Prosperity is like a magnet. It draws people; attracts them. That's what Carlos Fernandez is discovering. He is the CEO of the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI). He finds that when CGSGI helps a new business grow in Latin America, many other groups are attracted to it, creating several large - and largely unintended - ripples of prosperity. Almost two years have passed since this new, market-driven charitable organization was created with the strong financial backing of several mining entrepreneurs, led by Mr. Frank Giustra. Gold Editor interviewed Mr. Fernandez to get an update on how their initiatives are working and an idea of what success looks like - his answers surprised us.
GoldEditor.com Interview with Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi
CEO of the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI) at the Clinton Foundation
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime, goes the old saying. As CEO for the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative, or CGSGI, Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi has been doing this and more for this market- driven charitable foundation.
GoldEditor.com caught up with Fernandez in New York recently for an update on some recent CGSI business, job creation and sustainability initiatives.
An hour-long Q&A came up with some interesting answers, not all of which were expected.
GoldEditor: Carlos, before we talk about you are doing, tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be the CEO here.
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: My background is in engineering and then I have an MBA in strategy and finance. I worked in banking in Latin America, and was exposed to the Business Council for Sustainable Development before the Rio Summit, and I developed an interest in this area.
So after banking I went into mining and I led the local efforts in Bolivia in developing this very large mining project, the largest foreign investment in the country, which happened to be the poorest district . I had hands-on experience in dealing with our investors, our financiers, bankers, and the central, local and provincial governments, the local communities, the Catholic Church, I mean, everybody who was involved in, or had a say in this project.
And we effectively maneuvered through different challenges. I created true partnerships among the company, the communities, other NGO's and all levels of government. My legacy is the effective implementation of sustainable development initiatives that resulted in good things we created along the way - new hotels, staffed and managed by local people, and internet café's with solar powered internet. It gave me a great background for this organization.
GoldEditor: Given your background, what kind of economic opportunities have you created with CGSGI and how successful have you been?
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Well, I'll give you an example. We have done an inverse trade fair in Cartagena, Colombia. Normally in fairs you have the sellers showing in their booths and you have the buyers that come in and see what they're going to buy. This is the reverse.
We arranged for six local hotels to buy some of their food and services from local, small suppliers - on competitive terms. They had the booths. At the same time we worked with the small suppliers, to find ones that produce certain vegetables or produce clothing or they provide cleaning services, whatever. We organized the offer and the suppliers. And we created this mechanism, this inverse trade fair, by which we expose them to the market in a way that they should market their offer and close deals. We gave 150 small -poor suppliers a unique market opportunity they are not normally exposed to.
GoldEditor: So was it a success?
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Yes. It was successful in different ways. While we did not make a sale this first time, the hotels discovered an ample supply of goods and services they were not aware of. Even though not a firm sale was closed, there are a few leads that will be negotiating in the next few days.
And number two, the success for us is not only measured in the sales that are done or that will be sustainably made in the future. Success for us also means understanding why no sales are being made. Why is this hotel buying carrots and this other hotel is not buying the carrots? Is it that there are standard problems? Is it that they have miscommunication? Is that the product is not good? What is it? So we need to understand failure as well so that we can come back and say, okay, fine, so we have helped them change the sizing or the packaging and hopefully meet the demand. We are now following up analyzing all that.
And finally, we discovered that exposing to markets is not only important to small poor suppliers but also to other entities like NGO's working for special groups of suppliers that need markets as well.
GoldEditor: I really hear you are committed to meeting market demand.
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Absolutely. We are a market-driven organization.
And I want to tell you about another success we had at this event - The Ripple Effect.
In this event, we discovered that many of the small suppliers actually are in groups. And this is something that could have a ripple effect that could be huge. For instance, some cancer patients came to the fair with an NGO (non-governmental organization) and they came together as an organized group to offer to the hotels some products that are part of their capacity building. Another NGO works with teen mothers and they came with a product, welcoming the ability to come to market and be exposed to the hotels.
So we create partnerships without money. There is no commercial transaction between CGSGI, and these NGOs.
It just happens that in a marketplace that we are creating, in which we are fostering the purchase by the hotels from small suppliers, there's a number of small suppliers that are grouped by common circumstances: cancer patients, handicaps, teen mothers, you name it. And all of a sudden they become our partners because they also want to sell their things, and they want to align their little constituencies, little suppliers, to market. This creates market-driven commerce and prosperity.
GoldEditor: So you were able to spread prosperity a lot farther and deeper in the community than you originally thought?
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Yes, yes. This was a great discovery, and as a personal note, this is an example of the ripple effect... We're not paying the NGOs. We're just giving them the access to markets. So it's marvelous. And I think that will be replicated in other areas and other industries. There's very little effort, little investment and a great impact.
GoldEditor: The logistics behind that inverse trade fair must be huge. What an endeavour. Is there any other specific, tangible success you could tell our readers about, where sales have been made?
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: There is a group of women spice growers in Colombia who have developed a business selling them under the brand name TANA. They live way, way out in the country. I've been there and you only get there by river.
We held an event in the city of Medellin for the TANA producers. They presented to 40 buyers which included chefs, restaurants, supermarkets, etc., and there we closed a sale by which the TANA spice producers will be able to sell to a supermarket chain of 35 outlets.
The reaction was overwhelmingly positive because a lot of people didn't even know these spice producers even existed. And if we can open a market for them competitively then we're doing our job. And, again, if there was another supermarket chain or there are other restaurants or chefs, we need to understand why they're not buying.
As I mentioned before, success is not only the sale that was made at the event which brings their spices to 35 stores. Success is also understanding why the other 39 did not buy? Understanding this allows us to identify where we can add value to the small suppliers so that another sale will be made , and on and on.
This is an advanced initiative for us. We are measuring results now. We have aligned the sellers with buyers. We have helped them operate their processing facilities. Our goal is to help them increase revenue by 40%.
GoldEditor: Achieving such a positive outcome is no small task, especially in a developing nation. What has been the major challenge in this initiative?
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Well, I tell you what - leadership is the major challenge across the board. Leadership is the number one ingredient for any of these initiatives to happen. I can tell you that the TANA project would be different had they not had the leadership that they have within their own community. They have these two or three women that are really very active. They have the right focus, the vision, to make this happen and they really align all of them behind a, you know, a common goal.
GoldEditor: So how does this realization impact how you do your job?
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: We will now strongly concentrate on leadership training. Leadership identification, leadership training, because it's all leadership. The rest you can learn. You can learn the management skills, the production skills. You can really-- those are tools.
In the TANA I am convinced that they have the right leadership and we have fostered that so that they, will become sustainable. All they need is markets and the management tools. And that's what we are providing.
GoldEditor: Carlos, it's clear your efforts are paying off quickly! You're laying a groundwork of prosperity that appears to be rippling out into the greater community.
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Yes. You know, anyone can just give money, but going into the communities and helping them develop commercial markets is where the sustainability part is really created. And fostering leadership and training in management practices is where our value ad is.
GoldEditor: Carlos, we are so grateful you took time out of your busy day to educate our audience about the sustainable development work you are doing. I am sorry our interview has to end so quickly but I hope we can meet with you later in the year.
Carlos H. Fernandez Mazzi: Of course. I look forward to sharing our successes with you.
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