Mr. David C. Hatch
IICA Representative in the United States.
Mr. Hatch currently serves as IICA’s Representative in the United States. He also serves as IICA’s technical advisor and strategist for agricultural insurance in the Americas.
His career includes over 25 years in a unique range of business, government and inter-government positions. Prior to joining IICA he was president of a health insurance services company in California with a focus on developing self insured and partially self insured programs along the US/Mexico border. He has served as a White House Appointee in Washington, D.C. as Associate Administrator of the Risk Management Agency that administered the $40 billion agriculture insurance program for the United States Department of Agriculture. While at the USDA he was responsible for leading the negotiation of the multi- billion dollar standard reinsurance contract on behalf of the US Government with 16 separate private sector companies; these negotiations were completed ahead of schedule despite significant political pressure. He also supervising field operations, adjudicated the most difficult and complex claims, developed new methodologies for evaluating the financial and operational fitness of each participating insurance company and implemented an improved corrective action process to help ensure the integrity and stability of this essential program for American farmers and ranchers.
Previously he served as president of multiple businesses where he pioneered new business, risk management and customer service models. Results included securing over $200 million in savings for global clients and the preservation of the aerospace business unit of Goodrich. Mr. Hatch also has broad international experience and skills in such disciplines as managing business start ups and ramp ups, developing successful partnerships and alliances, leadership, creating value based organizational cultures, marketing, insurance product design, negotiation, reinsurance, risk financing, organizational change, and strategic planning. His international experience includes the British Isles, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America.
Mr. Hatch has also served on numerous private and public sector boards of directors throughout his career. He has also authored a book on the Latin American culture.
Mr. Hatch holds a M.A, degree in Organizational Behavior (Magna cum Laude) and a B.A. in Political Sciences – Emphasis in International Politics (Cum Laude) from Brigham Young University.
Dr. Priscila Henríquez
Specialist in Management of Technology and Innovation
Priscila Henríquez is an agricultural professional with more than 20 years experience in international agricultural research and development. She has hold posts in several international organizations, including IICA, ISNAR, CIMMYT, FAO, and the Natural Resources Institute (NRI, England). She has worked in project management and evaluation, capacity building, field research, and research management in Latin America.
She joined IICA in 1999 as Regional Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Network of Plant Genetic Resources (IICA-GTZ) where she coordinated field research activities seven Mesoamerican countries. She assisted the countries in the formulation of their plant genetic resources strategies and plans that included issues of biotechnology management and intellectual property rights.
From 2005 to 2009 Priscila worked as Specialist in Competitiveness at the IICA Office in El Salvador where she was responsible for developing the Office project portfolio in agricultural innovation, agricultural health and food safety, policy and trade, and agribusiness development. Her work focused on developing capacities in the public sector to support small farmer’s agriculture, especially to link food producers and processors to markets.
Priscila lead the technical team that formulated the National Food Security Plan in El Salvador that gave rise to the execution of several projects on food security and nutrition in the country. In this effort, she coordinated with public and private agencies in the country, including the WFP, FAO and WHO, and the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education and the Environment.
Currently Priscila is IICA’s Technology and Innovation Specialist for the Northern Region based at the IICA Office in USA. She is also the Executive Secretary of the Cooperative Program in Agricultural Research and Technology for the Northern Region (PROCINORTE) which coordinates agricultural research and innovation projects among public research institutions of Canada, Mexico and the United States. She has recently given the Representation of IICA in FONTAGRO. Priscila also provides technical backstopping and project development to the IICA Offices in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
Priscila holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Greenwich (England), an MSc in Entomology from the University of Alberta (Canada), a BS in agriculture from the Polytechnic University of El Salvador. She has also a specialization in Business Administration. She is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.
She has published extensively in her areas of expertise and has also participated as speaker in many international forums and seminars. She has done work in broadcasting and public education focusing on sustainable agriculture and environmental issues. She holds both Salvadorian and Canadian citizenships.