Pilar Mendiola Fernández

Senior Vice President for Advanced Leadership Programs and Chief International Officer of The Washington Center.

Pilar Mendiola Fernández (born 1971) is a leading expert in the fields of experiential education and development of advanced leadership training. For seventeen years she has developed an expertise in designing educational programs for young leaders from across the world. Pilar serves as Senior Vice President for Advanced Leadership Programs and Chief International Officer of The Washington Center (TWC).

In 2011 she was named among the Nation’s Top Women Mentoring Leaders by the WOW Magazine, sharing the honor with Michelle Obama and Sonia Sotomayor, among others.

Biography

Pilar Mendiola Fernández was born in Xalapa, the State capital of Veracruz, Mexicoin 1971. She graduated with honors from UDLA (the University of the Americas) in Puebla, Mexico. Her area of expertise is Educational Communication. Her thesis on educational communication won an honorable mention.

She is a writer; her Spanish-language short stories “Zapatos de nube” (Shoes made out of clouds) are meant to empower people by sharing personal experiences.

Career

Pilar Mendiola Fernández is a leading expert in the fields of experiential education and development of advanced leadership training. She has gathered seventeen years of experience in designing educational programs for young leaders from across the world. Pilar serves as Senior Vice President for Advanced Leadership Programs and Chief International Officer of The Washington Center (TWC). The Washington Center was founded on the belief that the right experience can transform student’s lives, -setting them on a course of achievement, leadership and civic/social responsibility. In 1996, The Office of International and Advanced Leadership Programs was created under Pilar’s leadership. The office advances TWC’s mission by providing international students and high profile officials from around the world with educational, social and cultural opportunities to develop the global skills needed to contribute to their local, state, national and international community, thus preparing them for responsible leadership. More than 3,700 international high potential students, young professionals and high profile officials from 107 countries have participated in the international programs.

Pilar Mendiola Fernández is also responsible for forging ties with international organizations based both around the world and in Washington, D.C. Pilar created a new division within TWC to bring young international leaders from around the world to Washington, D.C. for training that combines theoretical and experiential components with integrating leadership and public management practices in an internship experience.

She designs and implements several highly competitive leadership-training programs for the most outstanding young professionals with the objective of providing them with new tools and skills that will empower them to become better leaders through experiential and transformational learning. She strongly believes that responsible leadership is based on civic and ethical standards that will foster economic and social development. Under Pilar’s leadership more than 25 TWC groundbreaking international programs have been implemented, Today The Washington Center has worked with more than forty-eight (48) countries from around the world to bring international students and high profile public servants (such as secretaries of state and governors) to TWC for advanced leadership seminars and professional training programs.

Some of the prestigious internationally tailored programs and initiatives of The Washington Center are The NAFTA Leaders Internship Program, The Governors Internship Program, The Bush, Mulroney and Salinas Fellowship Program, The Miguel Aleman Regional Development Initiative, The GE Latin American Leaders, The US-China Bilateral Trade Internship Program, The Global Citizens Program for Students in Asia and The US- Panama Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative among many more.

Countries that have benefitted from the international initiatives for work force development and human capital are Mexico, Canada, South Korea, China, Brazil, Russia, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, Panama, Albania, South Africa, Belgium and Japan.

Honors

Good Neighbor Awards 2008. Mike Carricarte, Pilar Mendiola Fernández, Mike Smith, Arturo Sarukhan

Pilar Mendiola Fernández received an award in 2007 by the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce for her outstanding contribution to US-Mexico bilateral relations through Educational Programs.

In 2011 she was named among the Nation’s Top Women Mentoring Leaders Leaders by the WOW Magazine, sharing the honor with Michelle Obama and Sonia Sotomayor, among others.

Pilar Mendiola Fernandez was honored at the 2011 Global Women Mentoring and Philanthropy Summit for her contributions to the next generations of leaders as a Mentor in Atlanta, Georgia.

Another groundbreaking accomplishment under Pilar’s leadership was that The Government of Veracruz and The Washington Center donated an Olmec Head to the Smithsonian Institute in 2004. The Olmec Head is located in Constitution Avenue in front of the Museum of Natural History, bearing testimony to the friendship between the United States and Mexico.

Keynote Speeches

“La industria generadora de Capital Humano:” The Industry that generates Human Capital at the Foro de Vinculación Empresarial (Forum for Business Ties) in 2011, organized by CONALEP (National College for Professional Technical Education), in Tijuana, Mexico.

Honoree and Speaker

“Fostering Partnerships for life” 2011 Global Women Mentoring and Philanthropy Summit

References