ADVISORY BOARD

TOMÁS EHRENBERG:

Tomás Ehrenberg was born in Mexico in 1956. He graduated from the Universidad Anáhuac in 1979 with honors in Mechanical Engineering. He later received a Certificate in Marketing from the Universidad Iberoamericana and a Certificate in Finance from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).

Mr. Ehrenberg's professional activities center mainly on banking. After 10 years at Sintermex, in 1992 he began his career in what is today BBVA Bancomer, first as Director of its Tourism Division and later at the head of several other divisions, such as Re-engineering, Commercial Banking, and Branch Banking, where he became Adjunct General Director. He was later named General Director for Corporate, Mortgage and Government Banking, and then Managing Director of Corporate Banking for the Americas. Since April 2008, he has served as Corporate Director for Corporate and Institutional Banking at Banamex.

Since the 1990s, Mr. Ehrenberg has participated in and chaired numerous Corporate Boards for major national companies as well as real estate investment funds.

PABLO GONZÁLEZ CARBONELL:

Pablo González Carbonell began his business career in real estate in Mexico after studying Actuarial Mathematics at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. At age of 25, he founded Bufete Inmobiliario, a company that specialized in the sale and development of urban land, malls and a wide range of commercial buildings.

At the beginning of the 1980s, as one of the first to recognize the importance of resort real estate, he founded Grupo Costamex, a development company that promotes Royal Holiday memberships. The company now offers more than 120 destinations and has 25 sales offices around the world.

A founder of the Mexican Association of Resort Developers (AMDETUR), he was its President in 2000-2001. Mr. Carbonell was also President of the Latin American Federation of Resort Developers (LADETUR), Chairman of the Global Alliance for Timeshare Excellence (GATE), Vice President of the National Tourism Business Council (CNET) and President of the Association of Hotel and Tourism Business Investors (AIHET). He is internationally known as an authority on the resort real estate industry.

LORENZO MASSART:

Lorenzo Massart, as Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Merrill Lynch in Mexico, is responsible for the supervision and execution of all its transactions in Mexico. Mr. Massart spent eight years at Morgan Stanley as Executive Director responsible for project implementation in Mexico, Chile and Peru; he oversaw mergers and acquisitions, including restructurings, from 2006-2008. Previously, he spent six years working on mergers and acquisitions, including restructurings, in various industries in the region.

Mr. Massart began his career in 1990 in the auditing and financial consulting division of Arthur Andersen in Switzerland and the UK. He also spent four years at McKinsey & Company in Mexico and New York, consulting with diverse multinationals. He joined UBS Warburg in New York in 1998 as an Associate Director, specializing in Latin American mergers and acquisitions, including such notable participants as Genomma Lab, Maxcom, Vitro, Aeroméxico, America Móvil and Telefónica.

Mr. Massart received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics and Business Administration with honors from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and was awarded his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

JOHN McCARTHY:

John McCarthy graduated from Universidad La Salle in Mexico City with a degree in Business Administration. Since then, his career has revolved around resort development.

Mr. McCarthy began his career in the development and operation of Pacífica Ixtapa Club resort. He later joined Bancomer as Director of its Tourism Division and became Executive Director of Raintree Resorts International when this company acquired Bancomer's Club Regina.

He was a founder of the Mexican Association of Resort Developers (AMDETUR), serving in various positions until becoming President of the association. In 2000 he was elected President of the National Tourism Business Council (CNET), the representative body of all tourism related associations in the country, including hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, car rentals, timeshare developments, marinas, etc.

He has been a professor at the School of Tourism at the Universidad Anáhuac del Sur in Mexico City and has sat on its Board. In 2005 he was awarded its Anahuac Medal, "Leaders of México". Mr. McCarthy has been on the Boards of Directors of various companies, such as Presidente Intercontinental Hotels, Club Med, Raintree Resorts and International Cruises Expeditions.

In December of 2000 he was invited by President Vicente Fox to join his Expanded Cabinet as Director General of the Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (Fonatur), a position he held until 2006. He is currently an independent consultant in the tourism industry.

JAIME PARADA ÁVILA

Jaime Parada has over 35 years of experience in research, scientific and technological development, innovation and business management. He earned his degree as an Electromechanical Engineer at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and has taught at its School of Engineering for over 15 years.

He has specialized in strategic planning, quality systems and technological research and development. He earned his doctorate in Engineering at the University of Sheffield, England. Among other positions in important public and private organizations, he served as General Director of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) during President Fox’s administration. He has also headed various programs dealing with competitiveness and innovation at international and national universities and trade associations. He is currently General Director of the Institute of Innovation and Transfer of Technology in the Mexican State of Nuevo León and is President of the state program "Monterrey, International Knowledge City.”

JORGE NAVARRO:

Jorge Navarro is Representative and General Director of UPS Capital Business Credit. He is responsible for the promotion and operation of the representative offices of UPS Capital in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

With more than 10 years experience in foreign banking operations in Mexico and Latin America, Mr. Navarro began his career in the construction industry with one of Mexico’s leading companies. He subsequently participated in the creation of two US-Mexican companies, one specializing in consulting to and development of infrastructure projects, and the other, Cima Capital, in the financing of small and medium sized companies.

In recognition of his experience, leadership and management skills, he was appointed Representative and General Director of UPS Capital Business Credit in México in 1998; his responsibility widened to include Argentina and Uruguay in 2000 and Chile in 2002. As head of UPS Capital Business Credit, Mr. Navarro is credited with having extended loans for over 200 million USD, positioning Mexico as one the company’s three most important international markets, with one of its healthiest portfolios in the market.

Mr. Navarro holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad La Salle and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresas (IPADE). As part of his professional activities, Mr. Navarro is an enthusiastic mentor with Endeavor, a network supporting entrepreneurs in emerging markets. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of International Financial Institutions and is an active participant of the Mexican Banking Association.

PABLO SALAZAR:

Pablo Salazar studied Marketing at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, where he also completed a master’s degree in Electronic Commerce. He subsequently received an MBA from the London Business School and pursued continuing education in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at MIT and Harvard Business School.

Mr. Salazar has a rich professional career in which he has combined his entrepreneurial spirit with significant corporate experience. He has worked with such corporate giants as Turner Entertainment, Cemex, British American Tobacco, and Gillette; his entrepreneurial ventures produced such companies as Latinstocks.com, Fresh House Deli, and Musitron Studios. He is a consultant with McKinsey & Company and runs PrepWorks!, a start-up in the field of education.

Mr. Salazar lives in Miami with his family, where he plays music with the band at his studio, "Cisirisco Records."