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Featuring
Monica De Bolle, Peterson Institute
Constanza Negri, National Confederation of Industry Brazil (CNI)
Fernando Pimentel, Brazilian Embassy
Gina Vetere, Covington & Burling LLP
Moderator: Kellie Meiman Hock, McLarty Associates
Monica de Bolle is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and has been since January 2017. She is an adjunct professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Ms. De Bolle was nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics between March 2015 and January 2017. Named as “Honored Economist” in 2014 by the Order of Brazilian Economists for her contributions to the Brazilian policy debate, Ms. De Bolle focuses on macroeconomics, foreign exchange policy, monetary and fiscal policy, trade and inequality, financial regulation, and capital markets. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms. De Bolle was professor of macroeconomics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, as well as managing partner of Galanto | MBB Consultants, a macroeconomics advisory firm. She was also a director of the Institute for Economic Policy Research (IEPE/Casa das Garças), a prestigious think tank based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and an economist at the International Monetary Fund. Ms. De Bolle has authored and coauthored a number of books on the global economy and Brazil’s policy challenges, including How to Kill the Blue Butterfly: A Chronicle of the Dilma Era (2016), The State of the World Economy, Challenges and Responses: Essays in Honor of Pedro S. Malan (2014), The Future of Brazilian Manufacturing: The Deindustrialization Debate (2013), New Dilemmas in Economic Policy (2011), Financial Regulation Reform in the US: New Global Architecture and the Brazilian Regulatory Context (2009), and How to Respond to the Global Financial Crisis? Economic Policies for Brazil (2009). She also contributes regularly to major Brazilian newspapers Exame, O Globo and O Estado de São Paulo. Ms. De Bolle obtained her BA in economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and holds a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Kellie Meiman Hock is a Managing Partner at McLarty Associates and is responsible for external matters for the firm, focused on business development and client maintenance. In addition, she has led the Brazil & Southern Cone and trade practices of McLarty Associates since 2000. During this time, Ms. Meiman has helped major multinational companies in this dynamic region and beyond to take advantage of opportunities, as well as to troubleshoot obstacles to market access and investment. Ms. Meiman previously worked at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as Director for Brazil and the Southern Cone, where she had primary responsibility for trade negotiations with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Prior to her work at USTR, Ms. Meiman served as a foreign service officer with the US Department of State, where her posts included handling crisis management in the State Operations Center. An Economic Officer in the foreign service, Ms. Meiman previously had served in Porto Alegre, São Paulo, and Recife, Brazil, and in Bogotá, Colombia. She has lived and studied in Central America and Japan. Ms. Meiman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue. She sits on the board of the Brazil-US Business Council and the board of the New York-based Brazil-America Chamber of Commerce. She also is Chairwoman of the Chile-based development NGO América Solidaria US. Ms. Meiman often writes and speaks on policy matters related to trade, Brazil, and Latin America. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Ms. Meiman is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She fluently speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is active in Democratic politics at the national level and in the state of Virginia.
Ailtom Nascimento is the Executive Vice President for Global Business & Institutional Affairs at the Stefanini Group. Founded in 1987 by Marco Stefanini, Stefanini is an IT Services & BPO company with headquarters in Brazil, and offices in Latin America, USA, Europe and APAC, serving all industry segments with more than 600 active clients. Stefanini has an annual turnover of US$1.2 billion 59% of which derives from Brazil and 41% from international markets. An economist with an MBA in corporate finance, Mr. Nascimento has worked in the financial services industry for 33 years, including spending 21 years at Itau Bank, the largest Latin American bank, where he held a number of positions including System Architect, Business Analyst, and IT Department Manager. In the IT services industry, he worked for Stefanini from 2001 – 2009, before moving to Tata Consultancy Services to be its Vice President of Sales Brazil from 2009-2011. In 2011, Mr. Nascimento returned to Stefanini to assume his current role. Additionally, Mr. Nascimento was a member of the Credit Risk Committee of the Central Bank of Brazil from 1997-2000.
Constanza Negri is the Manager of Trade Policy at the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI). Prior to her current position, Ms. Negri worked as Senior Advisor to VP on International Economic Relations and Trade, when she joined CNI in 2012. She worked as Deputy Director and Head of Policy for the Department of International Affairs at EUROCHAMBRES, where she was responsible for leading work on EU Trade and Investment Policy, EU- Brazil and EU- USA. Furthermore, she coordinated the Committee of Experts on Free Trade. Constanza also worked for the Observatory on EU-Latin America and the International Chair WTO-Regional Integration at the University of Barcelona, where she specialized in trade and economic relations between EU and Latin America, WTO and regional integration. Ms. Negri has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Bologna, with an Advanced Diploma in European Studies from the European College of Parma, and a postgraduate degree in International Economic Relations and Regional Integration from the University of Barcelona.
Fernando Meirelles Pimentel is Minister Counsellor for Economic Affairs at the Brazilian Embassy to the United States. A career diplomat, he has been posted in the United States (twice in Washington), India (New Delhi), Paraguay (Asunción) and Switzerland (Geneva). Between 2014 and 2016, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Mission of Brazil to the WTO in Geneva. Between August 2008 and July 2014, he was the Deputy Secretary for International Affairs of the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, where he was engaged with the G20 financial track, the IMF, the World Bank and Brazilian financial cooperation initiatives. In that capacity, he chaired the negotiations that led to the establishment of the BRICS’ Contingent Reserve Arrangement, and was actively involved in the negotiations that led to the creation and establishment of the New Development Bank. Mr. Pimentel holds an Economics degree from the University of São Paulo.
Gina Vetere provides clients public policy and legal counsel on international trade and intellectual property matters. She develops comprehensive strategies and tactical approaches, including building coalitions and direct advocacy of US and international policy-makers, to help clients solve cutting edge international trade and intellectual property issues. Ms. Vetere uses her deep understanding of bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements to help companies address a range of trade-related business challenges, including with respect to intellectual property, standards, regulatory barriers to trade, investment, and competition. She has advised clients on a number of trade negotiations, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty. Ms. Vetere also counsel’s clients on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Ms. Vetere previously led the Global Intellectual Property Center’s (GIPC) international IP programs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, she served as Director for IP and Innovation and as Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) at USTR.