May 15, 2024 – Isabel Casillas Guzman – the leading advocate in U.S. President Joseph Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million small businesses and startups – will be among the distinguished policymakers, founders, investors and entrepreneurship ecosystem builders taking the stage at GEC+Puerto Rico this July.
The event, co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and the Puerto Rico Convention District Authority (PRCDA), will convene founders and startup champions under the theme of Vision 2035: An Entrepreneurial Future for Latin America + the Caribbean. The program will explore an ambitious roadmap for a more vibrant and thriving economy.
Guzman, who has made advancing entrepreneurship her life’s work, will deliver opening remarks and participate in cross-border policy discussions concerning entrepreneurship support levers across Latino communities in the United States as well as across Latin America and the Caribbean.
“I’m honored to join business leaders from the global entrepreneurial ecosystem at GEC+Puerto Rico to engage in dialogue about how we can foster more startups, innovation, and collaboration between the United States and nations across the Western Hemisphere, where we currently trade about $2.4 trillion annually,” said Administrator Guzman. “With a historic small business boom in the United States and the highest startup rates by Latino founders in over a decade, now is the time to leverage our great diversity to expand pathways to trade and advance our economies across the Western Hemisphere.”
The program will dive into frontier technologies driving new industries, forward-thinking initiatives bringing historically underrepresented communities into the entrepreneurial economy, and actionable steps attendees can take now.
“As a policy leader and as an entrepreneur, Administrator Guzman knows first-hand the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for founders and small businesses both in the United States and across the region,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president and founder of GEN. “We are honored to be working with her again in looking for more ways to empower Latino entrepreneurship in the United States and provide an entrepreneurship roadmap for all the economies of the Americas.”
Under Administrator Guzman's leadership, the Small Business Administration manages a $500 billion portfolio and deploys more than $50 billion in funding annually to America’s small business owners and disaster-impacted communities. As Administrator, she spearheaded key agency initiatives to deliver essential assistance to the most vulnerable small businesses and underserved communities. She has also implemented effective strategies that help small businesses and innovative startups gain unprecedented access to capital, contracts, new markets, knowledge networks, technical training, digital tools, and disaster support. As a result, more than ever before, millions of America’s entrepreneurs have the resources they need to start, grow and build resilient businesses.
GEC+ comes to the Enterprising Island with a 15-year track record of bringing together founders at all stages of development and policymakers, investors and support organizations from economies of all sizes to bring ideas to life, drive economic growth, and expand human welfare. Most recently, Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) and GEC+ events were held in Melbourne, Australia and Cape Town, South Africa.
See who will be joining Administrator Guzman in the GEC+Puerto Rico speaker line-up July 15-18, 2024. New speakers are added daily. Registration is open at www.gecplus.co/puertorico.
To request a media pass, schedule interviews, or for other media inquiries, please contact GEN Communications Director Kathryn Forrest by emailing kathryn@genglobal.org.