Education Roundtable in Latin America and The Caribbean with Department for Business and Trade

Join us for an in-person presentation led by Kelly Tavares Department for Business and Trade (DBT)’s Head of Education in Latin America and The Caribbean (LATAC). Kelly will provide an overview on education opportunities for UK organisations in the region with a focus on DBT’s priority markets: Brazil, Mexico, Commonwealth Caribbean, Panama, and Colombia.

During this session the Department for Business and Trade will aim to outline the education landscape across LATAC’s priority markets, followed by a high level overview of DBT’s organogram in both their priority markets and reactive markets.

Throughout the presentation, Kelly will offer insights on ‘doing business’ in the region and operating in the market alongside private sector and local partners. She will also present the priority sub-sectors within education in the region namely English language training (ELT), Education Technology, Technical and Vocational Education Training, and Higher Education.

This will be followed by a presentation on priority markets (Brazil, Mexico, Commonwealth Caribbean, Panama, and Colombia) and their respective educational systems, and an overview of their live opportunities and pipeline of projects per sub-sector.

The Department for Business and Trade will offer detail on different services they provide in  support for UK business as well offering an introduction to their key education team contacts across DBT and their International Market Team.

It is well known that LATAC is a competitive market, often requiring contextualized approaches and presence on the ground. Therefore, this session will end with a Q&A to provide BEI members with an opportunity to discuss their experiences and challenges of working in the region around trade and export barriers.  

Kelly Tavares is an education professional with over 20 years’ experience in Higher Education, English Language Teaching, and Education Technologies in the United States, Brazil and Latin America. She has worked with British education companies for most of her career, where she managed a diverse portfolio of products, as well as customers.

She has been responsible for developing, maintaining, and growing strategic partnerships with key players inside the broader education space, as well as Ministries of Education and other government agencies. As Head of Education for the UK government in Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC), Kelly is responsible for strengthening ties between the United Kingdom and LATAC, promoting partnerships, events, and exchanges of experiences in education.

Julio is the Head of Education, Health and Life Sciences for DIT Mexico. For the past 5 years, he has applied his vast knowledge across the sectors by helping UK companies to establish in Mexico, strengthening existing bilateral relationships and raising awareness of potential opportunities in Mexico. He is in charge of implementing the strategy for the education and health sectors, which aims to improve the awareness of innovative UK solutions into the Mexican market. He also has experience in working on Market Access issues to support the entry of new UK companies into the country enhancing the overall sector ecosystem. Julio has previous experience in both public and private sector and holds an International Business Degree from IPN.

Agenda:

• 15:00 – 15:30 – arrival and networking over tea and coffee
• 15:30 – 15:40 – Introductions (BEI)
• 15:40 – 16:20 – DBT presentation on LATAC priority markets
• 16:20 – 17:00 - Q&A and discussion on removing trade and export barriers for British organisations in the region