IWEC Legacy Council
U.S. Amb. Ruth A. Davis(Ret.)
IWEC Legacy Council Chair
IWEC Foundation
Washington, D.C., United States
Former Chairwoman IWEC Foundation 2007-2023
Ruth A. Davis is an internationalist who retired from the U.S. Department of State with the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the Foreign Service of the United States. Her assignments in the U.S. Department of State include Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2001-2003), Director of the Foreign Service Institute (1997-2001), Ambassador to the Republic of Benin (1992-1995), and U.S. Consul General in Barcelona, Spain (1987-1991). She was also posted in Kinshasa, Nairobi, Tokyo and Naples as a Consular Officer. Ambassador Davis was detailed to Howard University in Washington, DC as Distinguished Advisor for International Affairs and she served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2005-2008.
She has received two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards, the Arnold L. Raphel Memorial Award for mentoring, the 2005 Department of State Equal Opportunity Award, the Secretary’s Distinguished Award conferred by Colin L. Powell, and the International Career Advancement Program’s Award for visionary leadership and fostering diversity within foreign affairs. In 2015 she was named by the Economist Magazine as one of the ‘Top Diversity Figures in Public life’ and in 2016 she received the American Foreign Service Association’s Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy and the Link’s Co Founder Award for International Service.
Ambassador Davis earned an MSW from the University of California at Berkeley. Her alma mater, Spelman College, and Middlebury College conferred honorary LL.D degrees on her. She has served as President of the Thursday Luncheon Group (TLG); and is presently Chair of the International Mission of Mercy USA; Chairperson of the Charles B. Rangel Fellowship Selection Committee; and Vice President of the Association of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA). She is on the Board of the American Academy of Diplomacy; the Board of the Defense Language Institute; Vice President of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs; a member of The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training; and is Chair of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC).
Carmen Castillo
IWEC Legacy Council
President & CEO
SDI International
Fort Lauderdale, United States
Carmen Castillo is the President and CEO of SDI International Corp. (SDI), one of the world’s largest Hispanic- and Woman-owned companies in the procurement industry, with a portfolio of managed spend of over $3B. The company, which she founded in Florida in 1992, provides its clients with fully scalable global indirect procurement solutions centered for the tail end of the supply chain. These programs are designed to manage large numbers of small suppliers handling non-critical/non-catalogue transactions that are often untracked, resulting in inefficiencies in process times, compliance and costs.
“We make ourselves indispensable to our clients by building globally and acting locally,” Carmen states emphatically. Her mantra is evident in SDI’s global footprint, which includes Centers of Excellence in the U.S., Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, India, Bratislava, Mexico, Poland, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The company is opening operations in Russia and Singapore later this year, and soon in the UAE. SDI has distinguished itself as a provider of robust process efficiencies, driving repeatable hard cost savings through cutting-edge technology, risk assessment, quality policies and a dedicated team, fostering longstanding business relationships with its Fortune 500 customers.
Carmen is a staunch proponent of paying it forward and corporate social responsibility. As a business leader, Carmen takes on 8-10 mentees per year, among them women entrepreneurs (many of them Hispanic), to share her insights and experience, with special focus on hiring, retention, business development and international expansion. More importantly, Carmen facilitates networking opportunities and introductions between her mentees and her extensive network of corporate contacts and peers.
From the advocacy perspective, Carmen acts as Chairwoman of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC). She is also Vice Chair of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC), and she also collaborates with the boards of many other Minority- and Woman-owned business organizations. Under her leadership, SDI holds an international Memo of Undertaking to cross-collaborate with the International Trade Centre, and participates in the UN Global Compact, who featured Carmen in their 2016 global Study of CEOs committed to sustainable development goals. Carmen has also accumulated several industry awards throughout the years, including an induction to the 2016 WBE Hall of Fame.
Nancy Ploeger
IWEC Legacy Council
Co-Founder
IWEC Foundation
New York, United States
Nancy Ploeger is one of IWEC’s co-founders, and until Feb. 2016, she was the President of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce (MCC), serving for 21 years. During her tenure at the MCC, Ms. Ploeger led advocacy efforts for Small and Medium Business Enterprises (SMEs) on issues ranging from health insurance, Minority- and Woman-owned certification, doing business with the public sector and international business expansion for small businesses. She led the Chamber to develop robust economic development initiatives that enabled it, and its members, to create a network of reciprocal collaboration, trade, empowerment and partnerships with organizations, associations and businesses in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Her legacy transformed the Chamber from a local advocate for small business to a bridge to global trade and economic expansion.
Among her accolades are being appointed by Major Bloomberg to serve on New York City’s Minority Women’s Business Enterprise’s (MWBE) Advisory Board, appointment to a board seat on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation in Washington DC, appointment to serve on the the New York District Export Council, serving as Chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance of New York State. She is currently sitting on the Steering Committee of the New York District Export Council’s World Trade Week and is also is on the Advisory Committee for Health Advocates for Older People in Manhattan. Nancy was heavily involved in the community outreach during the construction of the historic 2nd Avenue Subway-a ten-year-process-in coordination with the business community, the MTA and the myriad number of New York City Departments involved in the building of the subway. She has won numerous awards over the years for her dedication and achievements on behalf of both the business community and public service.
Adela Subirana
IWEC Legacy Council
Barcelona Chamber of Commerce
Barcelona, Spain
Ms. Subirana was a member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona for more than 15 years and since 2007, she servers as the Commissioner of the Presidency for Institutional Activities. Prior to joining the Chamber, she was a Member of the Board of OSHSA – GUINOVART, a company in the construction sector and SUFISA which went on to merge with Sacyr.
Taking an active role in local and global fundraising efforts, she served as President of the private foundation “Grup Set” (Businesswomen) from 1989 to 2014, was a Member of the Board of the “Friends of Liceo Opera House,” and a Member of the Board of the Palau de la Música Catalana. Since 2015, Ms. Subirana is the Vice President of the IWEC Foundation She received the “Medalla President Macià” of the Generalitat of Catalunya for her outstanding work. And, in 2006, the Italian government awarded her the “Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta’ Italiana.” Ms. Subirana holds a degree in Philosophy and Humanities from the University of Barcelona as well as the “Maîtrisse et Licenses et Arts” from Sorbonne IV Université.