylvania Law Global Women’s Leadership Project and an advisor to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on Northern Nigeria. She is a co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, established in the aftermath of the abduction of over 200 girls from their school in the Chibok local government area of Borno State, Nigeria.

Ms. Muhammed-Oyebode holds a PhD in Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, an LLM in Public International Law from King’s College, University of London, and an MBA in Finance from Imperial College, University of London. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989 and is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. A published author, her recent academic publications include chapters on SDG 1 “No Poverty” and SDG 5 “Gender Equality” published by Routledge 2021. She is also the author of “The Stolen Daughters of Chibok," published by PowerHouse Books 2022.

Mr. Carlos A. Pérez-Dávila is a Senior Managing Director at Quadrant Capital Advisors, Inc. in New York City. Mr. Pérez-Dávila is a Member of the Board of Bavaria S.A in Colombia. He is also a Member of the Board of Valorem, a company which manages a diverse portfolio of industrial & media assets in Latin America. Mr. Pérez-Dávila is also a Member of the Board of Central European Petroleum. Mr. Pérez-Dávila is also a director of Caracol TV, Colombia's leading broadcaster, El Espectador, a leading Colombian Daily, and Cine Colombia, Colombia's leading film distribution and movie theater company. Mr. Pérez-Dávila was previously a member of the Board of Directors of SABMiller Plc.

In the non-profit sector, Mr. Pérez-Dávila is on the Board of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Queen Sophia Spanish Institute and Fundacion Cardio-Infantil. Mr. Pérez-Dávila is on the Board of Trustees of The Hotchkiss School.

Mr. Pérez-Dávila is a graduate of Harvard College and he has an M. Phil degree from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

Vikas Pershad is a senior fund manager for M&G Investments, a global firm with AUM approaching GBP 400 billion.

Mr. Pershad invests in public and private companies in the semiconductor and life sciences sectors across Asia and around the world. He also manages the firm’s public equity funds in India — a country that is gaining prominence in investors' portfolios and on the global stage. He is a board advisor to udaan, India’s leading B2B platform for small and medium businesses. He is also a frequent contributor to financial media organizations, including Bloomberg, CNBC, ET Now and the Wall Street Journal.
 
During our lifetimes, Mr. Pershad sees the largest opportunities for governments and private enterprises to create value and manage risks in three areas: adapting to climate change, leveraging applied statistics (a phrase he prefers to "machine learning") and harnessing synthetic biology.
 
An immediate focus is on reducing gender-based inequities both in the workplace and at home, a topic on which he has published his views, spoken in the media, and engaged with government officials and companies’ senior management teams for years.

Mr. Pershad is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and of the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar. For a decade he has lived in Singapore with his wife, Shweta, and son, Aryan.

Dr. Viejo is the founder and Chairman of Trefilia Capital, a Family Office launched in 2013. Trefilia has a portfolio of both direct investments and investments in VC and P/E funds. Sectorial interests include, but are not limited to, Consumer Products, Financial Institutions and Hospitality.

Since 2007, Dr. Viejo has been a Member of the Board of Arca Continental, Coca Cola’s third-largest bottling franchise worldwide. He is also the Technical Secretary of Consejo Nuevo León, an advisory council to the Governor of the State of Nuevo León in charge, by constitutional mandate, of the state´s long-term strategic planning. Dr. Viejo was deeply involved in the council’s design and creation.

In the nonprofit / philanthropic sector he has focused his time to higher education, as such he is a member of the Board of Directors of Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM), he is a member of the Advisory Board in Mexico of Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, he is a member of the Harvard Kennedy School Dean’s Council, and he is a member of the CID’s Global Development Council at Harvard University.

As a professional economist, Dr. Viejo served as Vice President of Economic Research for Emerging Markets in Goldman Sachs in New York and as the Chief Economist in Grupo Alfa in Monterrey.

Dr. Viejo holds an economics degree from ITESM, a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a PhD in economics from Boston University. He enjoys the outdoors and is a veteran marathon runner. He lives in Monterrey, Mexico with his wife, Cristina, and their three daughters, Ana Sofia, Marifer, and Carolina.