On behalf of Babson College and the Latin America Forum Committee, we thank you for participating and making the first Latin America Entrepreneurship Forum a great success.

A very special thank-you to the speakers, moderators and panelists for expressing their helpful perspectives and contributing to this regional forum. The views expressed were insightful, the debates productive, and we know we have all learned valuable knowledge about entrepreneurial opportunities in Latin America.

We want also to congratulate again our Rocket Pitch winners and wish them the best of luck in implementing their ventures. The winners were:

1. Yo Reciclo – Hector Elizondo
2. PayFacile – Marc Saint Clair
3. New Venture Development – Luis Soto

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors, without whom we would be unable to create this event:

• The William .F. Glavin Center for Global Management
• The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
• Babson Career Center for Development
• The Student Government Association
• The Graduate Student Council
• Pneus Levorin
• Office of Campus Life

We hope next generations will maintain this initiative in the years to come. We really hope you have enjoyed the event and we look forward to seeing you in other events organized by Babson College.

Best Regards,

The Latin American Entrepreneurship Forum Committee

You have to be present at the Networking Cocktail to be eligible to win.

As a fundamental part of the Latin America Entrepreneurship Forum at Babson next April 24, we’ll feature a Rocket Pitch Competition focused solely on Latin America opportunities.

The competition is open to all graduate and undergraduate students and prize money goes up to $1,000 for the first place.

Read all about it here

Sovereign Bank (Santander Group)

In January, Spanish banking giant Banco Santander SA (STD) Monday appointed Colombian banker Gabriel Jaramillo as the new chairman and chief executive of its U.S. unit Sovereign Bancorp Inc.

Jaramillo, aged 58, is already a member of Sovereign’s board of directors. He joined Santander in 1996 and worked on several of the bank’s acquisitions in Latin America. Jaramillo is also an advisor to Santander Chairman Emilio Botin.

During his career at Santander, Jaramillo also served as chairman of Santander Colombia from 1997-1999. More recently he was president of Santander Brazil.

The Babson Latin America Business Club is proud to count with Mr. Jaramillo’s presence as keynote speaker in our upcoming Latin America Entrepreneurship Forum (April 24th, 2009).

The countdown has officially started! In exactly one month, we’ll proudly host the 1st Latin America Entrepreneurship Forum at Babson College. Our leadership has done an excellent job assembling an incredible lineup of speakers and panelists, ranging from seasoned entrepreneurs to successful business leaders in all industries in Latin America.

Please visit our website to learn more about these participants, which include the Founder and CEO of the Inter-American Economic Council, the Chairman and CEO of Sovereign Bank and the Founder and President of Totto (Colombia).

These are only a few ways you can help us attract people to the Forum:

• Add the signature of the Forum to your email signature (view the bottom of this email)
• Put the event and a link on your statuses (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc)
• Join the event on LinkedIn
• Join the event on Facebook
• Register for the event!
• Tell everybody and help spread the word!

In this post you’ll find all the online resources we have made available to you to continue the discussion and your engagement with our big event next year.

• In our LinkedIn group, we opened several discussion threads about the event. Give us your suggestions, concerns or comments. You need to be member of the group to participate. 
• Using this Google Form you can formally apply to be an active member of the organizing committee. Please tell us the degree of involvement you want to have and in which functional area.
• Using this second Google Form you can share with us a potential speaker you could help us bring to the Forum. This is key to our process right now and we encourage you to tap into your personal and professional network and give us speaker suggestions.