Leonardo Felice Gorordo is an American entrepreneur, investor and diplomat, currently serving as the United States Alternate Executive Director of the World Bank. He assumed this position on May 10, 2023, and has been acting as the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank since September 2023.[5][1][6] He is best known for his work on Cuba–United States relations through both advocacy and public service. Gorordo's career includes service in the White House under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as an advisor to President Joe Biden's Cancer Initiative.[7][8][9]
Additionally, Gorordo has held various leadership roles in the private sector, most notably as the CEO of eMerge Americas.
In 2021, Gorordo advocated for the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and attended the White House bill signing ceremony with President Joe Biden.[24][25]America Magazine reported that Gorordo was under consideration to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See by President Biden.[26]
As CEO of eMerge Americas, Gorordo has been instrumental in connecting Florida's major tech hubs of Miami, Tampa and Orlando in 2021 to work on a more open business environment for startup ecosystem building.[27] In April 2022, in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Gorordo helped to organize a conference for mayors and private sector leaders to discuss the ways cities can benefit from digital assets and blockchain technologies.[28]
World Bank
On July 18, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Gorordo to be the U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.[29]
President Biden renominated him on January 23, 2023, to be considered under the new session of Congress.[30] Gorordo was favorably reported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 7, 2022, and again on March 8, 2023.[31][32] The entire Senate confirmed his nomination on May 10, 2023 [33]
Gorordo has worked on initiatives to mobilize private capital and engage venture capital and private equity investors in supporting Sustainable Development Goals.[34][35][36] He has advocated for human rights, including LGBTQ rights, stating that "LGBTQ rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBTQ rights."[1] Gorordo has been involved in supporting Ukraine following Russia's invasion, working to engage the private sector in the country's rebuilding efforts.[37] He has also engaged minority-owned businesses to participate in World Bank projects and programs, and has organized events at the World Bank focused on celebrating diversity and addressing issues such as racism and antisemitism.[38]
In addition, Gorordo has supported initiatives to leverage new technologies and financing models to encourage investments in research and development, including efforts aimed at cancer research.[39] As part of his role on the World Bank Board, Gorordo has conducted field visits in Africa and Asia to assess Bank projects and meet with various stakeholders, including government officials, business leaders, and civil society representatives.[40][41]
Entrepreneurship
Following the White House Fellowship,[42] Gorordo joined Clearpath, (acquired by L1BRE), a venture-backed tech company focused on revolutionizing the paper-based immigration filing process – just as TurboTax transformed tax filing.[43] In 2014, he became CEO & President of Clearpath, which leveraged patented-technology to enable individuals to file their own immigration applications.[44] He established partnerships with LegalZoom, H&R Block,[17] and Univision,[45] and successfully sold the company in 2016 to L1BRE. After the acquisition of Clearpath, Gorordo served as CEO of L1BRE, a tech company with operations in the U.S. and Mexico.[46] In 2018, Gorordo was named CEO of eMerge Americas, a venture-backed platform which seeks to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across the Americas, and transform Miami into becoming the tech hub of the Americas.[7][47] In 2019, he led the organizing of the sixth annual eMerge Americas conference, which attracted more than 16,000 attendees and 400 participating companies from over 40 countries.[48] Gorordo also served as co-host for AOL co-founder and Revolution LLC's CEO & Chairman Steve Case’s “Rise of the Rest” Tour through South Florida in 2019.[49]
Gorordo also served as a venture partner at private equity fund I Squared Capital.[51]
Advocacy
U.S.- Cuba relations
In 2003, Gorordo co-founded Roots of Hope after traveling to Cuba for the first time with the purpose of building bridges between young people on and off the island.[52] He built and led a network[53] with over 5,000 students and young professional members across 50 universities in the U.S.[54] He also organized 10 youth leadership conferences at leading universities, including Harvard, Georgetown, Princeton, and Cornell. In 2009, Gorordo served as an advisor to Grammy winner Juanes and helped organize the historic "Peace without Borders" (Paz Sin Fronteras) concert in Havana, Cuba, with 1.2 million young people in attendance.[55] Gorordo contributed to the re-establishment of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic ties,[56] and accompanied then-U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry[57] to the re-opening of the Embassy of the United States, Havana in 2015,[58] and President Barack Obama[59] on his historic trip to Cuba in 2016[60] (the first sitting U.S. president to travel to the island since President Calvin Coolidge in 1928).[61]
On July 11, 2021, peaceful protests occurred in Cuba, inspired by the song Patria y Vida.[62] In the aftermath of these events, President Joe Biden invited a group of Cuban-American community activists, including Gorordo, to a meeting at the White House.[63] The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the political situation in Cuba and explore ways to support the Cuban people in circumventing censorship and accessing free media and internet services.[62]
Cancer Moonshot
In 2015, Gorordo and his mother participated in the pilgrimage trip to Cuba with Pope Francis, which led to her being blessed by the Pope[4] and reuniting with her family on the island after 46 years.[64][65] After losing his mother to pancreatic cancer, Gorordo became involved with then-Vice President Joe Biden’s “moonshot to cure cancer.”[66] In 2016, he helped in the organizing of the White House Cancer Moonshot Summits.[67] In 2018, Gorordo joined the Biden Cancer Initiative and led the organizing of more than 450 Biden Cancer Community Summits across the U.S. to focus national attention on creating actionable solutions in the fight against cancer.[20] In 2018, Gorordo also served as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at StartUp Health, a venture fund and accelerator investing in “Health Moonshots” – like curing cancer – and building a portfolio of digital health companies in over 20 countries.[68]