Itzel Villa

Itzel Villa is an ecosystem builder and specialist in economic development, social innovation, and entrepreneurship acceleration.

Currently serving as the Entrepreneurship Leader at Fundación Coppel, she designs and spearheads national initiatives aimed at transforming lives and elevating communities by strengthening local businesses and social ventures.

Prior to her role at Fundación Coppel, Itzel accumulated over fifteen years of leadership experience spanning both the public and private startup sectors in Mexico:

• Served as the General Coordinator for Posible México, one of the country's largest entrepreneurial support programs, driving high-impact innovation among university students and early-stage founders.

• Led operations as the Managing Director of the MIT Enterprise Forum México, connecting local tech talent with global resources, and served on the Organizing Committee for GEN's Startup Nations Summit (SNS) 2015, which gathered over 80 policymakers from across the globe in Mexico City and Monterrey.

• Held key federal roles within the Mexican government. She served as Director-General of Entrepreneurship Programs and Financing at the National Institute of the Entrepreneur (INADEM) within Mexico's Ministry of Economy. She also held key roles at Nacional Financiera (NAFIN), where she evaluated and connected more than 500 high-impact business projects with an angel investor portal and helped design and promote NAFIN's strategy the development of early-stage capital for Mexican entrepreneurs.

Itzel holds a Bachelor’s degree from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), a Postgraduate Diploma from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), and a Master’s degree from Collective Academy. She is highly dedicated to cross-border collaboration and equipping the next generation of founders with the tools to scale efficiently. In 2014, Itzel was selected for the U.S. Department of State's program for emerging leaders, focusing on “Mexican Innovative Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer,” and participated in the SME Policy Sharing Program in South Korea.