Dr. Santiago Ibarreche
Presentation Title: Future of Entrepreneurship Education at UTEP

Santiago Ibarreche is a full professor of the Department of Marketing and Management at The University of Texas at El Paso, and the director of the Center for Hispanic Entrepreneurship, which is part of the Kauffman Campus Initiative.  He is also an independent consultant in different areas of management worldwide. He received his Bachelor’s in Accountancy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), his MBA from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies in Mexico City (ITESM) and his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has been a faculty member of different academic institutions in Mexico and the United States, such as: ITAM (Mexico City Autonomous Technological Institute), ITESM (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies in Mexico City) and IBAFIN (Institute of Banking and Finance) also in Mexico City. His professional experience includes different positions in academic institutions for more than thirty five years.  He has published several books, among them “Financial Analysis for Decision Making,” “Social Marketing,” “Ideas in Action: Readings for Strategic Management,” and “Worksheets for Strategic Management using IDEAS IN ACTION.”  He has also published in academic trade publications and has been a contributor to the financial section of several regional newspapers in the El Paso – Ciudad Juarez area, including a weekly editorial page in two different papers that emphasized economic and business aspects.  He was recognized as “Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year by the U. S. Small Business Administration, during the Minority Enterprise Development Week in October of 2007. 

Dr. Nathan Ashby
Presentation Title: Economic Freedom and Entrepreneurship in North America

Nathan Ashby is an assistant professor of Economics and Finance in the College of Business Administration at The University of Texas at El Paso. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University in 2004 and 2006 respectively. He has published articles in the Southern Economic Journal, Public Choice, and Eastern Economic Journal. In the most recent Economic Freedom of North America report, he published a chapter discussing his preliminary estimates for economic freedom in the Mexican states. He is currently working with members of the Fraser Institute to construct and index which harmonizes the measurement of economic freedom in all states and provinces in North America.

David Blivin
Presentation Title: Culture, Creativity and Capital: Hispanic Business Formation and Growth

David Blivin is a Managing Partner of Cottonwood Technology Group. He has had a long and successful investment and entrepreneurial career. Most recently he has worked directly with early-stage companies on their strategic focus, market validation and fund raising under his company Lighthouse Partners. Prior to Lighthouse, Mr. Blivin founded and served as Managing Director of Southeast Interactive and over a five-year period successfully built the team that established the first and largest information technology-focused fund based in the Southeast.  During Mr. Blivin’s tenure, Southeast Interactive raised three funds totaling over $175 million.  He was directly involved in fund raising and was an early investor in companies which have represented a realized enterprise exit value totaling in excess of $1 billion. He has generated cash on cash returns on his directed investments of over 4X. Before founding Southeast Interactive, Mr. Blivin served as the Chief Financial Officer of Montrose Capital Corporation, a merchant-banking firm that formed and managed over 20 limited partnerships representing in excess of $100 million in equity and $350 million in total capitalization. Prior to joining Montrose Capital Corporation, Mr. Blivin worked as a Senior Auditor with Arthur Andersen LLP where he audited several companies in the technology and communications fields.  Mr. Blivin has also participated on numerous boards of directors including The Pantry (nasdaq-PTRY), Opensite (sold to Siebel), Accipiter (sold to CMGI), Nitronex, Channelogics (sold to Scientific Atlanta) and Buildnet.  He served as President of the Durham YMCA and led their successful effort to secure $9 million and build a new facility in Downtown Durham. Mr. Blivin received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Dr. Christine Thurlow Brenner
Presentation Title: Entrepreneurship in New Latino Destinations

Christine Thurlow Brenner, Ph.D. is an associate professor of public policy and administration at Rutgers University. Dr. Brenner’s current research focuses on the institutional effects and bureaucratic incorporation on immigrant integration. She conducted interviews in 40 U.S. cities documenting the role of governance in facilitating Latino immigrant integration and most recently served as the academic advisor to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on immigrant integration. (The report of the panel’s recommendations are available at  http://www.nj.gov/publicadvocate/home/immigrant_panel.html). Her research is published in Administration and Society, the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, Public Administration, International Journal of Economic Development, and the Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, and other venues, including a co-authored chapter in Juntos Pero No Revueltos: Estudios sobre la frontera Texas-Chihuahua (Padilla and Coronado, eds.). She is also the co-editor of Digame! Policy and Politics on the Texas Border (Kendall Hunt).

At Rutgers University, Dr. Brenner served as the director of the Forum for Policy Research and Public Service and twice received the Jay A. Sigler award for teaching excellence and dedication to student. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, serves on the advisory board for the Migration Policy Institute’s E Pluribus Unum award for exemplary US immigrant integration programs, was a member of the executive board of the Association of Borderlands Studies, and is currently in her third term as treasurer of the Latino Caucus of the American Political Science Association. Prior to joining the Rutgers University faculty, Dr. Brenner was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Brenner graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA and received her masters’ in urban affairs and doctorate in urban and public administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Dr. John Bretting
Presentation Title: Mexican American Female Entrepreneurs

John Bretting, (PhD - Political Science - University of Houston, MA - Political Science - University of Houston, BA - Political Science - University of New Mexico, BA - Urban Planning - University of New Mexico) is an Associate Professor in the Master of Public Administration Program at the Institute for Policy and Economic Development. He has published in a variety of peer-reviewed social science, planning, and public management journals, contributed book chapters to a variety of edited scholarly works – usually addressing issues, institutions, and/or political behaviors of indigenous peoples in New Mexico. Currently he is working on a book focused on The Racialization and Social Construction of Local Political Power in San Antonio, TX from 1945 to the Present. He remains active in numerous professional, community, university, and program-wide committees including service as an officer in national, regional, and local organizations.

John J. Chavez
Presentation Title: Culture, Creativity and Capital: Hispanic Business Formation and Growth

John J. Chavez is the President of Tafoya and Brainerd Partners LLC, a nationwide business development consulting firm. Mr. Chavez is also the Director of State Government Solutions at Financial Management Systems, a Chicago based financial services firm. Mr. Chavez has been an active angel investor since 2003. John is a Member of the Board of Directors for One Connect Internet Telephone Company, a New Mexico Angels member portfolio company. Prior to creating Tafoya and Brainerd Partners LLC, Mr. Chavez was appointed by New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as the Cabinet Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department. Mr. Chavez served as Cabinet Secretary for six years and as the President of the Federation of Taxation Administrators for one year. Mr. Chavez is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Squash Blossom Classic – an organization that organizes a yearly adventure sport event in McKinley County.  Mr. Chavez received the following degrees from New Mexico State University; a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Art in Economics and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.

Dr. Alberto Correa
Presentation Title: Technology Entrepreneurship

Dr. Alberto Correa received his B.Sc. in Physics from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University. He later received a Diplomat in Business Administration by the Ashorne Hill College of Business Administration, British Steel Corporation. He has been involved in applying Materials Science and Engineering to industry, having the positions of CEO, COO, CTO, CFO and member of multiple boards of directors. He devoted 12 years of his career to banking, project evaluation and financial planning, and 25 years to the materials related Industrial Sector (metallurgy, polymers, and ceramics). As President, CEO, CTO, COO, CFO and member of the Board of Directors and/or Shareholder of a number of corporations, and of CICCSA and QRW for over 30 years, he has directed 300 plus applied R&D technical, economical and financial projects, feasibility, business and strategic plans. His interest is offering reliable problem-solving scientific and technological services to Industry. Dr. Correa is the president of the board of the “El Paso del Norte” Chapter of the Network of Mexican Talents in the U. S. and directs the International Institute for Entrepreneurial Advancement. Through the Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory, one of his main clients, Dr. Correa is involved in the economic development of the US-Mexico border region via emerging technology-based businesses. On the latest 5+ years, the technical work done for VITRO Corp. – the largest glassmaking company in Latin America – has concerned on analyzing materials’ high temperature behavior inside the glassmaking furnaces when using petroleum coke as an alternative fuel. In addition, he is also pursuing projects on celullosic ethanol production in Mexico.

Dr. Maceo Dailey
Presentation Title: Pollinating: Brown and Black Entrepreneurship in El Paso

Maceo Crenshaw Dailey, Jr. received his Ph. D. from Howard University. He has taught at Smith College, Howard University, Brown University, Boston College, Morgan State University, Spelman College, Colby College, New York University, and Morehouse College. He currently is associate professor in the History Department and director of African American Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. Professor Dailey has published book chapters and essays in Digame, The Dictionary of Negro American Biography, Dictionary of the American Left, Theodore Roosevelt: Many Sided American, Leaders From the 1960s, Black Lives, Walking Integrity, Black Business and Economic Power; and articles in scholarly journals Contributions in Black Studies, The Review of Black Political Economy, Atlanta History, Sage, and Harvard Business History Review. He has served also as assistant editor for the Journal of Negro History. Dr. Dailey and Kristine Navarro co-edited the book, Wheresoever My People Chance To Dwell: Oral Interviews With African American Women of El Paso. (Black Classic Press: Baltimore, 2000). Along with Ruthe Winegarten, he edited Bernice Love Wiggins' Tuneful Tales (Texas Tech Press: Lubbock, 2002).Within the last decade, Professor Dailey has given over one hundred speeches, served on thirty panels, and delivered twenty-five scholarly papers. He is in the process of completing a biography of Emmett Jay Scott. He has a book contract from Greenwood Press to complete the Booker T. Washington Encyclopedia. Named to Who's Who in the East, Who's Who Among American Teachers, Who's Who In America, and Who’s Who In The World, Dr. Dailey also has made many television and radio appearances.

Dr. Alberto Dávila
Presentation Title: Self-Employment Outcomes among Mexican Americans and Mexican Immigrants during the Early 2000s

Alberto Dávila is currently Professor of Economics and V.F. “Doc” and Gertrude Neuhaus Chair for Entrepreneurship at The University of Texas – Pan American.  Since January 1997, he has also been serving as Department Chair for the Department of Economics and Finance at UTPA.  Dávila’s research interests include Hispanic entrepreneurship and labor markets, the economics of the U.S.-Mexico border, and the economics of immigration. 

Alex Dresser
Presentation Title: Culture, Creativity and Capital: Hispanic Business Formation and Growth

Alex Dresser is Vice President of Business Development for Merkatum, Inc. He is in charge of all revenue-generating activities and other strategic duties associated to corporate development for the Company. Mr. Dresser has over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications, technology and media sectors having held executive-level positions in well- established companies such as Telefónica Group, Pacific Telesis and Venevisión. Alex blends his corporate experience with a strong entrepreneurial background, having worked also for high-profile technology start-ups including Rolm Corporation, Racal Information Systems, and Airtouch/Vodafone. Mr. Dresser received a B.S. and Masters in Business Administration degrees in Management and International Business from San Jose State University, California.

Darlene Elder
Presentation Title: Culture, Creativity and Capital: Hispanic Business Formation and Growth

Darlene Elder is Chief Executive Officer of Aero Alternative Energy Industries LLC.  She was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, and currently resides in Sierra Blanca, TX.   Elder is a life-long environmentalist and advocate of alternative energy.  Witnessing the rise of energy prices and the economic toll it takes on small town businesses, she’s stepped outside the bounds of traditional small business entrepreneur and is pursuing the deployment of a large-scale wind energy deployment that would be capable of making Hudspeth County energy self-sufficient. Her enthusiasm and tenacity has paid off as she’s partnered with leading wind energy experts to deploy a test facility in Sierra Blanca.  The deployment will require additional financial and technical resources, and Elder is exploring Angel funding, VC funding and the State Emerging Technology Fund.  Her community and neighbors support her and have committed 250,000 acres toward a large-scale deployment of an innovative wind farm capable of supplying 100% of the county’s energy needs.

Dr. Thomas M. Fullerton, Jr.
Presentation Title: Peso Acceptance Patterns in El Paso

Tom Fullerton is the JPMorgan Chase Professor of Economics & Finance in the College of Business Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso.  In addition to conducting research on Borderplex business conditions, Dr. Fullerton teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in econometrics, managerial economics, urban economics, business forecasting, Latin American political economy, border economics, and international country risk analysis.  A native of Ft. Worth, Fullerton attended grade school in Latin America.  As an undergraduate, he attended UTEP as a Stevens Scholar where he majored in Economics and Finance, and minored in Mathematics.  Fullerton also holds an M.S. in Economics from Iowa State University where he studied as a Pace Scholar and an M.A. in Business Economics from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied as a Dean’s Fellow.  He obtained his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Florida.  Prior to joining UTEP, Fullerton was Senior Economist at the University of Florida Bureau of Economic & Business Research.  Before moving to Florida, Fullerton was an International Economist with Wharton Econometrics in Philadelphia.  At that post, he was in charge of modeling, forecasting, and policy analysis for the South American economies of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.  Fullerton has also worked as an Economist in the Executive Office of the Governor of Idaho, where he forecast the state economy and conducted fiscal policy analysis during legislative sessions.  His professional career began as an Associate Economist in the corporate planning department of El Paso Electric Company.  Fullerton has taught as a Visiting Professor at Helsinki School of Economics in Finland, Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico, Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, and Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez.  His analysis has been cited in articles appearing in Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Barron’s, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, and U.S. News & World Report.  He has also appeared on national newscasts aired by ABC, CNN, and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.  Dr. Fullerton’s research has been published in academic journals in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Homero Galicia
Presentation Title: Paso del Norte Entrepreneurs Oral History Project

Homero Galicia is a part-time lecturer at UTEP. He has been involved in the business community since 1985 when he was involved in developing the Minority Business Council where he served as a Director of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce and later served as the interim Executive Director.  While there, Homero facilitated the development of several organizations which continue to enrich the delivery of small business services and increasing federal contracting opportunities to businesses. He also served the City of El Paso as the Executive Assistant to Mayor Bill Tilney.  He is actively involved in local affairs, having served as Chairman of the Hispanic Leadership Institute and the City of El Paso IT Advisory Board.  He has served the Independent School District on the 2003 Bond Accountability Committee and on the District wide Educational Improvement Council. 

Dr. Veronica Guerrero
Presentation Title: Entrepreneurial Education and Women: The Impact of Self-Employment Education on Leadership Self-Efficacy

Veronica Guerrero is a full-time faculty member of Management and Marketing within the School of Business at California Lutheran University. She is currently serving as the interim MBA Program Director at CLU.  Professor Guerrero earned her doctorate from Pepperdine University in Organizational Leadership.  Her research interests include women and leadership and entrepreneurial education.  Veronica has over 15 years of Marketing Communications experience in the technology industry.  She has developed and implemented marketing programs and campaigns in support of strategic partnerships between both small and large organizations.  As a Marketing Director for KPMG Consulting, Veronica was responsible for strategic marketing initiatives with over 40 external alliance organizations including Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and Cisco Systems. 

Dr. Esperanza Huerta
Presentation Title: Information Sharing, knowledge Management Systems and Culture: A Comparison of Hispanic American, Mexican and Anglo American Approaches

Esperanza Huerta is an assistant professor of Accounting in the College of Business Administration at The University of Texas at El Paso. She earned her Ph.D. and MS in Management of Information Systems from Claremont Graduate University. She holds two bachelor degrees, in accounting and in computer engineering. Before joining UTEP she worked for the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, the top rated business school in Latin America. She serves on the Editorial board of the Information and Management Journal. She is a member of the American Accounting Association and the Association for Information Systems.

Dr. Norma A. Mendoza
Presentation Title: Identifying Business Opportunities that Serve the Hispanic Market: The Role of Marketing Research

Norma Mendoza is an assistant professor of Marketing and Management in the College of Business Administration at The University of Texas at El Paso. She earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration, Marketing concentration from the University of Florida.

Angel Luis Molina, Jr.
Presentation Title: Peso Acceptance Patterns in El Paso

Angel Luis Molina, Jr. is an Associate Economist at the University of Texas at El Paso with the Border Region Modeling Project. Mr. Molina graduated with a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Texas at El Paso in May 2007. He also obtained a B.B.A in Finance from the University of Texas at El Paso in December 2003.  His research areas include applied econometrics and cross border economic trends, with an emphasis on the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez Borderplex.  His thesis study entitled “Economic Growth in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez Borderplex: Which causes Which?” received a faculty research award from the International Academy of Business & Public Administration Disciplines.  He has served as both presenter and discussant at various forums, professional meetings, and academic conferences. A member of the American Statistical Association, American Society of Hispanic Economists, and Rio Grande Economics Association, Mr. Molina has published research on cross-border regional growth patterns and served as coauthor in a series of short and long-term economic forecasts pertaining to the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez borderplex.

Dr. Marie T. Mora
Presentation Title: Self-Employment Outcomes among Mexican Americans and Mexican Immigrants during the Early 2000s

Marie Mora is currently an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Texas--Pan American. She received her Ph.D. degree in Economics at Texas A&M University in 1996. Her B.A. and M.A. degrees, also in Economics, are from the University of New Mexico. Prior to joining UTPA, Marie had been a faculty member at New Mexico State University for seven years where she received recognition for both research and teaching activities. Marie's research interests pertain to the economics of the U.S./Mexico border, Hispanic labor markets, and the economics of language. Some of her work has been published in such journals as Economic Development and Cultural Change, Industrial Relations, Annals of Regional Science, Economic Inquiry, Social Science Quarterly, and the International Migration Review.

Dr. Maria Cristina Morales
Presentation Title: Independent Contracting a form of Ethnic Entrepreneurship or Ethic Mobility Entrapment?

Maria Cristina Morales received a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University and is currently an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at El Paso.  Her research areas of interest include social inequality (race/ethnic, gender, and immigration/citizenship) and labor and employment.  Dr. Morales has published in the areas of immigration, race and ethnic demography, spatial inequality, education, Latina/o labor, and globalization and violence.

Sara Patuel
Presentation Title: Culture, Creativity and Capital: Hispanic Business Formation and Growth

Sara Patuel is Director of the TechBA Program for IC2 - Global Commercialization Group. She is an expert in working with International companies from Mexico and Latin America. Understanding the key differences in the entrepreneurship world for both the USA and Mexico gives her an edge to help develop successful business ventures on both sides of the border. Patuel is a frequent guest speaker on international business development, cultural barriers and supports the IT entrepreneurial efforts of both Mexico and the USA.In her present International Business Development role, Sara leads an initiative that pairs the University of Texas at Austin's IC2 Institute with top-tier Mexican technology companies in a business accelerator program known as TechBA. The Secretary of Economy of Mexico sponsors the program through a non-profit foundation (FUMEC). Patuel, facilitates joint ventures between US and Mexican companies in a variety of industries including; digital media, telecom, software, business process improvement and biometrics. The 30 TechBA companies receive guidance in key business areas ranging from product development, market segmentation, marketing and sales strategies to final sales and contract negotiations. Sara also provides guidance on securing investment capital to help expand the funding of these companies. Patuel was a high level executive at a Fortune 50 telecom company, in which she led the Hispanic campaigns, multiple partner programs and opened up the local markets for millions of US consumers. Sara led one of the most important telecom campaigns at that time, launching local services from one state to all 50 states with revenue over 4 billion dollars. As President and Founder of Patuel Advisory and Associates, Patuel helps companies in other sectors around the US.  Patuel graduated from St. Edwards University with a BA in Spanish International Business and Marketing.

Dr. Michael J. Pisani
Presentation Title: Peso Acceptance Patterns in El Paso

Michael J. Pisani is a Professor of International Business at Central Michigan University (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, USA).  He earned his A.B. in International Relations and History from the University of California, Davis; his M.A. in Latin American Studies and MBA from the University of New Mexico; and his Ph.D. in International Business from the University of Texas – Pan American.  His research interests focus primarily on Latin American and U.S.-Mexican border business and economic phenomena, including: labor informality; entrepreneurship, microfinance and microenterprise development; regional integration; cross-border business interactions; currency substitution; sustainability; and international business.  Nations of special interest include Mexico, Nicaragua, and Belize.  Professor Pisani has conducted field research in Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Nicaragua, Belize, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Canada.  Dr. Pisani has also published widely including scholarly articles in Business Horizons, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development; Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y El Caribe; International Business Review; International Trade Journal; Journal of Belizean Studies; Journal of Borderlands Studies; Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship; Journal of Microfinance; Journal of Teaching in International Business; Latin American Business Review; LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations; (Mid-) American Journal of Business;Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance; Review of Development Economics; Review of Radical Political Economics; Social Science Quarterly, and Thunderbird International Business Review.  With Sociologist Chad Richardson from the University of Texas - Pan American, Dr. Pisani is currently completing a book length study of economic informality in South Texas, entitled Under and Around: The Informal and Underground Economy of the South Texas Border (University of Texas Press).

Dr. Reynaldo Reyes
Presentation title: Education and Entrepreneurship

Reynaldo Reyes, an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, conducts research focusing on improving schooling conditions for students in secondary and post-secondary settings, specifically migrant, ESL, and marginalized Mexican-descent students. He has volunteered as an English teacher and tutor and group leader for children of migrant families in Colorado and has participated in the Think College Now program in El Paso in which he spoke to middle school students about the importance of preparing for and attending college.  He recently was awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award to teach and conduct research at la Universidad de Concepcion in Concepcion, Chile, South America, to begin in August 2010.

Dr. Brenda Risch
Presentation Title: Social Justice Values at Work: Social Entrepreneurship, Non-Profits, and Volunteerism -- Integrating Entrepreneurial Skills into the Women's Studies Curriculum

Brenda A. Risch holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently the Director of the Women’s Studies Program at UTEP and an Assistant Professor in Women’s Studies. Her research interests include film and television studies, visual and narrative representation of the body, working class culture, and teaching and learning.

Dr. José Rivera
Presentation Title: Medication & Literacy

José O. Rivera, Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director, University of Texas at Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program. Dr. Rivera is a tireless advocate for UTEP's role in recruiting and helping Hispanic students excel in the Pharmacy profession. He is involved in a number of community-based research initiatives related to the cultural impact of drug and alternative treatments. He received the 2006-7 UTEP Faculty Research Award.

Dr. Zulema Valdez
Presentation Title: Latino/a Entrepreneurship: A Strategy of Survival or Mobility?

Christine Zulema Valdez (PhD UCLA, 2002) is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Texas A&M University. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS) at UC San Diego (2002-2003) and the Ford Foundation Research and Training Program on Poverty, the Underclass, and Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan (2003-2005). She has been the recipient of grants from the Social Science Research Council, the Ford Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Her research examines how group membership (e.g. race, class, gender) affects socioeconomic outcomes in advanced capitalism. Currently she is investigating how race, class, and gender affiliations affect business owners' success in Houston, Texas. In a second project she is developing an agency-structure integration approach to explain the construction of difference and identity formation in the United States.

Dr. Noé Vargas
Presentation Title: Engineering Design – Promoting Entrepreneurship

Noé Vargas Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Vargas Hernandez's research focuses on the design and innovation process. He is leading the effort of the College of Engineering in the development of a Design Studio/Technology Development Center.

Miguel Angel Zepeda
Presentation Title: Culture, Creativity and Capital: Hispanic Business Formation and Growth

Miguel Zepeda is the Vice President Business Development at BlackCreek Ventures, a Strategy and Development firm in the Bioenergy and Renewables sector. He is experienced in finding applications for new technologies and developing its infrastructure. Previously, he spent several years helping Telecom operators refine their strategy in Latinamerica first for Telmex and then for iBasis. At iBasis, he was General Manager for Mexico, responsible for strategy and commercial efforts. At Telmex, he was the Head of Development & JV responsible for launching a wireless growth strategy, a non-banking payment network among other initiatives. Before that, as Head of M&A, he executed a pan-regional expansion from 2 to 7 countries and achieved $500 MM USD incremental revenue; at the time, also managed Technology & Internet, a venture capital fund. He is knowledgeable in venture capital, M&A, strategy, business development and participated on the Board of Aspel Software and Visionaria Capital.  Early in his career, he worked for Procter & Gamble in engineering leadership positions that range from production to project management and logistics. Miguel is a trained mechanical engineer and holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business -New York University.