The Leadership Lectures feature world-class, accomplished and influential leaders with expertise ranging from business and philanthropy to public service and academic research. Through the Lectures, we hope to inspire thought-provoking dialogue within the community by providing access to the expertise, advice and best practices of some of the world’s foremost leadership minds. As such, the attendance to the lectures are free and open to the public.
Lecture
Presenters
- Francis Hondal
Francis A. Hondal is President of Loyalty and Engagement at Mastercard, where she leads the development of products that enable exceptional consumer experiences through loyalty, rewards, and performance-based marketing services for enterprises worldwide. Her team delivers end-to-end solutions that provide contextual, digital-first experiences for today’s connected consumers and more valuable engagements for merchants and issuers. She brings this perspective as a member of Mastercard’s Management Committee.
With over 25 years of experience in consumer marketing, finance, and management, Francis previously led credit and loyalty for Mastercard, responsible for growing usage and preference of Mastercard-branded products. She has been a passionate advocate for consumer-centric strategies leveraging insights and technologies that influence consumer engagement and build brand affinity throughout her career. For Mastercard in Latin America and the Caribbean, she was responsible for the development, management, and marketing of all products and solutions, as well as Mastercard Advisors consulting services. Prior to joining Mastercard in 2011, she launched a business development and marketing service firm after a 17-year career at American Express.
Francis is a first-generation Cuban-American and was named three times in ALPFA/Fortune’s Top 50 Most Powerful Latina Women in corporate America. She currently serves on the board of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly L Brands, Inc.) and Equitable Holdings, a financial service holding company comprised of two complementary and well-established principal franchises, Equitable and AllianceBernstein. She is also a Board observer for Flybits, a Canadian contextual marketing fintech, and serves on the board of the FIU Foundation.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Finance and International Business and an MBA from Florida International University (FIU). Francis lives with her family in Miami.
- Moderator - Nathan J. Hiller, Ph.D.
Nathan J. Hiller, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Center for Leadership and Associate Professor of Global Leadership and Management in the College of Business at Florida International University. He is passionate about the connection between the science of leadership and the practice of helping leaders and organizations make small adjustments to maximize leadership capacity.
As an academic, Dr. Hiller's focus is on investigating how senior organizational leaders and leadership teams can operate more effectively, finding ways to enhance how leadership scholars investigate and understand leadership, and understanding the ins and outs of collective forms of leadership. Nathan’s research publications have appeared in most of the top competitive journals in the field and his work has been cited more than 3000 times by other scholars. He holds or has held editorial board positions at the Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, and the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. He is the recipient of 8 teaching awards and has received several international research awards.
In his role at the Center for Leadership at FIU, Nathan oversees all executive leadership development programs and is the Faculty lead for The Senior Executive Leaders Program, The High Impact Leadership Program, The Leadership Accelerator Program, and an internal FIU program geared for senior leaders (deans, vice presidents) of the university. As a leadership development practitioner, Nathan has led projects, held grants, and consulted with senior executive teams and leaders from organizations including: Boston Scientific, Hewlett Packard (HP), the US Secret Service, Bacardi USA, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nathan has held visiting faculty appointments at Cornell University and the University of Washington (Seattle), and taught a graduate leadership course at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) in Rio de Janeiro. Nathan loves to travel and draws regularly from his experience living in four countries on three continents in ten cities. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Calgary and both his M.S. and Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University.
We would also like to thank our university partner, FIU Honors College for their support.
