BOARD

Hermina (“Mina”) Merkel, International Leadership Consultant, has been working globally for 30+ years with over 70 countries for corporations, international think tanks, governmental entities, universities, international independent schools and nonprofits performing institutional strategic planning, board governance-training sessions, and customize workshops and retreats for boards and leaders throughout the world. Mina worked globally for General Motors for 20 years in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North and South America.

Mina is the president of the board of directors of the Friends of Graded Foundation and has served as a board member of Frankfurt International School and Graded – The American School of São Paulo.

Stephen H. Graham is an adjunct professor with New York University’s Stern School of Business, focusing on stock markets and financial analysis in emerging markets. He also does research on global urbanization topics with NYU’s Wagner School of Public Administration.

From 2007 to 2017 Stephen was Director of Latin America Research at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup in São Paulo, Brazil. He was then Deputy Director of US Research in New York for Citi until 2019. From 1993 to 2007 he advised institutional investors on Latin American stocks as an analyst at Credit Suisse, UBS, and Morgan Stanley, variously in New York, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, winning numerous awards. He began his career in 1985 advising multinational executives on business and macro conditions in Latin America with Business International, now The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Stephen holds a BA in History from Occidental College in Los Angeles and Université de Haute Bretagne, France. He did graduate studies as an ITT fellow in Economics at the Universidade de São Paulo, and holds an MBA in Finance from NYU Stern.