Patricia Valdés Flores
Patricia Valdés Flores joined CETYS University, Tijuana, in 1984, as a full time Professor, is currently affiliated to the College of Business Administration, and has been Dean of Academic Affairs at Tijuana Campus since 2012. Patricia was a founding member of the first Academic Senate in CETYS University, a participant on the committee for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Institutional Accreditation Project, collegial body member of the Business Administration and the MBA Programs, and on the evaluation team in the Baja California Quality and Competitiveness Award.
Rick Van Schoik
Rick Van Schoik serves as the Portfolio Director of North American Research Partnership (NARP). His three decade-long experience in developing, funding, managing, and interpreting international programs enables NARP to pursue complex, multidisciplinary, trinational research and policy work. His portfolios are transborder energy, sustainability, and security and their intersection. He was previously the Director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) at Arizona State University and of the Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP).
Adriana Eguia
Adriana Eguia is Director at Endeavor, Mexico, a business accelerator project active in a variety of developing countries. She was the head coordinator for a business incubator in Mexicali, Baja, has worked with the Maquiladora Industry. Adriana has a Major in International business, as well as an MBA and a Masters in Economic Development from CETYS University. She also directed the Economic Development Institute within CETYS University and she’s partner of a consulting firm for family based companies.
Jorge Sánchez “Jofras”
Jofras is a visual artist with a doctorate in social science. He is a full time professor in CETYS Universidad based in the College of Social Science and Humanities. His research fields are social and cultural processes, urban areas and public space; these are also key elements of his art work. In recent years he has followed the organization of art collectives and citizen movements that address public safety and life in the US-Mexican Border.
Roxana Velásquez
American born and raised in Mexico, Roxana Velásquez has served as the Museum’s Maruja Baldwin Executive Director since 2010. She previously served as director of the Museo Nacional de San Carlos, Museo Nacional de Arte (Munal), and the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; representing professional, civic, and cultural endeavors that elevated each institution to international recognition. Roxana is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Association of Art Museum Directors, the International Council of Museums, and Asociación Mexicana de Profesionales de Museos.
Rick Najera
Rick Najera is a nationally acclaimed speaker and award-winning writer-performer-director-producer and author with credits in film, television, theatre and Broadway. As a pioneer in entertainment and a key media influencer, Najera’s expansive range of talent includes screenwriting for television and feature films and directing sketch comedy, acclaimed theatrical stage performances to professional speaking at the largest and most prestigious corporations, organizations and universities in America.
Gabriela Posada del Real
After living in contrasting places, like Mexico City, Paris and Phoenix, Gabriela now lives in Tijuana since 1987, a place that lets her move between realities that intersect. She is committed to good urban development, and under Gabriela’s guidance Tijuana’s local architects, urban planners and artists have worked since 2012 to organize people who survey and make maps of their own streets in order to identify problems that need to be addressed. Gabriela graduated with a degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the Autonomous University of Baja California , Tijuana.
Larry Herzog
Larry Herzog is a writer, photographer, international consultant, and professor of urban design and planning at San Diego State University, California. He is recognized internationally as one of the leading experts on the subject of the U.S.-Mexico international border, as well as the impacts of globalization on cross-border relations. He has lectured and taught at many universities around the world, including the London School of Economics, United Kingdom, the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain and The University of Paris, France.
Orquestas Comunitarias Redes 2025
Redes 2025 is a social intervention program that operates in high-risk communities in the cities of Tijuana, Ensenada, and Mexicali, in Baja California. This after school program aims to promote the training and professionalization of musicians on short and medium terms, contribute to the cultural development of the region, and strengthen its communities. Speakers: Missael Zavala López and Octavio Salazar Ramírez.
Jose (Pepe) Larroque
Jose (Pepe) Larroque has over 20 years of experience practicing in global real estate. He speaks regularly on various topics related to global real estate, has authored articles for many publications, and is highly participative in civic associations: as the founder and board member of Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad in Baja California, a member of the Scripps Mercy Hospital Foundation Board in San Diego, and co-chair of the Smart Border Coalition (Tijuana-San Diego), among others.
Marco Antonio
Marco Antonio has served as L.A. Cetto winery events manager since 1998. He has a major in Administration in Tourism Business by the University of Baja California, as well as a diploma as a Sommelier studying in UC Davis California and Culinary Art School in Tijuana. Additional studies include tourism, food and beverages, public relations. As a speaker Marco Antonio has participated in over 150 events in the past 5 years, and is a founding member and President of the Sommeliers Association of Baja California.
Opening Remarks From San Diego and Tijuana Dignitaries
Sherri Lightner
San Diego City Council President
Xavier Peniche
Secretary for Economic Development