Speaker Bios

Management Training for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises:
Focus Latin America

Hans Hofmeijer, International Labor Office, Geneva, Switzerland

Hans Hofmeijer, a sociologist by training, is a long-time official of the International Labor Organization (ILO), with considerable experience in Latin America, where he worked in Colombia and Peru in a variety of jobs. Over the last few years he has concentrated on the area of small enterprise development. One of his main responsibilities is the promotion and introduction in Latin America of the ILO's Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) training methodology for small entrepreneurs. Hofmeijer is also responsible for the ILO's local economic development program to promote small enterprises in conflict-affected countries.

Antonio José Londoño, Centros de Desarrollo Empresarial (CDE), Colombia

Antonio José Londoño has served as the National Director for the Centers for Entrepreneurial Development (CDE) since 1996. Through CDE he works closely with the Colombian Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and the Colombian Association of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (ACOPI). An economist by training from the National University of Colombia, he has also served as Executive Director for the Fundación Nueva Colombia Industrial and as an advisor for COLCIENCIAS's Regional Centers for Productivity and Entrepreneurial Development. Londoño has worked with such international organizations as PNUD, ONUDI, CEPAL, and BID on projects for business development in Colombia.

Kenneth Massey, Business Design Associates, Chile

Kenneth Massey is Vice President and General Manager of Business Design Associates in Santiago, Chile, where he manages a group of 50 consultants. He is an international business consultant, well known for his strategic applications of information technology to gain competitive advantages for business. Massey received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and did post-graduate studies in Strategic Applications of Information Technology at Stanford and Human Resources Management at Penn State University. He was one of the leaders of process re-engineering and is now one of the pioneers in the successful application of complexity and chaos theory to business, as well as an innovator in business design.

Guillermo Mimiça, CODIFOR, France

Guillermo Mimiça is the Latin American Delegate for CODIFOR with headquarters in Santiago, Chile. His program provides professional development, technical cooperation, and consulting for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and has been implemented in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Prior to his post in Chile, he served as Director of International Development for CODIFOR, working in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Massey received his doctorate from the University of Nancy in International Public Law and has expertise in international relations and law, international trade and marketing, and strategic development of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Marcos Schlemm, Instituto Superior de Administração, PUC-Paraná, Brazil

Marcos Schlemm is President and a founding member of the Instituto Superior de Administração (ISAD) and Professor of General Management Theory and Business Strategy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná. He also serves as Marketing Director for SHN-Software Development and Services. Schlemm has been directly involved in training programs for small- and medium-sized enterprises since the early 1970s. He received his doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. His areas of specialization are organizational behavior, strategic planning, and management development.

Charles N. Toftoy, George Washington University, USA

Charles N. Toftoy is the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Small Business, Director of the Entrepreneurship/Small Business Program, and Faculty Coordinator for the Cooperative Education Program at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C. He also teaches full-time in the areas of entrepreneurship and small business in GWU's School of Business and Public Management (SBPM). Toftoy has extensive business experience and has worked in large, medium, and small businesses. In addition to providing practical management assistance to over 1,300 small- to mid-sized companies in the USA, he has conducted global programs in Eastern Europe, South America, and several developing countries.