Profile: Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos, ’96, Peru
March 2007
Nineteen ninety six was an action packed year for Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos, ’96, Peru. “I came to the EF program at a crossroads in my career and my life,” he explains. “My company, APOYO, was on the verge of its 20th anniversary and I was in the process of delegating management to a second generation of professionals. That year I also attended the final part of the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University, and later that year, I had a serious craniotomy at Johns Hopkins. So you could say that it was a very eventful year!”
But amidst all the activities of 1996, he says, the highlight was his Eisenhower Fellowships experience. Now Peru’s ambassador to the United States, de Zevallos says that his fellowship in 1996 allowed him to expand his perspectives and reflect on his life goals, as well as explore new methods of reaching them.
De Zevallos originally studied industrial engineering at the University of Lima and obtained his Master of Science degree in management from the University of Rochester in New York in 1970. After working as a consulting engineer for several years, de Zevallos received a unique opportunity in 1977 when his friend Walter Piazza asked for his support when he was called as Minister of Finance when Peru was suffering a severe fiscal crisis. They only lasted 50 days in the job because the government of that time was not yet willing to accept the need for an adjustment program. From this experience, he started a newsletter, Peru Economico, dedicated to providing information and guidance in political and economic matters to private businesses. This venture led to the founding of APOYO, a consulting, publishing, and polling organization.
With such a multi-faceted background, de Zevallos chose to focus on a wide range of fields during his fellowship, including communications, economics, politics, and government, as well as conflict management negotiations and strategic planning. He met with organizations that he viewed as possible future collaborators with APOYO, which included research centers, nonprofit foundations, investment banks, consulting firms, polling organizations, and various universities.
“My program contributed very much to expanding my horizons,” he says. “It also gave me time to review my basic goals and find the best ways to achieve them.”
And part of this “horizon expansion” included, some years later, taking the position of president at the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, a post he held for two and a half years before moving on to another horizon – that of Peruvian Ambassador to the United States.
“I received an invitation from the Minster of Foreign Affairs to represent my people and government in Washington,” de Zevallos says. “I am not a career diplomat, nor have I had significant experience in foreign relations – I presume I was nominated as an independent figure who has experience in economics and a good understanding of American society.”
Coincidentally, this new position had ties to Eisenhower Fellowships – de Zevallos would be replacing 1992 Fellow Eduardo Ferrero Costa as Peruvian ambassador. Ferrero Costa and de Zevallos also graduated high school together. In another EF connection, de Zevallos was temporarily replaced at Universidad del Pacifico by Estuardo Marrou, a 1988 Fellow.
De Zevallos says he has also found strong EF ties since his time in Washington, DC, began in October 2006. “The ambassadors of Argentina and Jordan are also connected to EF [Argentina’s ambassador Jose Octavio Bordon’s wife, Monica Gonzalez de Bordon, is a 1997 Fellow; and Jordan’s outgoing ambassador, Karim Kawar, is a 2000 Fellow]. When I met them, I could talk to them as if we were old friends.”
De Zevallos remains active within the EF network as well. In addition to participating in several international meetings and events, he is also hosting a reception in Washington, DC, to welcome to the 2007 Multi Nation Program Fellows in April. “When it comes to the EF network, it’s not so much a case of using it as much as it is one of finding it your way,” he says. “Eisenhower Fellowships allows a personal enrichment and the long-term interaction with a network of stimulating friends.”