2025 Small Business Academy 3.0 - Flipbook - Page 10
Facilitator.
Gabriela Morales, MBA
Potesta Business Consulting
President & CEO
Ms. Morales, President & CEO of
Potesta Business Consulting has
devoted her professional life to
business and economic development.
As CEO of Potesta Business
Consulting, she has made large strides
in providing critical needs for
businesses across the nation. In 2021,
she moved back to South Texas from
Washington, DC after having worked
over a decade at the highest levels of
the U.S. Department of Commerce, in
Washington, DC.
During her tenure at the U.S.
Department of Commerce, she
created a program that economically
empowered communities that were
historically at a disadvantage through
business development, job creation,
accessing contracts, finance, and
exports for minority businesses.
LIT SMALL
BUSINESS
ACADEMY
In 2020, she was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce
Gold Medal, the highest form of honorary recognition
Commerce grants for distinguished contributions to the U.S.
economy.
Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Commerce, Gabriela
worked for the City of Laredo, Tx. In this position, she led foreign
direct investment efforts and multilateral relationships through a
U.S. – Mexico bi-lateral trade forum that grew the number of new
businesses for over five years.
Ms. Morales holds two global executive master’s degrees in
business administration. One was delivered by Georgetown’s
School of Foreign Service, and the McDonough School of
Business in Washington, DC.
The second MBA delivered by ESADE Business School in
Barcelona, Spain. The global curriculum of these programs
provided intensive business consultancy and in-country
experiences in Spain, Argentina, Brazil, India, China, and the U.S.
In her undergraduate program, she studied abroad at the
Georgetown campus in Doha, Qatar and focused on Political
Economies.
Gabriela is Lifelong Lerner (LLL) at Georgetown University
alumni, enjoys skiing in the Rocky Mountains, traveling,
volunteers in several local organizations, such as Rotary, Women
City Club, the Laredo Commission for Women, Literacy
Volunteers of Laredo and others. She currently lives in Laredo, TX.
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