Cluster Consulting counts with a multidisciplinary team and a large number of national and international collaborators.
Carlos Tarrasón is the director and senior partner of Cluster Consulting and has built an extensive network of experts in clusters and economic development. Those experts have themselves wide experience and proven abilities working in such projects in Latin America and Europe for regional governments and development institutions such as the IDB, the World Bank or UNDP.
Carlos Tarrasón, Spanish resident in Brazil, has over 15 years of international experience in projects of economic development and strategy, conducted mainly in Brazil, Peru, Spain and the UK. He has worked in Brazil for the past nine years for Cluster Consulting, IDB-MIF and consultancies specialized in competitiveness and clusters. He previously worked for leading global strategy consultancies such as The Boston Consulting Group and Mitchell Madison Group (Mckinsey spin off) in Europe.
Carlos Tarrasón graduated from ESADE Business School with an MBA from ESADE and Indiana University and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), concentrating in Brazilian politics and economy.
During his nine years in Brazil, he has widely participated in the debate on regional development though public presentations, seminars and workshops both at the federal level (SEBRAE, Ministry of Development, IDB) and at a state level (Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná). In Minas Gerais, he was largely responsible for the structuring, execution and coordination of the Regional Competitiveness Programme 2008-2009 for the SEBRAE and with the participation of SECTES, SEDE, SETUR and FIEMG, and its continuation in 2010-2012.
In recent years, he has worked as a consultant in competitive programs for governments and institutions as well as director, mentor or consultant in more than 25 cluster projects including a wide range industries: urban mobility, ICT, biotechnology, electro electronics, food, travel, fashion, etc.
Carlos worked for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Brazil and Peru. In Brazil, he was a consultant for the IDB-MIF from 2004 to 2006 accompanying the progress and achievement of about 38 projects led by the MIF (Multilateral Investment Fund for innovative projects) including an in-depth supervision of 8 of them, notably the PROMOS Cluster Project. He also prepared and implemented the MIF Seminar on project management.
His native languages are Spanish and Catalan. Carlos is also fluent in English and Portuguese, and has an intermediate level in German.
Clara Santamaria Clara Santamaria works as consultant for Cluster Consulting since 2012. Currently, she is involved in a project about the bakery sector in Brazil for SEBRAE-MG and Amipão. The aim of this project is to develop future strategies and a plan of action for the bakeries and other value chain agents of the bakery sector in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
She has wide experience in the consultancy area. She worked during more than five years in the company Deloitte, in Barcelona, where she participated in multiple projects of different sectors: banking, energy, ITCs, biotechnology, etc. There, she worked supporting companies and organizations in obtaining and managing grants and incentives at local, national and European level for the development of R+D+I projects and the development of investment projects focused on regional development, generation of employment and innovation. Also in Deloitte, she worked as a consultant in the analysis and elaboration of socioeconomic impact studies for the energy renewable sector. Previously, in 2006, she worked in Australia at the Catalan Trade Promotion Centre in Sydney,with a scholarship from the Catalonian Government to support Catalan companies in their internationalization process in Australia and New Zealand.
Clara is graduated in Business Administration and Management by the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and studied a part of her degree at the Erasmus Universiteit of Rotterdam, Holland. Additionally, she has Master of Arts in International Relations by the Instituto de Barcelona de Estudios Internacionales (IBEI), with the specialization in Political Economy of Development.
Her native languages are Spanish and Catalan; she is fluent in English and has a good command of Portuguese.
Luiz Angelo is a Cluster Consulting member since 2012, and is currently involved in a Project about the bakery sector for SEBRAE-MG and Amipão. The aim of this Project is to develop future strategies and a plan for the bakeries and other value chain agents of the bakery sector in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
He previously worked as consultant in INDG (current Falconi Consultores de Resultado) and ELO Group, developing projects in different areas: public sector, energy, banking system, retail and communication. He also provided courses about Business Process Management and Daily Work Routine.
As junior entrepreneur he was Project Management Director in Brasil Júnior, President in UFMG Consultoria Jr. and in Federação Mineira de Empresas Juniores. He also managed projects in Strategy and Quality areas for the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises – JADE, in Brussels – Belgium.
Luiz Angelo is graduated in Economics with emphasis on Quantitative Methods by the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG. Currently he studies in the Graduation Specialization Course of Fundação Dom Cabral – FDC.
His native language is Portuguese, is fluent in English and has an intermediate level in Spanish.
Rafael is a Cluster Consulting member since 2012, and was involved in two food sector projects in the State of Minas Gerais: The first project involved the selection, business model design, infrastructure and logistics for four food clusters, a Minas Gerais Government's project along with the World Bank; the second project consisted of the food technology and ingredients cluster development in Viçosa, a SEBRAE project involving its institutional partners.
He previously developed strategic consulting services for Solven Solventes e Químicos regarding business development on the import of machinery and inputs, as well as business opportunities prospection in the paraffin international market. He also worked in the european pharmaceutical market in Germed Farmacéutica, specifically in the internationalization of this Brazilian group in Portugal, Spain and Italy. He has experience in business development and international integration of companies, organizations and government agencies, as well as in creating and managing organizational structures and international events.
Rafael holds degrees in International Relations and Economics from Faculdades de Campinas (FACAMP), a MBA in Strategic Management in International Business from the same institution and a Master in International Business Management from the University Carlos III of Madrid.
His native language is Portuguese, is fluent in Spanish and English and has basic knowledge of Italian.
Luiza Limões is an intern at Cluster Consulting since 2013. Currently, she works on a project for SEBRAE-MG and Amipão about the bakery sector in Brazil. The aim of this project is to develop future strategies and an action plan for the bakeries and other value chain agents of the sector in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
She previously worked as intern at the department of knowledge management of FALCONI (former INDG), in which she supported projects in the initiation step through research and market analysis in different areas such as: industry, transportation and logistics, retail, hydroeletric, urban and environmental services, public services and thrid sector businesses.
As junior entrepreneur she worked as Project Manager at UFMG Consultoria Jr. and had the opportunity to execute and manage project in the following areas: Human Resources, BPM, Marketing and Strategy.
Luiza studies Economics at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG.
Her native language is Portuguese and she has an intermediate level of English.
Sébastien Morvan, a native from France, collaborates with Cluster Consulting since 2011. During 2011 worked as a consultant in an strategic analysis of the dairy sector to define strategies and increase competitiveness of the Minas Gerais companies in the sector.
Sébastien started his career as an Investment Banker at Société Générale in London. He reached Associate level within the Fixed Income Derivatives division, advising top tier Scandinavian Financial Institutions on structured solutions. Building on this experience, he has then focused his efforts towards economic development in Latin America. He worked as a financial analyst at Fundación Pro Vivienda Social, a microfinance institution specialized in affordable housing in Argentina and as a project manager within the business incubator of Coprodeli, a leading grassroots NGO in Peru helping entrepreneurs at the Bottom of the Pyramid. During graduate school, he also volunteered for Ashoka Youth Venture at their HQ in Arlington, VA.
Sébastien holds a Master Degree in Management (Honors) from ESSCA Business School in Angers, France, and a Master of Arts in International Economics & International Relations (Honors) from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC, USA, where he specialized in Latin American development strategies. He also spent an academic year at Queen's School of Business, Kingston, Canada.
His native language is French; he is proficient in English and has a working knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese.
Fabiana Ribeiro has been collaborating with Cluster Consulting since 2010. Recently she was working as a consultant in the Smart Mobility Belo Horizonte project to develop the technological solutions cluster for mobility. During 2010-2011 she was member of the team responsible for promoting competitiveness in the Biotechnology and Human Health cluster in Belo Horizonte/MG, a project coordinated by the Brazilian Support Agency to Micro and Small Enterprises - Division Minas Gerais (Sebrae-MG) and the State Secretariat for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Minas Gerais Government (Sectes-MG).
She also worked at Adelphi Consult (Munich, Germany), committed in the Seed Awards 2009 (an IUCN, UNDP & UNEP initiative), supporting the evaluation of concept notes and being responsible for the support of three SEED Award 2009 winners. Furthermore she developed training materials for various topics and supported the proposal writing in several international tenders and calls for proposals (e.g. Eco-Innovation, Tempus, InWEnt etc). Earlier at Sectes-MG she gave her contribution to the Technology Innovation Network project, coordinating innovation projects among municipalities, high-tech companies and research centres.
Fabiana Ribeiro is graduated in Social Communications/ Public Relations at UFMG, post-graduated in Strategic Project Management at UNA and is concluding her MBA in Sustainability Management at the Leuphana University, in Lüneburg, Germany.
STRATEGY AND INNOVATION FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Rua dos Dominicanos, 165 - sala 404 · Bairro Serra · CEP 310.210-480
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais · Brasil
