Cluster Consulting counts with a multidisciplinary team and a large number of national and international consultants and 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.
"The most important is to follow your dreams and be authentic. I started as a strategy consultant for multinationals in Europe and today as Cluster Consulting director, I help the development of regions and collectives in Latin America."
Carlos Tarrasón, Spanish resident in Brazil, has over 25 years of international experience in projects of economic development and strategy, conducted mainly in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Spain and the UK. He has worked in Brazil for the past twenty 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 twenty 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, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Piauí).
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: food, urban mobility, ICT, biotechnology, electro electronics, travel, fashion, health services, etc.
He is a regular lecturer at the Global and Latin American conferences on clusters and competitiveness organized by The Competitiveness Institute. He has presented methodologies and case studies in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain. Recent lectures include topics as Industry 4.0, Smart Specialization for regions and Agroindustry and sustainability.
He represents Brazil and Peru in the TCI Latin American Chapter.
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.
Marcelo is a senior consultant at Cluster Consulting and has been collaborating with the company since 2020, when he was a consultant for the Fashion Cluster initiative in Teresina, as part of the Teresina Competitive program.
He has 15 years of experience in economic development consulting with notable expertise and skills in developing innovative and sustainable strategies and solutions for socio-economic challenges; optimizing relationships between communities and large enterprises; leading multifunctional teams, coordinating complex projects, and ensuring delivery within deadlines and budgets; establishing strategic partnerships and conducting effective negotiations to achieve common goals; and communicating and managing stakeholders at all levels.
He worked for 3 years as a project manager at NMC Projects and Consulting, 3 years as an economic affairs advisor at the State Planning Secretariat of Minas Gerais; 3 years as a special projects advisor in the intelligence department of the Minas Gerais Investment and Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (INDI). In Australia, he was a trainee in the marketing area for six months at a Supply Chain consulting company and worked as a process analyst for six months at a logistics sector startup. He has accumulated four years of experience working as an independent consultant on projects involving socio-economic and environmental analyses and territorial development. He has expertise in database management, economic analysis, and statistics.
He holds a degree in Economics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a master's degree in Applied Economic Theory from the Federal University of Pernambuco. He is also a postgraduate in international business from Grey Stone College (Sydney - Australia).
His native language is Portuguese, he has an advanced level of English, and an intermediate level of Spanish.
Kurt Rothschild has been a collaborator at Cluster Consulting since February 2022. He was as a consultant in the Study of recommendations and proposal of governance strategy for the creation of aquaculture clusters in Peru. Previously, worked on the projects Strengthening the mango agro-export cluster in Piura and Promoting the circular economy by obtaining bioactives and bio-products for the recovery of residues in the northern region of Peru.
He has held management and coordination positions, and been a consultant, in projects at non-governmental organization and in key functional areas within the public sector. He has experience in managing programs and projects in productive and capacity development, territorial competitiveness and sustainable development.
He previously worked as Director of capacity and exportable supply development at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, and as Specialist in value chains and business networks at the Ministry of Production in Peru. He also has experience as a Business Network Articulator (field technician) in rural areas, and was a member of the coordination team of the Mov'eo cluster in France, aimed at developing the automotive industry through innovation.
Kurt has an industrial engineering degree from the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences, postgraduate studies in sociology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and master's degrees in local development economics and international studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
His native language is Spanish, and he is fluent in French at an advanced level and English at an intermediate level.
Martín Cassinelli has been a collaborator at Cluster Consulting since June 2022. In the period of June-August 2022 he worked as professional intern on the project Strengthening the Quinoa Cluster in the Apurimac Region.
Previously, he worked for two Public Relations and Public Affairs agencies in Berlin (Germany). There, he advised multinational companies in the energy, agriculture and technology industries in their relations with the German federal government. He also contributed to positioning and reputation strategies for them in print and television media. Prior to that, Martin worked for a sustainable development consultancy for SMEs in Germany, and worked as an intern at the Peruvian Embassy in Germany.
Martin holds a B.A. degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and is currently an M.A. candidate in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), specializing in international development and the Latin American region.
His native languages are Spanish and German, and he is fluent in English and Portuguese at an intermediate level.
Adrian Bendelman, a native of Uruguay, has been a Cluster Consulting collaborator since June 2019. He worked as a consultant in several projects: Strengthening the Quinoa Cluster in the Apurimac Region, Strengthening the mango agro-export cluster in Piura, and the Cajamarca Dairy Cluster Project.
Currently, he works as an independent professional on issues of competitive improvement, innovation, internationalization and initiatives related to public-private articulation, both in the public sector, in the private sector and in international organizations.
Until 2014, he served in the Office of Planning and Budget of Uruguay (OPP) as Senior Executive supporting the development of several productive clusters in the country (in agriculture, industry, services, tourism and creative economy) under the Conglomerates Competitiveness Program and Production Chains (OPP / IDB). He has experience in the design of tools to support the public sector, as well as in the formulation and monitoring of innovation projects, competitive improvement and internationalization. He led strategic processes for different companies in the productive sector in Uruguay.
He holds a degree in Sociology from the Universidad de la República (UdelaR). He also completed the Development Module (pilot of the Bachelor in Development, UdelaR). He also has technical studies in Marketing (Universidad ORT) and Management (ACDE).
His mother language is Spanish and he is also fluent in Portuguese and English.
Jose Arcaya has collaborated with Cluster Consulting since January 2019. In 2020 he worked in the project to identify and analize the international demand for Amazonian, sustainable and deforestation free cocoa in Ecuador, contacted by UNDP. In 2019, he worked as a consultant in the Prioritization of Agro-Export Chains Project in the Dominican Republic, a partnership of the National Competitiveness Council (Consejo Nacional de Competitividad) with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
He has worked in the area of public policy for two years, collaborating in the development of international trade in Peru.
He has experience with analysis of data oriented to economic development, in particular for the promotion of foreign trade, through the use of statistical software. He has worked at Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, preparing methodologies and instruments for the promotion of programs and projects oriented to the progress of Peruvian exports. Also worked in National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration of Peru, preparing sectoral economic studies.
Jose holds a degree in Economics from Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and an specialization in International Trade.Currently he is doing a MSc in International Economics at the Nottingham University in UK.
His native language is Spanish and he also has proficiency in English.
Fabiana Ribeiro has been a collaborator of Cluster Consulting since 2010. In 2020-2021, she is part of the Health Services Cluster Initiative project team within the Teresina Competitiva Program. In 2011, she worked in the Smart City BH cluster project aimed at improving urban mobility in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte through a strategic alignment of mobility smart solution providers. In 2010, she worked as a consultant in the Point-of-Care Diagnostics cluster project, an initiative to improve the competitiveness of the Biotechnology and Human Health cluster in Belo Horizonte.
For over 15 years, Fabiana has been working on projects to foster sustainability and local development together with public, private, and third sector organizations.
Fabiana holds a Social Communication bachelor's degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and an MBA in Sustainability Management from Leuphana Universität.
Her native language is Portuguese, and she has proficiency in English and intermediate level of German.
Cleber Muñoz, has been a collaborator for Cluster Consulting since November 2021, when he joined the team for the Strengthening of the Quinoa Cluster project in the Apurimac Region.
Since 1997, he began his professional career as a technical staff of PRONAMACHS, promoting the management and conservation of natural resources, he also worked in the Regional Agrarian Directorate of Puno, in public investment projects, oriented to the promotion of productive chains of Andean crops (quinoa, cañihua and native potatoes).
Later he worked in the World Food Program - WFP, as a monitoring assistant for the Prevention of Natural Disasters - UNTFHS project, then as Regional Coordinator in the Joint Andean Grains Program and the Andean Seeds project, both programs implemented by the Organization of the United Nations for Food and Agriculture - FAO, Profonanpe consultant; Among the main tasks promoted, the development of the quinoa value chain, the AYNOKA collective brand, the strengthening of producer associations through cooperatives, advocacy to generate regional standards and agricultural extension through methodologies such as the Field Schools of Farmers – ECAs.
Cleber Muñoz is an Agricultural Engineer graduated from the National University of the Altiplano in Puno-Peru, he has a master's degree in Rural Development from the same university.
His mother tongue is Quechua, he is fluent in Aymara and has a basic level of English.
Boyang Xue, from China, is a collaborator of Cluster Consulting since June, 2016, when he was involved in a project aiming at improving the handmade cheese production and marketing in the state of Minas Gerais and another project on geography indication (GI). Currently he is living in China.
Boyang Xue previously worked as project coordinator for China CAMC Engineering in Venezuela, where he was in charge of client relation management, procurement of equipment, power generation and transmission project management and managed 15 to 20 Venezuelan staff. He also worked as research assistant for The Brookings Institution in Washington DC, where he conducted research on China’s political and economic engagement with Latin America, evaluated Chinese investment in the region and its impact on Latin American economic development.
Boyang holds a BA in Spanish Literature and Linguistics from Beijing Language and Culture University in China, and is pursuing his Master of Arts in International Economics & Latin American Studies from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC, USA, where he specialized in economic development strategies. He also completed a certificate program in Japanese and Japan Studies at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan and spent one academic year in Universidad Santiago de Cali in Cali, Colombia.
His native language is Mandarin, fluent in English, has working proficiency in Spanish and has intermediate level of Japanese and Portuguese.