Adis Vila

About Adis Vila

Adis Vila is a global CXO with 30+ years of experience driving success for multibillion-dollar public and private sector organizations. She specializes in navigating highly regulated industries and empowering organizations undergoing transformation. Adis is an expert in international business and regulation, with extensive public policy and foreign affairs experience. She brings an informed global, regulatory, and public policy perspective to executive teams and boards.As a private sector executive, Adis enabled profitable global growth and expansion. As VP of International Business Development for $750 agri-business Vigoro, she drove market access for products in Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and Scandinavia and negotiated agreements with distributors and business partners. As VP of Government Relations and Regulatory Policy (Caribbean and Latin America) for $22b telecom supplier Nortel Networks, Adis led trade, infrastructure development, investment, and social responsibility across 40 countries. In the public sector, Adis has managed complex government agencies in C-level positions, including as as Secretary (CEO) of the Florida State Department of Administration and Assistant Secretary for Management (COO) for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).Adis has guided organizational transformation in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As the first Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) of the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), she designed and executed comprehensive DEI strategy and was recognized with an Innovation Award by the Profiles in Diversity Journal for her work enabling cadets to develop on-the-job management at multinational companies.Adis’s command for driving cross-cultural understanding for businesses is rooted in her personal experience. Cuban-born, Adis came to the US as a political refugee and speaks four languages. She has lived and worked throughout the US, Latin America, and Europe and is a 30-year member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Adis is the beneficiary of prestigious global fellowships including the US-Japan Leadership Fellowship, the Eisenhower Fellowship (US to Argentina), and Rotary International’s Group Study Exchange to India and Graduate Ambassadorial Fellowship to Geneva, Switzerland.Named a “Leading Latina” by Hispanic Executive and a “Director to Watch” by Directors & Boards, Adis leverages her governance knowledge gained from serving on the Board of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Telephone Bank and on the Advisory Board of Global Asset Management (GAM), a subsidiary of UBS.

Experience

1. Herndon Directors Institute Fellow, Class 1

   Herndon Directors Institute

   Feb 2021 — Present · Atlanta, GA, US

Education

• Florida Institute of Technology

  Senior Fellow, Institute for Cross Cultural Management

• University of Florida - Fredric G. Levin College of Law

  J.D. with Honors, Law

  1978

• The Hague Academy of International Law - Académie de droit international de La Haye

  Certificate, Public International Law

• Geneva Graduate Institute

  LLM (equiv.), International Law, International Relations, International Economics

  1979

• Harvard University

  Radcliffe Institute Leadership Program, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

• Harvard Kennedy School

  Certificate, Senior Executive in State and Local Government

• The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

  M.B.A, Marketing and Business Policy

  1997

• University of Strasbourg

  Certificate, International Human Rights

• Escuela Libre de Derecho

  Certificate, Foreign Investments & International Business Law

• Rollins College

  B.A. with Distinction, Mathematics and Political Theory

  1974