Preconference: Thursday, September 18 Good Governance 101: What It Takes To Be A Great Board Member
Main Conference: September 19 & 20 Knowledgeable: Sharing Shamelessly Across the Region
Conference Presenters
Mina Merkel For over 20 years, Mina worked and lived worldwide for General Motors. She led large-scale, high-risk, strategic projects that spanned organizational boundaries. Mina guided cross-functional teams in delivering defined project results that met time, budget and quality objectives. Her experience includes executive coaching, change management, organizational development, training and mentoring programs that increased the effectiveness of leaders, streamlined processes, and empowered employees in 35 countries. Mina has consulted in all facets of industry: Finance, Government and Public Relations, Supply Chain Manufacturing, Engineering, Design, Legal, Information Technology, and Planning, among others. Mina has served on the Board of Directors of Escola Graduada de Sao Paulo (Graded, American International School of Sao Paulo) and on the Board of Trustees at the Frankfurt International School. Mina taught a course in Change Management at Temple University in Tokyo, Japan. Also she co-developed the Tokyo Chapter of a global, non-government organization, Room to Read, an organization that builds schools, libraries, computer and language labs in 15 countries and provides scholarships to girls. Over the past 8 years, Mina has consulted with both corporate and school boards performing strategic planning sessions and governance training sessions. Mina worked as an on-site consultant with Graded School as their Facilities Project Manager during the planning stages of a complete renovation of their K–12 campus. She trained students, parents, faculty and administration in change management, team-building, strategic planning, and leadership development. In addition, Mina and her husband Brad are parents of two American International School students who attended International School of Wiesbaden (part of Frankfurt International School), American School in Japan, and Graded School. The Merkel’s completed 21 years abroad before returning to the states to live in Naples, Florida, where Mina continues her consulting practice with schools overseas.
Yoca Arditi-Rocha
Yoca is an international Sustainability Professional with over 15 years of experience. A Biologist with a degree on Corporate Sustainability from the Institute of Global Sustainability at the University of Vermont, she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Harvard University in Sustainability & Environmental Management. Yoca is an Al Gore trained Climate Change presenter, an active member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), the Climate Reality Project, and a USGBC certified LEED-Green Associate. Yoca is the founder and director of No Planeta B, an organization that specializes in climate change education and assisting K-12 schools, universities & small/medium organizations in reducing their environmental footprint in the Latin American region. As a motivational and inspirational speaker, Yoca has participated in conferences promoting sustainability and bringing climate change awareness to different stakeholders. Yoca promotes sev- eral environmental educational campaigns like the Green Apple Day of Service from USGBC and serves as the sustainability advisor for Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Lima. She is also President of U CLIMATICA, a non-profit organization that empowers and mentors youth to become climate leaders in Perú.
