Rolando Gadala-Maria – Partner

Born in El Salvador and raised in El Salvador and Miami, Rolando Gadala-Maria is President and CEO of several for profit as well as not-for-profit organizations.

Rolando is a Partner and President of STS Capital Partners Latin America and responsible for taking STS’s M&A practice and financial advisory services to the region.

He also serves as President of Franchise Development Systems (formerly known as Grupo Americano de Franquicias), one of the leading franchise consulting firms in Latin America with more than 50 franchised systems developed in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala and starting to provide services in the USA, Dominican Republic, and Peru. Franchise Development Systems is an accredited member and supplier of the International Franchise Association, IFA. Under his leadership, more than 25 different business models were developed for various industries, retailers and service-oriented businesses.

Rolando has been also a guest speaker at several national and international organizations, including the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Investment arm of the US Government) and top business schools in the region, among others.

He also serves as President of Visage Consulting Group, a specialty business development and strategic growth consulting firm.

His entrepreneurial endeavors led him to found ETSA, S.A. in 1984, an apparel manufacturer for the Central American region, that went on to become one of the top two leading companies in the industry. Rolando sold ETSA, S.A. in 1992.

For more than 18 years, Rolando was a Managing Partner at Compañía Panamericana de Licencias, S.A. (Grupo Losani) in El Salvador, a licensing and merchandising agent for several US movie studios, including Warner Bros., Universal, Fox, Televisa, and FIFA World Cup. In 1992, the company was recognized by the Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association as “The Best Licensing Agency in the World”, a first time achievement for a Latin American company in the licensing industry.

Rolando’s diverse interests in education have also motivated him to found Pediatric Development Group, LLC in Miami, Florida. He is also on the board on several related organizations, such as Brain Fitters, where he is currently CEO. Through a strategic alliance with Scientific Learning for Latin America, Brain Fitters has successfully been implementing its programs in many bilingual schools throughout the region. Scientific Learning programs represent the leading scientifically proven technology to increase learning capacities in children.

Rolando has served in several leadership positions such as Education Chair for the Young Presidents’ Organization’s (YPO) El Salvador chapter during the 2008 and 2009, and has been elected to serve as the YPO El Salvador Chapter Chair for the period that ends on June 2011. He currently serves on the YPO Latin America and Caribbean Board as the Central America and Panama Area Chair.

On his social enterprise and philanthropic endeavors, Rolando is author of the Leadership for Good program, a not-for-profit initiative focused on educating leaders about core values across different segments in Central America. This program has earned credentials from several international institutions including IESE Business School at Navarra, Spain.
.