Ricardo Aizenman Goldberg

Ricardo Aizenman Goldberg blends his entrepreneurial and global banking expertise to deliver humanitarian aid directly to communities in need, and to educate and empower others to do the same.

Ricardo Aizenman Goldberg came from a Mexican family of architects and real estate developers, but he considers himself to be a banker and non-governmental organization (NGO) builder.

Aizenman left his job as a Junior Forensics CPA at KPMG in 1998 to pursue his International MBA at IE in Spain, where he learned and applied concepts of entrepreneurship, ethics, teamwork, performance management, and community, which he used to create a new business and contribute to building and expanding an NGO model. During his IE summer internship at the BBVA corporate headquarters in Madrid, he used these disruptive concepts to design the Global Performance Score Card for BBVA Global Corporate Bank, that was implemented in every country. In the last 20 years, he has constantly used the similar base model as Co-Founder and former Head of the International Commercial Banking at Citibank North America. Today, he is a Partner at a Multi-Family Office and Pre-IPO Fund Director at Fortune Partners Group Multi-Family Office, focused on supervisory, wealth management, and advisory services. Aizenman also holds an undergraduate degree and is a CPA from Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico.

As Co-Founder and Vice President of Cadena International Hub in Miami, a humanitarian aid relief organization in 11 countries, Aizenman dedicates 10-20 percent of his day to humanitarian aid relief efforts, emergency response teams, educational programs, and spreading awareness. He currently focuses his efforts on measuring impact, organizational behavior, and strategy by increasing his international footprint and coverage every year around the world.

Cadena is dedicated to providing assistance in emergencies and natural disasters around the world through the volunteer base “hand-in-hand” method of assistance, which consists of delivering the aid directly to the affected people on behalf of the local Jewish community, partnering with other organizations and volunteers inclusive to all faiths, and as members of the Start Network composed of 42 aid agencies in 5 continents. Since its founding in 2005 in Mexico, Cadena has helped, with many others, 800,000 people in more than 300 humanitarian aid relief missions worldwide. Today, they have an emergency response team and more than 5,000 active volunteers.

In 2017, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico City and the states of Oaxaca and Puebla. Thanks to the support of U2 band members, Walmart, and many other business leaders, volunteers and individual donations, Cadena was able to secure more than 3 million USD for humanitarian aid and the construction of 2,000 temporary fully equipped shelters for those who lost their homes. The shelters were installed next to their homes, and the organization worked with the community to rebuild the victims’ homes. At the same time, Cadena was able to install 600 temporary school classrooms so that children could continue to learn while they were helping the communities build their schools again.

Today, as part of Cadena’s international expansion, more than 1,500 international young leaders from 42 middle schools in 7 countries participate every year in the humanitarian aid relief social entrepreneurship contest called the Cadena Initiative. For this contest, children propose an idea to prevent or respond to a natural disaster in a more effective way, and Cadena implements the winning idea. Promoting skills such as research, critical analysis, and problem-solving in young people ages 12 to 15, the program has spurred innovative and well-designed initiatives to better support vulnerable communities. Selflessness, compassion, teamwork, and leadership are further ingrained in the students, creating a more rewarding experience to look back on and mold their future as empathetic individuals.

Cadena has partnered with Caltech and MIT scientists, as well as other businesses, foundations, and institutions, that are an integral part of the program to come together and support the middle school team in developing these ideas. The Cadena Initiative offers a forum for all creative minds involving schools—students and parents, teachers and scientists—to actively improve the world.