Raquel Robleda

Merco Manager Panama

Raquel is a journalist and communications, CSR and crisis consultant. She is being working strategic communications, social responsibility and crisis management for approximately 20 years, in the United States, Spain and Panama. Nowadays, Loop Xperts, is her entrepreneur business focusing on advising companies, training and teaching about communications and social responsibility.

As Vice President and Director of Corporate Affairs at some multinational companies in Panama, Raquel has always developed social programs and intervention in vulnerable communities, at internal and external level. Her believe: “it is impossible to develop corporate social responsibility programs without studying people´s behavior and their reasons to choose a specific pattern to interact with their surroundings”.

Her social work experience started at the Ministry of Health, where she worked between 2009 and 2012 as Health Promotions Deputy Director and International Affairs Director. The experience allowed her to develop a Health Business Council supported by the Panamanian Private Sector Council (CONEP) to support community intervention in subjects such as HIV and Dengue prevention. In addition, the social intervention in an area called Curundu was the starting project to develop social health intervention in vulnerable and high risk communities. This specific one led to a transformation with no precedents in the country at a suburb in the middle of the capital city.

From the Ministry of Health to the private sector, she continued to develop social programs for the different construction mega projects developed in Panama such a Cinta Costera, the first subway of the Central American Region, the Historical Old City renewal, Colón, and so on. Working on multidisciplinary groups, these experiences have represented a sociology model for intervention, complementing the execution with her experience in Mass Communications and political science

Graduated in Multimedia Journalism and Political Science by University of Central Florida with a master’s degree in Journalistic, Business and Institutional Communications by Universidad Complutense Madrid, the social work was a driver to complement her career with a specialization on Social Responsibility by the Technological University of Panama, Vincular Center of Colombia and Catholic University of Valparaiso Chile, to also develop some experience in superior teaching, getting a specialization degree in Superior Educations by USMA (Universidad Santa María la Antigua) in Panamá. Currently, she is completing her Degree in Law by the Universidad del Istmo (UDI).