International Financier
International financier and Harvard Business School Club of Washington president Antonio Alves, photographed at a private club in Washington, D.C.
Antonio Alves gave up a successful career as an investment banker in his native country of Brazil to work for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a development bank that is part of the World Bank Group, because he wanted to reap more than just monetary benefits from his work. “At the IFC, there are financial rewards,” says Alves, “but I am also helping other people by bettering their lives in developing countries, which is personally very rewarding. “Alves, a principal at the organization, oversees the IFC’s investments in Latin America, specifically financing local banks so that they can in turn boost a focused area’s economy and help bring the population out of poverty.
His second full-time job, as he describes it, is a volunteer position as head of the Harvard Business School Club (HBSC) of Washington. Alves earned an executive MBA from Harvard University in 2013 (he also holds an MBA from HEC Paris) and immediately sought out the club upon his return to Washington as a vehicle for connecting and collaborating with other alumni in the area. He began by leading networking events, and by 2014 had become president. In four short years Alves has managed to coalesce one of the hottest business salons in Washington, convening CEOs, ambassadors and top administration officials to discuss hot-button issues.
Under his leadership, the HBSC also runs a scholarship program that every year sends two non-profit leaders based in the metro area to a 10-day executive program at Harvard, an experience “which will help them better run and execute their vision,” Alves says. The club pays the $15,000 tuition, airfare and living expenses. The 2018 scholarship winners will be announced at the Harvard Business School Club’s annual leadership gala on June 13 a the Four Seasons Hotel, where Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is slated to speak. Former General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt will receive the HBS lifetime achievement award.
Antonio’s Style: Alves favors suits by Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna, saying the brand is aligned with his style: elegant and discrete. “Nothing too flashy,” he says. “I try to be sophisticated because of the caliber of the people I deal with on a daily basis.”
This story appears in the April 2018 issue of Washington Life Magazine.
