International Advisory Council

The International Advisory Council of the SEK International Institution is made up of various personalities with a long professional career in the world of education and public service.

It is chaired by Honorable Dr. Jorge Segovia, and integrated by Honorable Mrs. Laura Chinchilla, Honorable Mr. Mariano Rajoy, Honorable Mr. Andrés Pastrana and Dr. Benjamín Gutiérrez, who is also its Secretary.

It meets virtually or in person twice a year, and its mission is to propose new lines of development for our centers, assessing the geopolitical circumstances at any given time in the different countries where SEK develops its activity.

Born in Madrid, Spain, into a family of educators. He has developed all his professional work in the field of education since 1980, becoming one of the most recognized voices in the world of private education.

His vision of offering a global education, free of discrimination, technologically advanced and supported by the ideal of “educating in and for freedom”, has allowed him to turn SEK into one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world.

Dr. Segovia holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History, a Master’s Degree and PhD in Education from Florida Atlantic University, and is the founder of International Education Systems, an organization whose main objective is the development of a new educational paradigm for the 21st century.

Born in Santiago de Compostela, he graduated in Law and is a property registrar.

In 1981 he began his political career as a member of the first Galician Parliament, councilman and President of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra; these positions were followed by Vice President of the Xunta de Galicia, Minister of Public Administration, Minister of Education and Minister of the Interior.

On December 21, 2011, he became, by absolute majority, the sixth President of the Government of the reinstated Spanish democracy. He renewed his mandate for a second term after being invested by the Congress of Deputies by simple majority on October 29, 2016.

Ms. Laura Chinchilla is a political scientist, graduated from the University of Costa Rica, and holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University. Ms. Chinchilla has dedicated her career to public service and consulting for international organizations.

She was elected President of the Republic of Costa Rica on February 7, 2010, for a four-year constitutional term. She is the first woman in the history of this country to hold the highest office in the country.

During her years of public service, she stood out in the promotion of various policies on citizen security, including the professionalization and modernization of the police, the reform of criminal procedure codes, the adoption of laws against organized crime, and various forms of citizen participation in the prevention of violence.

In addition to her political career, she has worked as a consultant in Ibero-America and Africa with various international organizations in the area of institutional reform, with special emphasis on judicial and public security reform.

Born in Bogotá, he graduated in law from the University of Bogotá and furthered his studies in International Law at Harvard University.

In 1988 he became the first mayor of Bogotá elected by popular vote; in 1990 he founded the Nueva Fuerza Democrática movement, for which he was elected Senator. In the June 1998 presidential elections, he was elected President of the Republic with 51% of the votes.

Along with public service, his main professional activity has been journalism. In 1978 he was the founder and first manager of the magazine “Guion”, and in 1979 he created the “Noticiero TV Hoy”, one of the most successful news programs in Colombian television.

Born in San José, he is a renowned Costa Rican lawyer, with an extensive background in corporate law and international litigation. He holds a PhD in Commercial Law and Civil Procedural Law.

In 2012 he was nominated as Costa Rica’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2013 he won the Éxito Empresarial al Comercio Electrónico award by the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce. He has also been recognized as one of 40 visionaries and innovators who have made a difference by significantly influencing the culture and business development, standing out for his technological and artificial intelligence developments to improve the practice of law.

Born in Panama City, she graduated in International Relations from Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., and obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

His professional career includes experience at the Panamanian Embassy in Washington D.C., the Democracy Center, the Permanent Mission of Panama to the United Nations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama. Between 1994 and 2008, she worked for the United Nations Development Program in Panama and was director of the National Consensus in 2006. Since 2008, she has worked as an independent consultant, being recognized by the Panamanian Association of Business Executives as the outstanding woman of 2012.

In political life, she entered in January 2014 as Juan Carlos Varela’s running mate for the presidential elections. After the electoral victory, she assumed the Vice Presidency of the Republic of Panama on July 1, 2014, becoming the first woman to hold this position, and also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama until July 1, 2019.