Jorge A. Plasencia

Jorge A. Plasencia is co-founder, chairman & CEO of Republica Havas Group, including Republica Havas and Republica Havas Health. Since launching the award-winning firm as a start-up in 2006, he has provided strategic, brand, communications, social impact, digital, and growth counsel to Fortune 500 and other blue-chip companies

Previously, he was corporate vice president and operating manager of Univision Radio, leading the cross-platform strategies of Univision’s television, audio, and digital properties. Earlier, he was vice president of marketing, corporate communications & public affairs. Prior to Univision, he was vice president at Estefan Enterprises, leading marketing, business strategy, and communications, and serving on the management team of major recording artists, including Gloria Estefan and Shakira. Before Estefan, he was the first director of Hispanic marketing for the Florida Marlins. The team won its first World Series championship and was selected Hispanic Marketer of the Year during his tenure.

Named one of the most influential Floridians by Florida Trend magazine and one of the most influential U.S. Hispanics by Poder magazine, Plasencia served as board chair of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest, non-partisan Latino organization.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Florida Council of 100, he was nominated by President George W. Bush — and confirmed by the U.S. Senate — to serve on the advisory board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ OCB. He currently serves on the boards of PBS, the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

At age 17, he co-founded Amigos For Kids, a Miami-based nonprofit serving under-resourced children and families — an institution he has helped nurture to national prominence. This lifelong volunteer work earned him the March of Dimes Humanitarian of the Year Award, among others.

Plasencia’s received numerous accolades, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, CEO of the Year Award from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the Silicon Valley Latino Visionary Leadership Award, and HPRA Pioneer of the Year Award. He was also named Ultimate CEO by the South Florida Business Journal. A Miami Dade College Hall of Fame inductee, he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from Barry University and completed the Advanced Management Executive Program at the Kellogg School.