Berkeley
Student Journal: summer dispatches from the field Orphans in Mexico: expanding the boys' goat cheese and soap business

About the project
Profile of Students
Additional info

The Dispatches

1- It is 6 a.m., time to get up and be introduced to the goats

2 - Lunch with the big cheese and a road trip to Cancún

3 - Gringos and luggage up to the rafters, and assessing the goat cheese market in Cancún

4 - Milking the goats, a business meeting in Mexico City, and 'stoptional' red lights

5 - A new wave of volunteers, spending time with the boys

6 - Our recommendations to improve the orphanage's business operations

 

 


Profile of the IPODERAC Team

Brent Mitchell

Brent Mitchell
Age: 26
Hometown: Manhattan Beach, CA
Undergraduate College/Major: Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, International Economics
Past work experience: Most recently I worked in Marketing at The Clorox Company. Prior to that, I was at Mattel, Inc. as an International Trade Specialist and financial analyst for the Latin America Division.
Goals for IBD: Further develop IPODERAC's markets for goat's milk cheese and soap to strengthen the funding for the orphanage. I am also looking forward to three weeks of Mexican food.

Doug Brown

Doug Brown
Age: 27
Hometown: Bozeman, Montana
Undergraduate College/Major: Yale University/Ethics, Politics & Economics.
Past work experience: I worked as a director at the Nasdaq Stock Market in Washington, DC and Tokyo. In Tokyo, I worked in business strategy for the newly-established Nasdaq Japan market.
Goals for IBD: Help IPODERAC improve their business to better fund the orphanage, improve my Spanish, and have fun.

Fabio Matsui

Fabio Matsui
Age: 31
Hometown: Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
Undergraduate College/Major: Escola Maua de Engenharia / Electronic Engineering / Fundacao.Getulio Vargas / Business Management
Past work experience: I worked as a management consultant at Accenture in Brazil, working for the telecom, media and high tech industries. Prior to that, I was at Credicard (Citigroup consumer bank) as Marketing and Finance manager for 2.5 years. I have also 1-year entrepreneurship and 3-year telecom experience
Goals for IBD: Strengthen IPODERAC financial and market positioning, better understand the way how IPODERAC train and educate orphanage children, improve my Spanish and know Puebla.

Joost Krikhaar

Joost Krikhaar
Age: 31
Hometown: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Undergraduate College/Major: University of Groningen, Business Administration
Past work experience: I worked as a project development manager for Siemens. As part of a new strategy unit I developed and managed integrated hi-tech projects. Before that, I worked five years in real estate.
Goals for IBD: help to make IPODERACs business more sustainable, so it can keep supporting Mexican children in need. Also, smoothen my rusty Spanish and enjoy watching the world cup with 72 soccer fanatics.

 


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