Kogod School of Business BSBA’85 alum Fernando Lewis is the president of Grupo Mundial, a bank holding company in Panama. He believes hard work, charisma, and humbleness are the key characteristics that allow individuals to connect and create meaningful change in our world—and that developing these soft skills is impossible without community and connection through education.
Growing up, Lewis was inspired by his father, Gabriel Lewis Galindo, a top Panamanian diplomate who served as the country’s ambassador to the US during the 1970s.
“My father helped to negotiate the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which guaranteed the transfer of control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 2000,” explains Lewis. “My father was integral when negotiating and ratifying the treaty in the Senate. His charismatic energy helped him make connections and friendships with those in the Senate. This was a discussion between the biggest economy in the world and the tiny country of Panama.”