Faculty CDC

Maria Luisa Blazquez is a Professor at the University of Comillas and a Research Associate at the International Center for Competitiveness (ICC), IESE Business School, where she lectures on strategy and leads several projects for public and private institutions on the competitiveness of regions and countries. She has participated as a lecturer in Foundation's projects in more than 15 countries. Her research and publications mainly focus on competitiveness and cluster' roles. She holds an MBA from MIT and a Ph. D. from ICADE in clusters and their role in regional competitiveness.

Maria Luisa is a Professor at the University of Comillas and a Research Associate at the International Center for Competitiveness (ICC), IESE Business School, where she lectures on strategy and leads several projects for public and private institutions on the competitiveness of regions and countries. She has participated as a lecturer in Foundation’s projects in more than 15 countries. Her research and publications mainly focus on competitiveness and cluster’ roles. She holds an MBA from MIT and a Ph. D. from ICADE in clusters and their role in regional competitiveness.

He recently retired from the World Bank, where he was the Global Lead in Private Sector Development. Before joining the bank, he held the roles of Director of Competitiveness Summer School at IESE Business School and Coordinator of the European Union’s Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI). Previously he was the CEO of The Cluster Competitiveness Group and the founding chairman of The Competitiveness Institute (TCI). He has a degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, an MPA and an MBA from Harvard University.

Dr. Christian Ketels is currently serving as Lead Economist in the World Bank and is a global expert on competitiveness, cluster-based economic development and strategy. 20+ years faculty member at Harvard Business School, leading the the research team at Prof Michael E Porter’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. His specialties include: Consulting to governments, international organizations, and business networks on regional and national competitiveness, cluster development, and microeconomic policies. Consulting to companies on business unit strategy, evaluations of market structure and attractiveness, and locational choice.

Tomislav is an Associate Professor at ESCI-UPF, where he directs Continuous Education Master’s Programs and coordinates the RISE Research Group.

He has led and researched several large-scale, EC-funded multinational projects (including SELUSI and SEFORÏS) and collaborated with the OECD on entrepreneurship and social innovation.

Before entering academia, he founded a Toronto social enterprise and held managerial roles in Canadian banking, IT, and engineering consultancy.

He holds a PhD in Business Administration and Management from IESE Business School, an MBA from the University of Toronto, and a BASc in Electrical Engineering and Computing from the University of Zagreb.

Inés Sagrario is a Partner at COMPETITIVENESS. She has worked in South and South-East Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Ms. Sagrario has extensive experience leading competitiveness projects in a broad array of sectors, although over the past decade she has specialized significantly in agro and food-related projects. Her expertise in agtech has led her into entrepreneurship, co-founding Ekonoke, an indoor farming start-up in Madrid.

Meriem Ait Ali Slimane is a Lead Economist in the Innovation Department of the World Bank Group. Previously, Meriem co-led the Jobs Accelerator in South Asia, an initiative designed to support governments in unlocking growth and employment in job-rich sectors through sectoral analytics and public-private dialogues. Meriem holds master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA/ID) and École Centrale Paris, as well as an Industrial Engineering degree from École Nationale Polytechnique in Algeria.

Ekin is a leading expert in cluster excellence, innovation ecosystems, and industrial transformation with over 20 years of international experience across Europe and Türkiye. As General Manager of TABU Solutions, he has led EU-funded programmes supporting SME internationalisation, value chain development, and institutional capacity building across sectors including automotive, renewable energy, textiles, and agribusiness. An accredited ESCA Benchmarking Expert and EFCE trainer, he currently advises Bursa Automotive and İnegöl Furniture clusters on governance, strategy, and global competitiveness.

Reza is a Trustee of the Foundation for Clusters and Competitiveness. He has extensive expertise on cluster-based economic development, globally. A former UK public servant, his professional background encompasses over three decades of experience in designing and implementing policies that drive competitiveness and economic development through innovation systems. Reza is a technologist with a joint MBA from Cranfield School of Management, UK and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.