About EARTH

Alan Kelso is the CEO of Ecodesarrollo Papagayo, S.A.; Chairman and CEO of the Sinergo Development Group; as well as the CEO of Desarrollos NHD, S.A.; Hotelera Cali, S.A; Marina de Herradura, S.A; and Datagrama Comunicaciones, S.A. Under his leadership the Global Industrial Park, Papagayo Peninsula, Marriott Costa Rica Hotel, Los Sueños Marriott Beach & Gold Resort, Hyatt Place Hotel, and Hyatt Andaz in Papagayo were developed. In addition to his service on the EARTH University Board of Directors, he contributes to the improvement of education in Guanacaste province of Costa Rica through his work with the Growing Together for the Development of Guanacaste Association.

Mark S. Brouse retired as president of VISTA Staffing Solutions, Inc., the physician staffing segment of On Assignment. Mr. Brouse joined On Assignment as a result of On Assignment’s December 2006 acquisition of VISTA, a company he co-founded in 1990. Mr. Brouse began his career in pharmaceutical sales in 1980, and in 1986 joined CompHealth, a locum tenens staffing company, where he led specialty teams serving psychiatry and internal medicine clients before founding VISTA. Currently, Mr. Brouse is a member of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Northern Utah and is a past president of that board. He provides mentoring for social entrepreneurs via his participation in the Ashoka Support Network, which supports Ashoka fellows throughout the world. Mr. Brouse is also a member of the National Advisory Board for the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah and is an active investor and member of the Salt Lake City Angels. Previously, Mr. Brouse served as a member of the board of Utah HealthCare Institute, a not for profit entity providing Salt Lake City with quality healthcare through St. Marks Family Medicine Residency, and PEHR Technologies, an electronic medical records company. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Alejandra Cobb is currently an independent business and strategy consultant and active member of the Board of Directors of UNIFOOD Holding, one of Chile’s most important gastronomic operators, and member of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of EARTH University. As an executive with Procter & Gamble (P&G) for over 15 years, she held multiple regional leadership roles in Latin America and Europe in the areas of corporate affairs, government relations, sustainability, and communications. She served the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica for 4 years, as an International Trade Negotiator in various bilateral, regional and multilateral trade negotiations, culminating her service there as Adjunct Chief Negotiator for the “Central America – United States Free Trade Agreement” (CAFTA). She has contributed to multiple Boards of Directors for business and nonprofit organizations chambers and associations in Costa Rica and Spain. Most prominent, the Costa Rican Free Trade Zone Association (AZOFRAS), United Way Costa Rica (Asociación de Empresarial para el Desarrollo – AED), Advisor Counsel of Technology for Costa Rica (CAATEC), the Spanish Soap and Detergent Association (ADELMA) and the Spanish Advertising Self-Regulatory Organization (AUTOCONTROL), amongst others. She earned a BA and MBA from the University of Costa Rica and carried out Trade Diplomacy studies at the Center for Trade Policy and Law in Ottawa, Canada.

Francis Durman is a mechanical engineer graduated from Texas A&M University and currently oversees the holding company that watches over his family’s investments, which include a technology products distribution business, a hospital with facilities in two different locations, a logistics enterprise, two free zone parks, and a helicopter charter flights operator. Previously he served as the CEO for the Latin American chapter of Aliaxis Group, and was the CEO of Durman Esquivel PVC, a family-owned pipes and fittings factory that his father started in 1959. Under his leadership, the company expanded into Mexico, Central America, Peru, and Colombia. Today Mr. Durman is the Director of BAC San José, a leading credit card financial bank in Central America; Chairman of the Board of Manga Rica, Central America’s largest mango farm; President and Chairman of the Board of the Pan-American School; a member of the Board of Purdy Motor Company, Costa Rica’s leading automotive dealer and of the Board of GDC, one of the Central American Region’s largest developers of tourism-oriented projects.