Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson

President, Guerrero Anderson Inc

Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson is the founder and president of Guerrero-Anderson, Inc., a management consulting firm that specializes in creating exceptional boards for privately held companies. Esperanza has more than 25 years of experience in corporate governance and in service to nonprofit organizations. She has developed a proprietary method of creating, recruiting and leading boards that produce exceptional results for fast-growing privately held companies. Currently she serves on the boards of Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc., M&I Bank Minnesota, the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors, and the Bush Foundation. She also has served on the boards of Leeann Chin Inc., National City Bancorporation, Reell Manufacturing Precision Co., Center of the American Experiment, Guthrie Theater, Walker Art Center, and many other successful organizations.

Esperanza is a nationally recognized corporate executive and business leader, and is a frequent speaker for associations and universities throughout the U.S. She teaches Board Governance and Ethics in the Executive MBA Program at the University of St. Thomas. From 1990 through 2006, Esperanza was CEO of Milestone Growth Fund, a Minnesota-based venture capital fund of which she is the founder. Under her leadership Milestone became one of Minnesota 25 largest venture capital firms, investing in more than 70 companies and generating ROI in excess of 20%. During her 16 years at Milestone, she represented the fund on the board of directors of many of its portfolio companies and assisted in establishing boards of directors for several of those companies. From 1985 to 1989 she was president/CEO of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), a business development and financing resource for entrepreneurial companies. Esperanza has worked in management consulting with Touche Ross and in international lending with First Bank of Minneapolis. She has been the manager of a private college, and enjoyed a 10-year career at Central Bank of Nicaragua. An entrepreneur at heart, she also owned her own consulting company in Nicaragua providing IT services to large financial institutions and government entities.

Esperanza’s extensive education credentials include Yale University’s Executive Management Program; a master’s degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Minnesota; completion of the Leadership in Public Policy Program at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs; and a degree in business administration from the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua, Nicaragua.

Esperanza’s commitment to make a difference has been recognized with many honors. In 2010 she was recognized by TC Business Magazine as an Outstanding Director. In 2009 Esperanza was named to the Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest. In 2008 Upsize magazine gave her a Lifeline Award, and in 2006 Mpls-St. Paul Magazine inducted her into its Volunteer Hall of Fame. In 2004 Finance & Commerce named Esperanza one of the Top Women in Finance, and the Governor of Minnesota commended her for her outstanding work on behalf of the state’s Hispanic population. In 2003 the International Leadership Institute chose Esperanza as the first recipient of its Immigrant Achievement Award. In 1999 Minnesota Business Journal recognized her as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Business. She was named regional Entrepreneur of the Year in the Supporter of Entrepreneurship category by Ernst & Young in 1996 and as regional Hispanic Businesswoman of the Year by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 1992. In 1988 she received the Bush Foundation Leadership Award.