Businessmen y political leaders Argentines met in NY con students university students in the United States, as well as with professionals who graduated and reside there. The attendees discussed and reflected on the challenges and opportunities of the country in the eighth edition of the annual conference Masters Argentinawhich was held on this occasion at Columbia University.
The event brought together representatives from different sectors. It’s about 30 Argentine benchmarks in the business, scientific, technological, industrial and political sectors, with 130 postgraduate students and 40 graduates residing in the North American country. Political leaders such as former ministers participated Hernan Lacunza y Alfonso Prat-Gayand businessmen like Pierpaolo Barbieri, Laura Catena y Sergio Kaufman.
The eighth edition of the conference began on Friday the 14th with a cocktail at the Argentine consulate, in the heart of New York’s Midtown. Until there, students from Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell, Northwestern, Chicago, George Washington, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Duke and Georgetown, among other houses of study, mobilized. Students from Barcelona and Berlin also traveled to the conference.
The former Minister of Economy Hernan Lacunza, the last to occupy the chair on the fifth floor in the government of Mauricio Macri, was sensible. “The results are consistent with the team, the team is everything, that is the differential”, he stated in a conversation centered on anecdotes and personal challenges. He maintained that sharing values, objectives, energy and courage is key, and stressed that, In the event of being a minister again, I would form a team with those characteristics.
lacunza, who gave one of the closing conferences, referred to the dilemma faced by several young people who leave the country to study a career, whether to stay there or return to Argentina. “Do what you want: work in the public sector or in the private sector, but come back. Argentina awaits you,” said the former minister.
Alfonso Prat-Gay, the first to occupy the ownership of the Palacio de Hacienda during the Cambiemos government, stressed the importance of political sensitivity when implementing economic reforms. The economist and leader of Together for Change reviewed his time with the Cambiemos government and also with the Central Bank during the Eduardo Duhalde government. He stressed that the success of the monetary agency depends on its independence and he assured that this was guaranteed in his case, since he had no relationship with the then president. In turn, he said he felt identified with the public present having studied and worked abroad for several years. “I trained outside to come back better. I always had a vocation for the public, ”he said.
The founder of the fintech Ualá, Pierpaolo Barbieri, gave the inaugural speech, between Creole empanadas and Argentine Malbec. “When you have the opportunities that I had, when you have an idea or create something, you feel the moral duty to do something that benefits your country,” he said. When it comes to forming teams, the businessman emphasized the importance of hiring people “smarter and more prepared than one.”
In the Masters conferences, in addition to focusing on networking, it is sought that the speakers not only tell their stories but also reflect on the challenges faced and talk closely with the public, betting on the transfer of experiences. Laura Catenadirector of the Catena Zapata winery, and Sergio KaufmanAccenture’s president of South America, shared different experiences in front of the audience along these lines.
Catena considered that any academic or professional training is always useful. “It’s your toolbox,” added Kaufman, who advised stop thinking of professional life as a “career” and live it as a journey. “You have to have the exercise of seriously asking yourself what you want, from the inside, not from the outside,” she mentioned. The president of Accenture advised getting away from the noise and creating spaces for reflection, something he does through diving.
Meanwhile, among the different panels that there were, one on lithium generated disruption. The president for Latin America of the company Lithium Americas Ignacio Celorrio, stressed the great potential of lithium in Argentina, “the only essential element to make batteries,” he said. He also said that, until recently, lithium was handled by five companies and none was present in Argentina, which changed with the arrival of Lithium. “Lithium is one of the main industries with growth potential and to develop it we need Argentine talent”, he expressed.
In turn, Graciela Chichilinsky, creator of the carbon market and of Global Thermostat, caught the eye when talking about the revolutionary method with which they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into products such as ice. “We make money cleaning up the atmosphere, but we have to make more money than fossil fuels do because that’s why they’re so popular,” he said. Chichilinsky has a PhD in Mathematics and Physics from MIT and the University of California.
Other leaders participated in the event, such as Federico Marque, Gridx executive; Santiago Cannigia Bengolea, partner at Mountain Partners. In turn, Nur Malek, co-founder and CEO of EnvíoPack; José Menéndez, executive of NotCo; and Juan Fantoni, founder of Grapefruit. In turn, the event was attended by Ignacio Sagués, CEO of Inviu; Hanna Schiuma, head of growth at Callao, and Rafael Soto, CEO of MODO.
Masters Argentina is a non-partisan, non-profit organization. made up of students who maintain their passion and commitment to the country even at a distance. The organizing team was made up of Agustin Artero, Lucas Martinez, Joaquin Henault, Matias Gonzalez Orozco, Facundo Robles, Catalina Asiain, Francisca Schmidt-Liermann, Melanie Adler, Julieta Cabezon, Paloma Martin, Magali Mayo, Pablo Tillan, Sebastian Hochbaum, Lucas Plesky , Jose Rovella, Enzo Dominguez Prost, Constanza Berron, and Horacio Pezzelato.
THE NATION
