Virginia (Ginny) Arthur began her appointment as president of Metropolitan State University in July 2016. She joined Metropolitan State in 2012 as provost, where she co-chaired the university's strategic planning process, forged new baccalaureate completion partnerships with metro area colleges and created the Center for Faculty Development.

Previously, she served the University of Northern Iowa as associate provost for faculty affairs from 2009 to 2012, and the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University from 1985 to 2009 where she served as chairperson of the Management Department for seven years, chair and vice chair of the joint faculty assembly, and faculty member for over 20 years.

She holds a bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from Syracuse University and a juris doctor (JD) degree from the Washington College of Law at American University. She has presented at numerous conferences and authored dozens of publications.

Hazzen Muñoz is Director, Global Talent – Contingent Workforce Solutions at Ecolab. Hazzen has been at Ecolab for nearly 13 years. He has been both a HR Business Partner and a COE leader supporting numerous Ecolab businesses. In his current role, he is responsible for Ecolab’s global contingent workforce program. Working in partnership with human resources and procurement, he is contributing to diversifying Ecolab’s talent sources and making Ecolab the premier destination for the world’s most capable talent. Leveraging his strong business acumen and collaborative approach, Hazzen has consistently gained the respect of business leaders and peers alike.

Hazzen holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University. Hazzen is Guatemalan and was born is Miami, FL. He is married to Amanda and they have 2 kids; Marco and Liliana.

David Garcia, Senior Director of Home and Services Operations is focused on the development and execution of strategies that support services fulfillment for its core, complex, and commercial customers. This includes building customer loyalty through supporting retail, dotcom, and home sales. His continued development and leadership provide direction to strategic operational enablement and execution teams that support Best Buy’s delivery, install and repair programs through a network of internal and external labor forces.

As a senior leader for Best Buy’s Latinx employee resource group, David is a valuable resource for sounding ideas and exploring possibilities to strengthen the diverse Latinx relationship between corporate and field employees, as well as, consumers.

As a member of the Twin Cities fund board, David works with local community leaders to support funding for their projects and charities. His work here helps to strengthen communities in need by leveraging Best Buys talent and resources. David’s specific focus has been teen development though technology, leveraging Geek Squad Academies and Teen Tech Centers.

David began his career with Best Buy in 2002 and has held roles in both field and corporate leadership positions, currently leading all US large product In-home fulfillment and Services.

David enjoys spending time with his family often seeking out activities in which his immediate family, as well as, extended family can participate. He grew up on the lower West Side of St. Paul in the Torre De San Miguel projects. David continues to visit his old neighborhood regularly participating in community activities.

Henrique currently serves as the Finance Director for Cargill’s Animal Nutrition Americas and Global Additives group where he plays an active role in setting and driving business strategy and growth, shaping the portfolio, executing turnarounds and building key finance capabilities. His previous experiences in Cargill included leading Finance for their Protein Asia & Europe group in Amsterdam, Netherlands, serving on the Board of Directors of Avara Foods, a United Kingdom based poultry joint venture and leading Sugar, Dairy and Vegetable Oils Trading for Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate North America. Henrique also spent time in Corporate Strategy and Development, where he led Merger & Acquisitions transactions and strategy projects in several countries and business units. Before joining Cargill, Henrique worked as portfolio manager and as equity analyst in the Brazilian hedge fund industry.

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Henrique is a graduate of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College with a master’s degree in Business Administration and has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC-RIO), Brazil. He and his wife Molly currently live in Minneapolis, MN.

Richard Esquivel is Sunrise Banks’ Vice President and Senior Business Development Officer. In this sales position, Rich develops Commercial business for the bank. He has been with Sunrise Banks for 24 years. Prior to this Rich was Bank President at Peoples Bank, Sales Business Banking Officer at US Bank, Bank President at U.S. Bank and Bank President at Metropolitan Federal in the Twin Cities. Rich has over 40 years of banking and finance experience. Prior to Business Development for Sunrise, Rich was VP of Commercial Lending for Sunrise Banks.

Rich received a B.A. in Business from Brigham Young University. He is currently a Board Member of the Lake Street Council and Chair of the Finance Committee for Lake Street Council. I am also on the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) Loan Committee. I am also on the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) Loan Committee. I am also on Sunrise Banks JEDI – Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. I also sit on the Sponsorships/Donations committee for Sunrise Banks.

Judith Garcia Galiana is the Senior Vice President of 3M’s Global Service Centers. With 5,000 employees in Costa Rica, Poland and Philippines, the GSCs support 3M parent company and all 100+ subsidiaries worldwide with processes ranging from Finance and Sourcing to HR, IT, Taxes and Customer and Digital Operations, providing a high-value to the enterprise via productivity, automation, growth and process optimization, both in front and back office.

Judith started her career as a process engineer and has 20+ years of experience in leadership positions in 3M including Global Vice President of two $1 billion+ Commercial Divisions, Global Change Management, Country Managing Director and several businesses leadership in EMEA.

Judith holds an MBA from IESE – Universidad de Navarra and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from ETSIIM – Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain.

A native from Madrid, Spain, she has lived in Milan, Brussels, Istanbul and London and is fluent in Spanish, French and English. She moved to St. Paul, Minnesota 13 years ago and is a proud US citizen since January 2020.

Besides her responsibilities at work, Judith also takes time to volunteer for causes important to her. She serves in the Board of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and in the Advisory Councils of the Bologna University Business School and the Madrid Industrial Engineering School.

Judith and her husband Alberto are avid skiers, and they both share a passion for classical music, opera and art.

Erick García Luna is an Outreach Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Before joining the Fed, he served as Director of Community and Local Government Relations for the University of Minnesota. Prior to that, Erick served as Economic Development Policy Aide for former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and as Outreach Director for the United States Senator Amy Klobuchar. An immigrant from Mexico, Erick attended the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico City and obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he briefly joined the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota and later served as the Director of Economic Development for the Northeast Community Development Corporation in Minneapolis.

Erick lives in Roseville with his partner and son.

Marco Ortiz is a first generation American, born in Costa Rica. He is a professional with more than 30 years of experience primarily in the area of Information Technology. He is a senior Information Technology (IT) leader at 3M, responsible for IT activities in Latin America and the Automotive Aftermarket Division globally. He is a true believer of the importance of promoting education among minorities as a way to create political, social and economic development and reduce educational disparities. He has been actively involved in the support of the Latino community in the Twin Cities and served as president of the 3M Latino Resource Network in 2011, 2012 and 2020. He also served as 3M Latino Community champion in 2018 and participated in the Global 3M Impact program in 2019, specifically in projects supporting STEM education in US and Latin America.

Paula Skarda is Chair of Credentialing at Regions Hospital and an Associate Program Director for the University of Minnesota Internal Medicine Residency Program. She has spent her entire 26-year career at Regions Hospital serving in multiple capacities including Chief of Staff and as a Regional Assistant Medical Director for HealthPartners Medical Group. Trained in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Paula has worked clinically in both the inpatient and outpatient settings her entire career. Her greatest joy has been caring for the community of Saint Paul where she grew up. She joined the staff at Regions in 1997 following her residency specifically due to Region’s mission to serve the community in which the hospital resides. Paula is committed to ensuring that this goal is achieved.

Paula received a BS from the University of Minnesota in biochemistry. She went on to attend medical school at the University of Minnesota and subsequently completed a combined training program in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. She currently is chair of the Credentials Committee at Regions Hospital, chairs the Community Engagement Committee and sits on the Archor Strategy Committee at Regions.

Vinicius (Vinny) Silva leads the North America Consulting Business for Industrials, Automotive, Freight & Logistics, and Aerospace & Defense for Accenture. Son of Brazilian and Portuguese parents and humble beginnings he advanced over his 26-year career leading large and complex business transformations for G2000 companies. He got his B. A from University Mackenzie in Sao Paulo – Brazil, an executive MBA at INSEAD – France, and an Advanced Certification for Executives at MIT – Massachusetts. He is married to his sweet love Andrea and the father of Sofia, Sebastian, and Santiago. In his free time, he is a CrossFit athlete and marathoner.

Iván Roberto Sierra Medel is the fifth incumbent that the Mexican Consulate in St. Paul has had since its establishment. He has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1993, has been a career diplomat since the same year and rose to the rank of Ambassador in 2017. Within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sierra has worked in the General Directorates for the Pacific and Technical and Scientific Cooperation, as well as in the General Coordination of Advisors, and was an advisor on international affairs at the Presidency of the Republic. From 2019 to 2021, he was the Executive Director of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME). Abroad, Ambassador Sierra has been attached to the Consulate General of Mexico in Sacramento, California, and to the Mexican Embassies in Panama and Malaysia. From 2015 to 2019 he was Ambassador to Guyana, concurrent to CARICOM.

He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Russian Philology and Letters from Lomonosov Moscow State University, as well as a master's degree in Diplomatic Studies from the Matias Romero Institute of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He has been a professor at the Dr. José María Luis Mora Research Institute, the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, the Inter-American Center for Social Security Studies, the University of the Americas-Mexico City, and the University of Guadalajara. He has published 30 works on foreign policy and international cooperation.