Global EMBA Community in the News

Pierre Beck (Global EMBA ’07) has a new job and is moving from Dubai to Senegal. After graduating in October 2007, Pierre was promoted to Regional Director for the Middle East at his company and moved from Istanbul to Dubai with his family. After 21 months in the United Arab Emirates and five years with his company, he was offered a new job from a competitor, Sagem Orga, a subsidiary of the Safran Group. The offer was a new challenge: to create from scratch a regional office in West Africa to cover all the French speaking African countries in West and Central Africa and to sell products and services to all mobile operators. The family touched down in Dakar on September 12th to start their new adventure. When asked about this new step in his career, Pierre quoted a friend of his from Abidjan: “It is not work that kills but worries, therefore make sure you enjoy what you do and where you live.”

Otabek Khazeev (Global EMBA ’09) is now focusing on the oil business for the start up company he works for. The company has been involved in the oil processing and trading business for a significant period of time. “One of our most valuable assets is the fact that we have good connections with the majority of oil and gas companies and companies that provide various kinds of services to them, such as AK Transneft, Russian Railways, First Cargo Company, Black and Baltic Sea ports and more. We are currently very busy in the domestic market, as we have direct contracts with some of the major oil companies,” said Otabek.

Jeannine Perié (Global EMBA ’07) played a major role in opening the chic new W hotel in Barcelona on October 1, 2009. Jeannine was made Director of Sales at W Barcelona on January 1, 2009. Prior to taking this role, she was Director of Sales and Marketing at Le Méridien Barcelona and successfully positioned the sales and marketing strategies through the hotel’s extensive renovation. “The main difference with my role today at W Barcelona and my prior position is really the magnitude and the importance of the hotel for both the company as well as for the city of Barcelona. For me it is definitely the most exciting professional experience ever,” said Jeannine. W Barcelona provides a contemporary lifestyle experience with a complete service offering, “W Barcelona is more than the ultimate insider escape, but also an ideal hotel for special events (such as weddings), meetings and celebrations (IESE’s graduation parties!),” she said. One of Jeannine’s main goals will be to position the W hotel in Barcelona as the number one hotel in the city.

Paulo Feferbaum’s (Global EMBA ’04) company, Clarity, is making more headlines with a recent mention in the Spanish newspaper, La Vanguardia, on August 4, 2009. The article highlighted the opening of a new office in Lisbon, which reaffirms the company’s presence in the Portuguese market, where it is currently involved in various projects for companies such as Sonae Sierra, Maybelline, Luso and Samsung. Clarity, whose main business is concentrated in building strategies for brand presentations to the end-costumer, basically in the fashion business, is also present in Brazil with an office in São Paulo. In Spain, the company is working in “Fashion Week” at the Sonae Sierra Group’s commercial centers. “They are 5-day ‘pop up’ shops that offer services such as personal shoppers, style and make-up advice, as well as offering the best selection of products from the shops in Zaragoza, Bilbao and Málaga,” says Feferbaum.

Marco Soave (Global EMBA ’08) married Ana Cristina Alegre on September 11 in Segovia, in the church of Veracruz, the same church where his parents got married 40 years ago. The couple’s 15-month old twins, Luca and Gabriela, were with them at the ceremony. In addition to their children, close friends and family, some IESE Global Executive MBA friends (Joelle, Pilar, Marta, Stefano, Kristian, Lope and Gloria) came to celebrate the wedding.

Koert Grever (Global EMBA ’10 monthly) and a third of the 2010 monthly class went on another sailing adventure to celebrate the start of the new academic year and to make the best use of the last weekend before commencing the fully loaded 2010 program. The Bavaria 50 Cruiser, a 15-meter yacht with 5 double cabins, skippered by Koert and a crew including Yulia Markina, Alicia Ferrer, Rainer Grasberger, Henning Kluever, Fernando Garcia, Jake Meisenbach, Mikhail Ivanov, Ralph Klingman (Global EMBA ’04) and Lidia Blasco, left from Port Aiguadolc in Sitges and set sail to Tarragona along the Costa Dorada, stopping on the way for swimming and lunch in a cala close to Torredembara. On Sunday, the return trip started with nice sailing conditions, until the crew was overtaken by an impressive thunderstorm. “As we say in the Netherlands, ‘after rain comes sunshine’,” said Koert, “so by the time we got back to Sitges the sun was shining and we had a nice lunch on board before returning to Barcelona”.

Ilona Klassen (Global EMBA ’07), announced the birth of her son, Harry Alexander Simpson, who was born on July 29 in London. The family is very happy with his arrival and Ilona has already started her new venture, DCA Consulting, a strategy execution company inspired by IESE Prof. Jaume Ribera. “Making strategy work can be challenging. Some companies fail not because of the lack of great ideas, but because of the failure to execute them,” she says. Ilona credits Prof. Ribera for introducing her to one of the frameworks to confront the challenge of executing strategy, and the idea was born through discussions with him. “Jaume has always been a great source of inspiration and has shared his expertise and invaluable advice with me on a number of occasions,” she says.

Eric Pingat (Global EMBA ’10 monthly) and his wife, Agnès, had a baby boy, Emilio, on April 24, in Madrid. They are thrilled with Emilio’s arrival!

Angel Fernandez (Global EMBA ’07) and his wife, Erica, welcomed their son Apollo on September 14 at 3:49 pm. The baby was 7.1 lbs and 19 inches long.

Erika Jagalla (Global EMBA ’05) gave birth to a baby girl, Daniela Magdalena Garcia-Miro Jagalla, on February 21, 2009 in Madrid. She was born on the same day as her father.

Nick Mbuvi (Global EMBA ’09) and his wife, Miriam, are happy to announce the birth of their daughter, Tara Mbuvi, born on August 22, 2009 (during Module 6 DL!) at 11.08 am BCN time. She is a wonderful blessing to her parents, and Kevin and Natasha are happy to have a baby sister.

Victor Vreeken (Global EMBA ’06) and his wife welcomed the birth of their daughter, Tess Elisabeth Vreeken, who was born on July 12 in Amsterdam (4340 grams). She is a tall girl, and her mother, father, and brother Kristian are very proud.

Miguel Rita (Global EMBA ’10 monthly), along with his wife, Alexandra, are delighted with the new addition to the family: his daughter, Leonor, joined them on November 3rd, at 15:34.

Vasily Perevalov (Global EMBA ’10, Bimonthly) and his wife, Elizaveta, welcomed Misha to the family on 24 June 2009, just at the beginning of his first Distributed Learning period!