SPEAKERS
LUCIA M. JENNINGS
Founder/President – Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of SE, Inc.
Demand Manager – FCOE – The Coca-Cola Company, Inc.
HERMANO TELLES RIBEIRO
Ambassador - Brazilian Consulate General in AL, GA, MS, SC, TN
A career Diplomat, assumed his position as Consul General of Brazil in Atlanta in January 2012. The Brazilian Consulate General serves the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Ambassador Hermano was born in Bern, Switzerland. He completed the diplomatic academy at Instituto Rio Branco in 1979, and, in 2000, received his Post Graduate degree in Foreign Service, with the thesis Bilateral Relations between Brazil and Mexico. His first assignment was as Advisor to the Head of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI/LAIA), at the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations. After that, he served at the Brazilian Mission to the Organization of American States in
Washington and as Advisor to the Head of the Department for International Organizations, at the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations.
Ambassador Hermano was appointed, in 1992, as Deputy Consul in Paris and, in 1995, as Conselor in Caracas. From 1997 to 2000, Ambassador Hermano headed the Division of North and Central American Affairs, at the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations and, in 2001 and 2005, respectively; he was appointed as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassies in Tokyo and Paris. Before moving to Atlanta, Ambassador Hermano headed the Diplomatic Planning Unit, at the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations. Ambassador Hermano is the recipient of the Brazilian Air Force Medal, the Santos Dumont Medal, the Legion d ́Honneur, and the Rio Branco Grand Cross Medal.
Lucia Jennings has been working for The Coca-Cola Company for over 20 years where she held a variety of positions including her most current position of Demand Manager for Concentrates with Coca-Cola North America, Inc. Prior to her current role, Lucia was a Demand Manager for Evian, Senior Buyer with the Atlanta Beverage Base Plant, and Purchasing Coordinator with Flavor Ingredient Supply. Additionally, Lucia has been very involved with LA VIDA, The Coca-Cola Company’s Latino BRG. She served as co-chairman, then chairman, and currently holds the Membership Co-Chair position.
In 2011, Lucia was selected by the National Hispana Leadership institute to participate in its Leadership program.
Lucia is a native of Brazil and during her 30+ years of residence in Atlanta, she has been extremely active in the Brazilian American community. In 1987, in an effort to promote Brazilian culture in Atlanta as well as bring together an increasingly large Brazilian immigrant community, she founded the Brazilian American Society. Also in pursuit of these goals, from 1987 through 1996 she promoted events such as Carnaval parties, Brazilian holidays and special events. In 1996, she founded the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of the SE, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster business relationship between Brazil and the Southeast USA.
Lucia has been featured in several publications, radio and television shows, and speaking engagements as a leader of the Brazilian Chamber in the Southeast. Her advice has shaped the way small Brazilian businesses do business in the Southeast. In 2005, she launched the Brazil-Georgia Business Resource Book to guide Brazilian-American Companies to do business. Under Lucia’s leadership the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia grew to become one of the most active bi-national chambers in Atlanta. She has been instrumental in bringing to Georgia foreign dignitaries from the former president of Brazil, Honorable Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazilian Ambassadors to the United States, and Brazilian Ministers to speak at the Chamber’s events. In 2011, the Brazilian Chamber changed its name to Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of the SE, Inc. (BACC-SE) to extend its services to the neighboring states because of a need to connect the whole southeast with Brazil.
In 2007, Atlanta Magazine named Lucia Jennings as one of the “World Class Fifty-Five of the Most Influential Foreign-Born Atlantans.”
In 2011, BACC-SE celebrated 15 years and received a Proclamation from Fulton County Commissioner; Dr. John H. Eaves for the outstanding job BACC-SE has done in creating jobs by influencing Brazilian companies to open branches in the Atlanta area.
Lucia Jennings holds a Business and Master’s degree in Business Administration from Oglethorpe University.
KIRK S. BOWMAN PhD
Professor of International Affairs
Director of Undergraduate Programs
Program Director for Argentina and Brazil Study Abroad
Dr. Kirk Bowman, the Jon R. Wilcox Term Professor in Soccer and Global Politics--joined the Georgia Tech faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in 1998 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and Professor in 2014. He directs study abroad programs in Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay. A specialist in Latin American politics and political development, he is author of Militarization, Democracy, and Development: The Perils of Praetorianism in Latin America (Pennsylvania University Press, 2002), Peddling Paradise: The Politics of Tourism in Latin America (Lynne Rienner 2013), Lessons from Latin America: Innovations in Politics, Culture, and Development (with Felipe Arocena, Toronto 2014) and numerous journal articles, book chapters, and reference chapters. His next book uses soccer to explore the theories and concepts of comparative politics. He has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, among others, and was a Fulbright Scholar. His teaching includes graduate and undergraduate courses in comparative politics, Latin American politics, and soccer and global politics. He was the University System of Georgia Excellence of Teaching 2007 recipient and the 2008 Carnegie-Case Professor of the Year for the state of Georgia.
