Tenth Annual Building a Competitive US-Mexico Border Conference

The tenth meeting of this annual conference will consider a range of cross-border issues including AI governance, infrastructure, trade, and how elections on both sides of the border will shape the future of the US-Mexico bilateral relationship. 

This daylong conference will feature panel discussions with US and Mexican lawmakers, officials, and private sector representatives to spark a vibrant and productive dialogue focused on further strengthening the competitiveness of the U.S.-Mexico border region.

More speakers to be confirmed.

9:00 am – 9:10 am

Welcoming Remarks

• Lila Abed, Director, Mexico Institute

  Lila Abed is the Acting Director of the Mexico Institute. She previously served as Deputy Director. Prior to becoming the Mexico Institute’s Deputy Director, Lila was a White House correspondent for the international news channel NTN24. An avid international analyst, she employs her skills in an array of media networks, including in her roles as a permanent collaborator at Radio Fórmula and as a weekly columnist for El Heraldo de México and Opinión51.

• Britton Mullen, President, Border Trade Alliance

  BTA President Britton Mullen is the founding principal of BC Consulting, LLC, a full-service government affairs and strategic consulting firm located in Washington, D.C. She brings to the BTA more than a decade of professional experience crafting and executing government relations and communications strategies that have aided elected officials, corporations and trade associations. Prior to this she led the transportation portfolio for Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP; served as vice president of legislative affairs for the American Trucking Associations; and as a senior staff member Rep. Henry Brown, Jr. of South Carolina. She holds a degree from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.

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  9:30 am – 10:15 am

Panel 1 – The Border from the Congressional Perspective

• Henry Cuellar (D-TX)

Representative Henry Cuellar has served as the US Representative for Texas's 28th congressional district since 2005. As a member of the 117th Congress, Cuellar serves on the House Appropriations Committee and House Steering and Policy Committee. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Cuellar served as Texas Secretary of State, and in the Texas house of Representatives. Before beginning his career in government, Cuellar was a licensed customs broker and an Adjunct Professor for International Commercial Law at Laredo State University. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, a JD from the University of Texas Law School, an MA in International Trade from Texas A&M International University in Laredo, and a Bachelor's Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

• Tony Gonzales (R-TX)

Representative Tony Gonzalez has served as the US Representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district since 2021. Gonzalez has twenty years of military experience and prior to joining the US House of Representatives, was a career cryptologist in the United States Navy, rising to the highest enlisted rank of Master Chief Petty Officer for his support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from American Public University and is a Ph.D. candidate in International Development at the University of Southern Mississippi. He also holds a graduate certificate in Legislative Studies from Georgetown University, and served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland system, where he taught political science with an emphasis on counterterrorism. 

 Moderator: Ruben Garibay, Puerto Verde

9:55 am – 10:35 am

Panel 2 – What’s Next for USMCA

• Bob Costello, ATA

Bob Costello is the Chief Economist & Senior Vice President for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the national trade association for the trucking industry. Bob has been with ATA for over 25 years. Besides being Chief Economist, Bob also heads up ATA’s International Trade & Security Policy Department. In this capacity, he works on issues related USMCA, tariffs, customs, cargo theft and security generally.

• Juan Carlos Baker, former Undersecretary of Mexico’s Ministry of Economy and CEO and Founding Partner, Ansley International Consultants

Juan Carlos Baker is a worldwide recognized expert in trade negotiations, international trade, regional economic integration, and foreign relations. In Mexico’s Ministry of Economy, Baker held several important positions; including Director General for North America, where he oversaw the successful implementation of NAFTA provisions in Mexico; Deputy Chief Negotiator of Mexico for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), Chief of Staff to the Minister of Economy and Undersecretary of Foreign Trade.

• Roberto Velasco, Director North America, SRE

Roberto Velasco Álvarez is a Mexican lawyer and politician. He holds a Master's degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Finance from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. In 2013, he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Law from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

10:35 am – 10:50 am

BREAK

10:50 am – 11:40 am

Panel 3 – AI and Cybersecurity: New Technology and New Challenges for the Border

• Pablo Pruneda, Artificial Intelligence Department Coordinator, UNAM

  Pablo Pruneda has been a professor of civil law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) since 1999. He received a master's degree in Industry 4.0 and Process Automation in the 2022 from the University Polytechnic of Catalonia (BARCELONATECH). He has taken various courses on Artificial Intelligence and law at institutions such as the University of Salamanca, Spain, and the CISCO Networking Academy.

• Claudia del Pozo, Founder and Director, Eon Institute

  Claudia Del Pozo is the Founder and Director of Eon Institute, a women-led Mexican think-tank that seeks to future-proof society in light of today’s rapid technological changes. The organization was launched in the summer of 2023 as an independent spin-out of the area Claudia directed in C Minds, where she started working in 2016. In addition to her role at Eon Institute, she acts as a Senior Consultant for C Minds and a Member of the United Kingdom’s Emerging Technologies Advisory Council in Mexico.

• Carlos Martinez, Vice President, Association of Customs Agents Nuevo Laredo

  Carlos Gerardo Martínez González is the dean and founder of the Instituto Internacional de Estudios Superiores Campus Nuevo Laredo, a private university in the border between Mexico and the United States that promotes the logistics competitiveness of North America. He has a master’s degree in Latin American studies by the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University and he studied law in the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

• Moderator: Kellee Wicker, Director Science & Technology Innovation Program, Wilson Center

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11:45 am – 12:20 pm

Panel 4 – China, Mexico, and Cross-Border Trade

•  Luz Maria de la Mora, former Undersecretary of Mexico’s Ministry of Economy

  Luz María de la Mora served as Undersecretary for Foreign Trade in Mexico's Secretariat of Economy. She is the founder of LMM Consulting and the Mexico chapter of Vital Voices Global Partnership. She has served as Undersecretary for Economic Relations and International Cooperation in Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and as Assistant Undersecretary for International Trade Negotiations in Mexico's Secretariat of Economy.

• Diego Marroquin, Bersin Fellow, Wilson Center

• Jason Martinez, Executive Director, Mexico National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (MXCPEC)

• Margaret Myers, Director Asia & Latin America Program, Inter-American Dialogue

  Moderator: Kenia Zamarripa, San Diego Chamber

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  12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

  Lunch (Wilson Center dining room)

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1:30 pm – 2:15 pm

Panel 5 – The New Administration of Mexico

• Luis Rubio, Global Fellow Mexico Institute, former President COMEXI

• Luis Carlos Ugalde, Founder Integralia Consultores, former President INE

• Georgina Barquet, Head of Borders and Special Affairs, Mexican Embassy in Washington

• Alma Caballero, Managing Director, McLarty Northern Latin America Practice

Moderator: Duncan Wood, Vice President for Strategy & New Initiatives; Senior Advisor to the Mexico Institute

2:30 pm

Closing Remarks

·        Lila Abed and Britton Mullen