Rafael De Córdova
Director General Grupo Decorse.
General Director at Grupo Decorse. Member of directories (boards).
Education
Rafael is an Industrial Engineer from the Pontificia University Javeriana and has an MBA from the University of los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia). He has post-graduate studies in Administration and Management from Harvard University (Boston, USA) and he completed the Senior Business Management Program (PADE: Programa de Alta Dirección de Empresas) in INALDE at the University of la Sabana.
Boards and Company Roles
He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Corporación EKA, a Colombian holding, with three business units: Industrial (EKA Zipper), KOSS (biodegradable packaging) and Retail (Shopping Centers). He is also a Board Member at JGB – an iconic company in Colombia that produces goods for mass consumption.
Additionally, he is General Director and partner at GRUPO DECORSE, a consulting and investment firm, which is mainly owned by its managerial team. The firm focuses on empowering small and medium enterprises, where human capital and brand strength, leverage the growth of organizations, taking advantage of the positive economic outlook of the emerging markets where it operates. In this position, he acts as a business facilitator for companies that want to enter the Andean region contributing with his local knowledge and global experience.
Professional Trajectory
Rafael´s 25+ years of experience include positions at Latam in USA, United Kingdom, Africa and Asia. He worked with Just Point Investments, a Spanish holding company, where he led the positioning and expansion plan for beverage brands for 23 markets on three continents. Additionally, he was Global Brand Director for SABMiller at its headquarters in London and Marketing Director for its operation in Colombia – Bavaria – the second most important market for this multinational.
His career includes 12 years at Unilever, where he escalated from Brand Manager to Trade Marketing Manager, then Sales Manager and finally to Regional Category Manager for the Andean region. He also worked for 5 years at The Gillette Company (P&G) both at its headquarters in Boston, as well as at its site in Colombia.
Speaker
Emphasis on topics related to Marketing and Strategic Direction, Brand Positioning, Expansion Plans, Internationalization and Corporate Governance.
He has two children, Sebastián 13 and Oscar 7. Rafael travels between Peru and Colombia, enjoying his family and his work simultaneously.