https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5WqgJV8XyI
Ximena Aleman, a student in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at ORT’s Graduate School of Business, won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the 2022 AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards. This international recognition was open to students from the world’s top business schools.
Aleman received the award for her work atPrometeo Open Banking, where she serves as co-founder and co-CEO. Prometeo is one of the largestopen bankingstartups in Latin America, providing access toinformationandpayment servicesfromfinancial institutionsin 10 countries across the region.
At the awards ceremony, which was held virtually, Aleman thanked the Prometeo team, her family, and ORT for their support throughout the various stages of her venture. She spoke about the first major investment decision of her life, which was to use an inheritance she received to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Communication at ORT. She highlighted the role that low- and middle-income women have played in advancing society, taking significant financial risks and making substantial investments with the resources at their disposal.
This award recognizes the work we’ve done at Prometeo to shape the future of Latin America’s financial sector toward open banking, but we’re not alone on this journey.
German.
“In addition, the award highlights the fantastic work that other female leaders in fintech startups are doing, also shaping the financial future of Latin America. So that, in the future, other women can have better financial tools at their disposal to continue moving society forward.”
Fostering an entrepreneurial spirit
The AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards are an initiative designed to foster and promote entrepreneurship among students at the world's top business schools.
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes the achievements and innovations of alumni and the business schools that foster an entrepreneurial spirit.
In this year's AMBA Awards, MBA graduate Sofía Jiménez de Aréchaga was also nominated in the Start-up of the Year category for her ventureMEZCLA,a pioneerin the country in offering designers, architects, and the general publicfurnitureand decorativeitemsmade ofconcrete.
In 2018, graduate Juan Pablo Pereirawas a finalistfor the AMBA Awards for his startup, Armor Bionics, a company that offers visual solutions and 3D models to help plan surgeries and conduct tests in order to achieve the most effective results.
These nominations were based on several core values of ORT’s School of Graduate Business Studies and the School of Management and Social Sciences:
- Entrepreneurial spirit, which is fostered through its curriculum, its entrepreneurial culture, itsCenter for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), and its participationin and organization ofinternationalpitch competitions.
- Innovation innovation inbusiness, adapting and leading the digital transformation of organizations.
When asked about this, Dr. Gaston J. Labadie, dean of ORT’s School of Management and Social Sciences, stated: “This is an external validation of our work. It is international recognition of our status as a national and regional leader and as a leading institution in the fields of entrepreneurship, digital business, and sustainable business.”
Excellence, leadership, and innovation
The AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards are among the most prestigious awards in the business world. They aim to recognize talent, excellence, leadership, innovation, lifelong learning, and sustainable initiatives within the global business education community.
Some of the schools that were nominated alongside ORT’s Graduate School of Business include ESMT Berlin (Germany); MBA Centre, Shanghai University (China); ESADE Business School (Spain); IE Business School (Spain); NEOMA Business School (France); Athena School of Management (India); EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico); Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics (Portugal); Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London (United Kingdom).
The event was organized bythe Association of MBAs (AMBA)—one of the world’s three leading business school accrediting bodies, of which ORT’s MBA program is a member—and bythe Business Graduates Association (BGA), a membership and quality assurance organization for business schools that share a commitment to responsible management practices, lifelong learning, and a positive impact on their communities.