About HUGE

Dr. Juan José Daboub

Dr. Juan José Daboub, Ph.D., is the President of HUGE Business and Investment Council; Chairman and CEO of the Daboub Partnership, and the Founding CEO of the Global Adaptation Institute. He was Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change (2012-2014) and Vice-Chairman of The Dorado Group, LLC (2010-2020). He has taught at Princeton University and is a member of several Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards of both public and private industries and non-profits in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

As Managing Director of the World Bank, from 2006 to 2010, Dr. Daboub oversaw operations in 110 countries in Africa, the Middle East, East Asia and Latin America. He was also responsible for the oversight of the Human Development and Sustainable Development Networks, the Information Systems Group, the World Bank Institute, the Department of Institutional Integrity, and the Arab World Initiative.

Prior to the World Bank, Dr. Daboub led the expansion of his family-owned businesses and worked with non-profit organizations on public policies to promote liberty, stability, and growth throughout Latin America.

From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Daboub served concurrently as El Salvador’s Minister of Finance and as Chief of Staff to the President. In these high-profile dual roles, Dr. Daboub helped to navigate his native country through several regional economic challenges including securing and sustaining El Salvador’s investment grade rating, “dollarizing” the economy, and completing a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. During this period, he also oversaw the emergency reconstruction of El Salvador after two major earthquakes in 2001.

Dr. Daboub’s leadership began in the private sector, where he led his family-owned businesses for nearly a decade before joining the Board of CEL, El Salvador’s electric utility, and presiding over El Salvador’s electric distribution companies. Subsequently, he was named President of ANTEL, the state-owned telecommunications company, which he restructured and privatized through a competitive and transparent process that also demonopolized that strategic sector. He held high Government positions in El Salvador for 12 years (1992-2004), working for three different Administrations without belonging to any political party.

Dr. Daboub holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University. He is married with four children.

Camilo Atala

Camilo Atala is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Grupo Financiero Ficohsa (GFF), a regional conglomerate with more than 27 years of experience. GFF is known for its innovation, solidarity, commitment, and growth, and is proud to align with the UN Global Compact to achieve sustainable development, which can be accomplished through a balance between economic growth, environmental care, and social welfare. GFF’s corporate purpose is to facilitate solutions that transform lives.

GFF operates in banking, insurance, pensions, brokerage, and money exchange with a presence in Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the United States, and has over 6,000 employees at the regional level who provide innovative and competitive products and services.

Atala began his career in Honduras in 1990 as a businessman and entrepreneur. One year later he founded Financiera Comercial Hondureña S.A. In July 1994 he led the transformation of this financial firm to a commercial bank, Banco Ficohsa. Currently Banco Ficohsa is part of the largest financial group in Honduras and is one of the most important brands in the Central American region.

Ficohsa Foundation, also led by Atala, is a nonprofit institution that provides aid by leading the construction, maintenance, and operation of more than 149 preschools which have benefited more than 137,000 children between 3 and 6 years of age in the Central American region.

Atala is a recognized leading entrepreneur who is committed to promoting sustainable economic and social development throughout the Central American region. Atala’s leadership positions include President of the Honduran Foundation for National Identity, Member of the Board of Directors of INCAE Business School, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hondufuturo. Atala was also President of the Business Council of Latin America (CEAL) from 2016 to 2018. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Richard Aitkenhead

Richard Aitkenhead is Founder and President of Grupo IDC and has over 25 years of experience in providing economic and financial advisory services in Central America, as well as in mergers and acquisitions. He is the founding member of several investment and private equity funds, the most recent one is IDC Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on technology companies in Europe. He has served as a Board Member at INCAE Business School and Rafael Landivar University. He also served as Minister of Economy and Minister of Finance in Guatemala between 1991 and 1994. Aitkenhead was part of negotiations for the Peace Accords in Guatemala in 1996. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Economics from Rafael Landivar University.

Aitkenhead served as President of the Board at FUNDES International from 2008-2020, a nonprofit institution that supports the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Latin America. Since 2016, he has been the Director of AVINA, a leading foundation promoting environmental sustainability and the resolution of social issues in Latin America. Through a collaborative process, AVINA seeks to make a positive and sustainable impact. Aitkenhead also leads a Social Impact Fund designed by IDC to support vulnerable sectors in Guatemala.

Jesús Canahuati

Jesús Canahuati is the founder and President of ELCATEX Group. He was born in Honduras and after finishing his Industrial Engineering career at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1987, with his father's guidance, he founded Elcatex to bring competitiveness and flexibility in expanding the family business. As a result of Canahuati's vision and entrepreneurship, he has since founded the following operations: 6 Industrial Free Trade Zones of around 8,000,000 square feet, which provide jobs to around 55,000 employees, benefiting approximately 275,000 people in total. A new free zone is currently under construction, the 7th Industrial Free Trade Zone, with an area of 4,000,000 square feet - it will be the largest in the region.

Canahuati began his career in the energy sector in the early 90’s, with the development of thermal electric power generation plants, evolving in the following years into the generation of approximately 140MW of renewable energy including hydro, biomass, biogas, and solar. In the agricultural sector, he founded Honduran Green Power Corporation – a project that manages 4,621 hectares of king grass, cacao, and precious woods. This company stands out for its implementation of precise agriculture, where GPS systems are used to save inputs. It also uses waste from the industrial operation processes, such as biomass effluents and ash, as fertilizers.

As a transformative leader who seeks the common good, Canahuati’s vision is to create sustainable areas oriented towards the generation of employment in the development of industry and commerce, housing, health, and education. ELCATEX Group generates over 11,000 direct jobs, impacting approximately 55,000 people in total. He is a key player in boosting the country's socioeconomic growth, standing out as: Member of the Board of Directors of the Honduran Manufacturers Association (President during the period 1999-2007), Co-founder of the Foundation for Technical Education in Central America, (FUNDETEC), Active member of CEAL-Honduras and the Honduran Foundation for Development Studies (FHED), President of Honduran International Social Club, and Director of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP).

Canahuati was recently selected as part of the 7 members around the world to be part of the Target Owned Brands Business Partner Think Tank Community, developed with the purpose of making significant changes and moving industries forward. He is a faithful advocate of high-impact social projects and programs such as initiatives focused on education, economic development, environment, and health for his employees and their communities. His passion to help others has been reflected for more than 28 years as a volunteer on the Board of Directors of the Saint Vincent Foundation. Canahuati recognizes his driving forces are God and his family.

Greg Huger

Greg Huger, Executive Director of HUGE Business and Investment Council, brings to his work extensive global management and senior leadership skills gained through more than 40 years of challenging government and private sector engagements spanning different world cultures, regions, and socioeconomic conditions.

He has held senior executive positions across the public and private sectors – from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps to Unocal Corporation, Deere & Company, and Bechtel International – with postings across five continents. Huger leverages expertise gained through these experiences to tackle problems in both the public and private spheres, including significant experience in leveraging private capital to finance and achieve international development objectives.

As a USAID official in El Salvador, Huger supported key local business leaders to create FUSADES, a transformational social and economic development foundation aimed at helping El Salvador negotiate peace, build democracy, and advance economic recovery. In Egypt, he supported the creation of private sector institutions that significantly increased non-traditional exports to Europe, developed micro-enterprise programs that have provided more than $1 billion in small business loans and guarantees, and supported private sector leaders to create the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies. In Afghanistan, Huger supported private sector led efforts to bolster Afghan exports to India and the Persian Gulf, and to generate electric power. Similarly, in Ukraine, he orchestrated partnerships between USAID and major United States agribusinesses to modernize Ukrainian agriculture. In these and other instances, he targeted United States development resources and influence to reduce the risk of private investment in complex environments.

Huger’s private-sector experience includes leading Unocal’s efforts to implement corporate responsibility policies in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, and other Asian nations. This eliminated a major corporate risk and thus facilitated Unocal’s sale to Chevron. Among his other private sector engagements, Huger was John Deere Marketing Manager for Latin America and Spain and headed up Bechtel’s efforts to recruit and train more than 200 local companies to work under a $3 billion USAID post-conflict reconstruction contract in Iraq.

A Georgetown University graduate, Huger attended Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, and attained the rank of Minister Counselor in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Adriana Kania

Adriana Kania is HUGE’s Director of Operations and as part of this role, she also leads communications efforts for the organization.

Adriana joins HUGE after years of experience working in fast-paced, constantly changing environments which she attained while serving in the Executive Offices of several federal agencies, including the US International Development Finance Corporation and the US Department of Transportation.

Adriana began her career as a scheduler at the United States House of Representatives, where she managed operations in the offices of several Members of Congress, after graduating from James Madison University with a degree in Foreign Languages and Political Science.