Speakers

Dr. Christopher Sabatini
(Keynote Speaker)

As Senior Director of Policy, Christopher Sabatini oversees the Americas Society and Council of the Americas’ (AS/COA) research and publishing programs. In his capacity at the AS/COA, he chairs the organizations’ working group on rule of law which recently published a report on rule of law in the hemisphere titled Rule of Law, Economic Growth and Prosperity. Dr. Sabatini also chairs the AS/COA’s Cuba Working Group. In April 2007, he created and launched the AS/COA’s policy journal, Americas Quarterly (AQ). He is now the Editor-in-Chief of AQ and oversees the AQ website (www.americasquarterly.org) on which he has a regular blog on policy in the Americas.

From 1997 to 2005, Dr. Sabatini was the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Endowment for Democracy. Previously he was a Diplomacy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, working at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Center for Democracy and Governance. He has also served as an advisor to the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Dr. Sabatini has a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia and is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

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George J. Fowler, III

George Fowler is the founding partner of the international law firm, Fowler Rodriguez Valdes-Fauli. He has lectured extensively on international law and world trade. He serves as Chairman of the Tulane Latin American Law Institute and served as Chairman of the International Section of the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Born in Havana, Cuba, he serves as Vice President and General Counsel of the Cuban American National Foundation ("CANF"). He actively supports Cuba’s dissident movement and internationally to provide assistance to Cuban refugees. As General Counsel for the CANF, he has led the effort to bring Fidel Castro to justice for his crimes against humanity. Mr. Fowler has testified before the Subcommittee on Crimes of the U.S. Congress to seek Castro’s indictment for the 1996 murder of the Brothers to the Rescue pilots. Mr. Fowler’s pro-democracy efforts include personal advocacy before world leaders such as Polish President Lech Walesa, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He is a frequent guest on national television on Cuba issues and was counsel to Elian Gonzalez, the little Cuban boy whose mother brought him to the United States seeking freedom.

Mr. Fowler is on the Executive Board of the World Trade Center, the New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Ochsner Hospital Alzheimer’s Board, the Metropolitan Crime Commission and Louisiana’s Committee of 100. He is the recipient of numerous awards including: Best Lawyers in America, the WTC Thomas F. Cunningham Award, the Sanchez to Sanchez to Smith Award, Young Leadership Council and Heart of the Americas Award.

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Len J. Trevino, Ph.D.

Dr. Trevino holds the Gerald N. Gaston Eminent Scholar Chair in International Business and is Professor of International Business at Loyola University New Orleans

His expertise is in the areas of Strategic Management/Policy; Management of the Multinational Enterprise; Global Business Strategy; Foreign Direct Investment, Strategic Management in Emerging Markets; and Business in Latin America. Dr. Trevino holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. in Marketing and a Ph.D. in International Business, Strategic Management/Policy from Indiana University.

Prof. Trevino came to Loyola University from Washington State University. He previously taught global business strategy and management of the multinational enterprise at the University of Miami, Indiana University, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. His professional experience includes marketing at Whirlpool Corporation and advertising at Leo Burnett Company. He has consulted widely in the field of global business strategy and policy at such organizations as Eli Lilly, Dow Brands, Monsanto, Burson-Marsteller, and the United Nations, among others.

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