Program for the Internationalization of the Curricula Strengthening America’s Current and Future Labor Force

Ofelia Cervantes

PIC-Americas, Executive Director

Mexican Association for International Education (AMPEI)

Ofelia Cervantes served as the Dean of International Affairs for over a decade at Universidad de las Américas Puebla. During her tenure, she established several academic cooperation agreements between UDLAP and globally recognized educational and research institutions, which became strategic partners for the university. She also founded the International Center for Language and Culture, a specialized center for teaching Spanish to foreign students.

In addition to her role at UDLAP, Dr. Cervantes-Villagómez was a notable figure in the field of International Education. She served as the president of the Mexican Society of Artificial Intelligence and the Mexican Association for International Education (AMPEI). Additionally, she founded and presided over the first Chapter of the International Association of International Educators Phi-Beta Delta. For her contributions to the field, Dr. Cervantes has been recognized in Mexico as an influential leader in International Education. She is now the Executive Director of the Program for the Internationalization of the Curricula for the Americas.

Osama J. Butt

Assistant Professor of Marketing

Wilfrid Laurier University, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics

Dr. Osama Butt is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Lazaridis School of Business & Economics – Wilfrid Laurier University. He earned his doctorate from the University of Toronto, an MBA from West Texas A&M University (USA), and a Master’s in Economics from the University of Punjab, Pakistan. Prior to joining Wilfrid Laurier University, he has an extensive experience in university teaching in Canada, the USA, as well as Pakistan. His research interests include marketing communications, branding, and higher education marketing.

Agarzelim Álvarez

Research Professor

Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM)

Zelim Alvarez works as a research professor at the UDEM Business School of the Universidad de Monterrey. She holds a PhD in Administrative Sciences and has over 25 years of professional and teaching experience.

She has taught at UDEM since 2012, the same year she joined as the Director of the Marketing academic program. Currently, she is a full-time professor and teaches undergraduate and graduate MBA courses. She has been a visiting professor teaching graduate courses at the University of Strasbourg in France, ISC Paris Business School, the University of Rosario in Colombia, and the University of San Ignacio de Loyola in Peru, and she teaches doctoral courses at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in México.

She actively participates in international forums, including academic conferences and interdisciplinary symposiums, where she contributes to the generation and dissemination of knowledge. Her most recent engagement was at the Global Digital Humanities Symposium at Michigan State University in March of this year.

Her areas of expertise are Strategic Marketing Planning, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Teaching Innovation and Management Education. As a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico (CONACYT), she has contributed numerous publications to international journals. Beyond her academic pursuits, she actively engages in knowledge dissemination, serving as a columnist for El Financiero-Bloomberg since 2017. Furthermore, she regularly shares her insights on various radio business programs and participates in regional press interviews, offering her well-informed perspective.

Throughout 2023, she participated in the PIC US-MX program from AMPEI, which aimed to promote internationalization at home projects, provide innovative learning experiences for students and strengthen international collaboration networks with professors from other cultures.