Ana Carolina Freire Gentil, ’18 LL.M., has been a member of the leadership council since 2022. She is a founding partner at Scaramucci Gentil Advogados based in São Paulo (Brazil), focusing on energy, investments, M&A, corporate governance, financing, compliance, and environmental matters. Ana Carolina has more than 25 years of experience, including 17 years at a big law firm and three years as legal and compliance director at a large publicly-held energy company. In 2013, she founded the NGO WILL (Women in Leadership in Latin America) focused on sharing best practices, promoting and enhancing the individual and collective value of women in relevant leadership positions in Latin America. She is recognized as an expert in finance and compliance in Brazil by renowned rankings.

 

León Patiño Cáceres, ’14 LL.M., has been the chair of the leadership council since 2021. He is the Vice-President of Legal and International Affairs at PALMCORP, a holding company with operations in project finance and law, renewable energy, food and beverage, private and national security, and real estate. Underneath PALMCORP is Patiño Cáceres, a boutique law firm with high-level clientele in the Caribbean Region and a focus on corporate and estate planning law. He is the Managing Partner at Patiño Cáceres. In addition to his work with CAROLA, he is also the former chair of the Latin American Leadership Committee, through the Latin American Leadership Program, where he continues to serve as a member.

 

Carlos Aiza, ’93 LL.M., has been a member of the leadership council since 2021. He specializes in international financial law and is a Senior Partner at Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, S.C. in Mexico City. At this firm, he has worked on some of the most innovative capital markets, finance and asset securitization transactions in Mexican history. The Financial Times recognized him in 2018 as one of the “10 Most Innovative Lawyers in North America” He was the first Mexican Lawyer to be recognized on this list. In addition to his role on CAROLA’s leadership council, he is also a board member of Georgetown Law’s Latin American and Caribbean Law Alumni Advisory Board.

 

Virginia Covington, ’80 LL.M., has been a member of the leadership council since 2021. She is a United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida and was the first Hispanic named to this position. She also served on Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal before moving to Florida’s Middle District, having been appointed to that court in September 2001. Prior to becoming a judge, she spent much of her career as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. She was awarded Georgetown Law’s Paul R. Dean Alumni Award in 2020 and she was inducted to the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame in 2021.

 

Diego Martínez, ’00 LL.M., has been a member of the leadership council since 2022. He is the Co-Managing Partner at DLA Piper’s Mexico City office, where his legal focus is in corporate law with an emphasis in corporate finance and debt restructuring transactions. He is an expert in cross-border transactions, finance restructuring & workouts, structured finance, derivatives, private equity, corporate and investment banking and regulatory work of any Mexican financial entity.

 

José Antonio Muñoz, ’86 LL.M., has been a member of the leadership council since 2022. He is the Chair and Managing Partner of Dentons Muñoz in Central America, where he focuses on the intersection of business and public law, public international law, and government. He is also a member of Georgetown Law’s Latin American and Caribbean Law Alumni Advisory Board. At Dentons, he leads the Rule of Law initiative and maintains ties with The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law in the UK and The World Justice Project in the USA.