AMBASSADORS

EUROPE

Pilar del Castillo

Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport of the Kingdom of Spain from 2000 to 2004. She has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004 and has been a spokesperson for the European People’s Parliamentary Group in the Industry, Research, Energy and Telecommunications Committee (2009-2014). Professor of Political Science and Administration at the UNED, she received her doctorate in Law from the Universidad Complutense and was a Fulbright scholar at Ohio State University, where she obtained a master’s degree in Political Science.

LATIN AMERICA

Federico Castillo

Federico is Secretary General of the UIM Unión Iberoamericana de Municipalistas, Secretary of Local Administration; Senior Graduate in General Administration; Professor of Administrative Law at the UGR; Reserve Judge of the Andalusian Superior Court of Justice (Administrative Court); Director of Research and Training at the Centre for Municipal Studies and International Cooperation; Dean of the Granada headquarters of the Menéndez Pelayo International University.

ITALY

Luca Pardo

Luca is a lawyer and partner at the Roman law firm Coccia De Angelis Pardo & Associati. Since 2006 he has been the Secretary-General of the O’ Scià Foundation, founded by Claudio Baglioni. He has gained extensive academic experience working as a researcher in the chair of Community Law at the LUISS University in Rome and as an adjunct professor of Community Law at the Italian Guardia di Finanza Tax Police School.

NETHERLANDS

Sander Wolfensberger

In the Netherlands, Sander is a partner and founder of SUBtracers, an international company specialising in financial consultancy and providing professional support and services to companies in the process of identifying, processing, and acquiring European grants and financing. He has vast experience in the Dutch, European, and international technology sector.

ITALY

Marcello Memoli

Marcello is an international executive with extensive experience in all aspects of business strategy. Graduate in Business Law from the LUISS University of Rome, Italy, and holder of an Executive MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. He is also Honorary Consul of Italy in Granada, Jaén and Almería, and a representative of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Spain.

BELGIUM

Christel Verhoye

Christel was the Managing Director of Northgate Arinso Granada, where her passion for Granada was born. She holds a degree in Translation and Interpreting (French and Spanish) and, before being hired by her current firm, in 2007, she worked as Director of Human Resources at ‘KBC Securities’, the largest stockbroker in Belgium. She is currently part of the management team of the multinational company SAP in Brussels.

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GERMANY

Stephan Reinhold

Stephan studied economics and business administration in Germany, England, and Spain. Managing Director and Vice President of a steel factory in Germany and Paraguay for more than 5 years. Since 1997 he has been Managing Director of CEWE Color in Munich, Europe’s leading producer of digital content. He is also Chairman of the Innovation and Industry Committee of the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

UNITED KINGDOM

Jaime Martinez-Brocal

Jaime is an economist and holds an MBA from IESE. He has developed his professional career in the world of strategic consulting and has held management positions in companies in the areas of business development and marketing. As an entrepreneur, he is part of different projects and companies in the world of technology and has founded Táktice, a business accelerator from which he offers consulting, marketing, and private financing for entrepreneurial initiatives. Lecturer in Online Marketing at ESIC/ICEMD.

NETHERLANDS

Arnoud Krom

Arnoud is a Dutch entrepreneur, graduated from the University of Amsterdam (MSc). He is the founder of Bi4 Group, a company focused on technological innovation working for large multinationals with offices in the Netherlands and Spain. He is a specialist in fundraising and creation of technology-based companies. He is in love with Granada, where he has located Bi4 Group.

POLAND

Emilio Rull Quesada

Emilio Rull is from Granada and holds a degree in Law from the University of Granada and an I.S.D.E. master’s degree in international law with internship in Milan (Italy). Expert in SME internationalization, founder of EuroInversia consulting firm, and based in Warsaw (Poland) since 2004. He is specialised in foreign trade and implementation of EU projects related to innovation, technology transfer. He has extensive experience in business network development and coordination.

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UNITED KINGDOM

Molly Sears-Piccavey

Born in Nottingham, UK, based in Spain since 1998. In 2015 she created the Spanish Girls in Tech division. With an extensive experience in international trade, Molly is bilingual and supports diversity of all kinds in the world of work. Her career has developed in several multinational companies. In Spain, she has worked at Telefónica I+D in the eHealth centre, as well as at Agilent Technologies’ European Centre in Barcelona, Dept. of Bioscience. She is very active in social networks and a blogger with a great reputation. In 2016 she won the FITUR award for best International TravelBlogger.

JAPAN

Mitsuo Tanikawa

Mitsuo Tanikawa was born and raised in Tokyo. After completing his undergraduate studies in International Commerce, he came to Granada for the first time and studied at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of the University of Granada. Upon returning to Japan, he was hired by Canon, where he worked for more than 30 years. He was Director of Global Trade and Management in Japan, also served as Executive Director of Trade at Canon France S. A. for 11 years, and another two years at their European Headquarters in Holland, first, and later in the UK.