EVENT PROGRAM 5:30 PM
EVENT BEGINS
5:30 PM - 5: 37 PM
WELCOME Welcoming address by Sisi Beltran Opening remarks from Danielle Bateman Girondo of Midwest BankCentre
5:37 PM - 5:40 PM
PROGRAM BEGINS Introduction and welcome remarks from Alexandra McCreary-Ellis
5:40 PM - 5:53PM
SPECIAL GUEST POLLY RODRIGUEZ Presentation and Q&A Polly Rodriguez Alexandra McCreary-Ellis Emcee
5:54 PM - 5:57 PM
SPECIAL CONTENT FROM THE MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM
5:58 PM - 6:11 PM
SPECIAL GUEST GABRIELA RAMÍREZARELLANO Presentation and Q&A Gabriela Ramírez-Arellano Natalia Corray Emcee
6:12 PM - 6:15 PM
A WORD FROM MBC Marsha Benney of Midwest BankCentre Video clip
6:15 PM - 6:18 PM
SPECIAL CONTENT FROM THE MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM
6:20 PM
INTERMISSION 10-minute intermission with additional content from the Missouri History Museum
6:35 PM - 6:55 PM
KEYNOTE SPEAKER HELGA FLORES TREJO Presentation and Q&A Helga Flores Trejo Natalia Corray Emcee
6:56 PM - 7:00 PM
CLOSING REMARKS & END Alexandra McCreary-Ellis
GABRIELA RAMÍREZARELLANOGUEST SPEAKER
An innovative business leader and entrepreneur, Gabriela Ramírez-Arellano has been helping and connecting small business owners as they start and grow their businesses since 2011 in Detroit. Since moving to St. Louis in 2014, Gabriela has been named by the Small Business Monthly as One of the Top 100 people to know to succeed in business and by The St. Louis Business Journal as a Diverse Business Leader. Gabriela and her husband own Don Emiliano's Restaurante Mexicano in O'Fallon, MO. Her own experience and lessons learned to help her relate and understand the needs of St. Louis business owners. In January of 2021, Gabriela joined the cortex innovation community as the Director of Entrepreneurship and Executive Director of the Center For Emerging Technologies (CET).
POLLY RODRIGUEZ
GUEST SPEAKER
Polly Rodriguez is the CEO and Co-Founder of Unbound, a rebellious sexual wellness company that makes vibrators, lubricants, and accessories. After receiving a cancer diagnosis at 21 that resulted in early onset menopause, Polly found herself shopping for a vibrator - only to find that the ‘best’ option was a seedy store next to the airport in St. Louis. Ten years later, Polly and co-founder Sarah Jayne Kinney started Unbound with the goal of taking vibrators, lubricants and sexual accessories mainstream through elevated design, bodysafe materials, and accessible pricing. Today, the company has been hailed by the New York Times as the "ideological center of the tech-savvy, female-led women's sexuality movement" with over 50 products created by a team of all women in New York City.
HELGA FLORES TREJO
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
As VP, for Global Public Affairs for International Organizations, Helga Flores Trejo is responsible for driving Bayer’s relations and partnerships with International Organizations, such as UN agencies and Multilateral Developments Banks, as well as key networks such as WEF, B20 and others. Additionally, she manages Bayer’s multilateral trade policy. Helga Flores Trejo is a foreign policy and development expert who has worked in government, international organizations, think tanks and the private sector. Prior to joining Bayer, she led open innovation at the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), in charge of establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships to foster innovation, such as MIT Media Lab, WEF’s 4th Industrial Revolution Center among others. Previously, she was Head of External Relations for the InterAmerican Investment Corporation (IIC) known today as BID Invest. At the IDB Group, she held diverse positions, including Chief of the Constituencies Unit, Head of Strategic Communications for Sectors and Advisor on External Relations in Brazil for the Representative of the IDB.
HELGA FLORES TREJO
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Prior to joining the IDB Group, she served as Executive Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, one of Germany’s largest foundations, promoting transatlantic policy exchange on issues including sustainable development, climate change, and global security issues. She has served as Chief of Staff for the Bundesrat and European Affairs Minister of the Government of Hamburg, as a Senior Advisor for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE in Belgrade, and as Advisor on Development policy and Latin America in the German Parliament (Bundestag). Helga Flores Trejo has been a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and has been awarded fellowships by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Prince of Wales's Business and Environment Program, and the BMW Herbert Quandt Foundation. She is a Board Member of CulturalVistas. She served in the Commission for Civility and Effective Governance of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and, she was a member of the Europe-U.S.-Latin America Task Force of the Atlantic Council. Helga Flores holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Frankfurt University in Germany and speaks Spanish, German, English, French, and Portuguese.
NATALIA CORRAY
EMCEE
Natalia Corray is a marketing executive with over 17 years of experience helping brands connect with multicultural audiences. As the Assistant Vice President of Sales Enablement and Culture Development for Midwest BankCentre, she executes inclusive marketing programs and develops partnerships with organizations that drive our St. Louis community forward. As a first-generation ColombianAmerican, Natalia takes pride in belonging to the fastestgrowing population in the United States and wants to continue advocating for her community, ensuring that they have access to capital and that businesses and service providers cater to their particular preferences. Natalia lives with her husband, Jeremy, and their two kids, Diego and Daniela.
THANK YOU TO OUR TITLE SPONSOR
MIDWEST BANKCENTRE
THANK YOU TO OUR TITLE SPONSOR
MIDWEST BANKCENTRE
THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSOR HART OF THE CITY PHOTO BOOTH
MEDIA PARTNER FEATURE GROUP USA
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS, THE MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM
THE HISPANIC WORKING WOMEN COMMITTEE
Sisi Beltran Lourdes Bailon Alejandra Berra VP of Marketing Build-a-Bear Workshop
Co-Founder STL Juntos
Alex McCreary-Ellis Program Coordinator The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Portfolio Manager Commerce Trust Company
Nerishka Cruz De La Rosa Program Coordinator Cortex Innovation Community
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US
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