Deputy Chief of Staff Francisca Martinez represented the USC Schwarzenegger Institute at the annual North Capital Forum, a three-day event hosted by the U.S.-Mexico Foundation. The forum focuses on addressing North America’s most pressing challenges and developing collaborative solutions. As a long-standing partner of the North Capital Forum since its inception in 2022, the Schwarzenegger Institute has co-hosted panels on climate and sustainability each year.
This year, the Institute led a panel on transitioning to a circular economy, which featured Francisca alongside distinguished speakers, including Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda; Sergio Londoño, SVP Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability for Latin America, Coca-Cola; Fernanda Guarro, Executive Director of 3M; Julian Escutia, Country Director, Mexico
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; and moderator Carolina Garayzar Gomez. The panel, held at Coca-Cola Mexico’s headquarters, examined North America’s unique strengths and challenges in advancing a circular economy, highlighting the necessary changes in business models, practices, regulations, and policies to accelerate this transition.
In addition to the panel, Francisca participated in a roundtable discussion on sustainable economic development in Baja California, where she shared best practices from California’s own initiatives. She emphasized the importance of cross-border collaboration to effectively tackle the interconnected challenges of climate change and clean energy transitions.