Linda Ferri, President and CEO 

Ms. Ferri is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Advanse International in suburban Washington, D.C.  Since joining Advanse in February 1990, Linda has assisted European, Mediterranean and North American clients to define and execute their international development strategies.  She has created and implemented targeted business attraction/economic development (ED) programs for selected North African regions. 

Ms. Ferri has conducted numerous educational and training programs for international clients - executives, students, and young professionals.  She has worked and traveled throughout Belgium, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Tunisia, and has extensive experience in contract negotiations with these cultures. Immediately prior to joining Advanse, Linda created and led the commercial market research organization and contributed to the strategic planning process at Robbins-Gioia, a Washington, D.C. area project management software and services firm.  Her work was instrumental in the company's successful launch into the commercial arena, after many years of selling almost exclusively to the US government. Linda began her career by spending 7 years as a consultant with Kaiser Associates, a Washington area international strategic planning and consulting firm serving Fortune 500 clients.  She gained a broad background by working in all phases of the value-added chain with industries ranging from biotech and bio-med to automotive, aerospace, agribusiness, industrial products, telecom, pharmaceuticals and electronics.

A cum laude graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in Arabic and International Business, Linda has also earned an International Executive Education Certificate from Georgetown University in International Finance and Global Markets.  In addition, she has studied in Fiesole, Italy and Dijon, France and is fluent in French and Italian.

Megan Costello is the Director of International Programs at Advanse International. Since joining Advanse International, Ms. Costello has assisted European companies to refine their strategies for entering and succeeding in the American market.  In addition, she has collaborated with representatives from foreign territories and regions in order to promote, develop, attract and expand American business investments in their localities.

Ms. Costello has worked in Canada-for the United States Department of State-and in Japan, for a division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  She has also lived in Spain and traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America, North Africa and Oceania.  She graduated cum laude from Wheaton College (Illinois) with a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish and has successfully completed post-graduate coursework in Japanese.

Mr. Riccini has been working as a management consultant since 1995, first in the United States and then in Italy. Alessandro earned a degree in Political Science from LUISS university in Rome, Italy.  His academic background, experience and expertise are focused on marketing and business development projects for Italian and international organizations, offering an operational and concrete approach in order to respond to the client's needs and bring results in a short timeframe. 

Since 1995 Mr. Riccini has assisted numerous Italian and international organizations, operating in several sectors (large corporations, SME, government and other institutions).  His primary areas of experience are marketing and business development plans; market research and analysis; direct marketing; B2B and B2C communication; internationalization projects; economic development plans; tourism marketing; training.   In addition to project work, Mr. Riccini directs the Italian operations of Advanse's AMERIGO and SPRINT programs.

Ms. Munroe led marketing, channel and business development initiatives, both domestically and internationally, for start-up business units at XO Communications, Concert Communications and MCI Communications.  She has traveled extensively and has developed and implemented cross-cultural business ventures.

Ms. Munroe holds an MBA in Finance from The George Washington University and a BS in Biology from Georgetown University.  She is an advisory board member for Advanse International, Inc., and is a member of Executive Women's Roundtable, Women in Technology, and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia.

Alain Gallez is an expert in entrepreneurship, from start-up through development.  He creates and manages several training programs for entrepreneurs and Chief Executives under the European Commission's "Euroleaders" program for start-up enterprises with technology-based activities seeking to develop their business internationally.  Alain has been a member of several international entrepreneurship juries, has developed women entrepreneur programs, and regularly organizes investment forums.  He is the author of a "best practices" guide for new entrepreneurs, which was translated and published by the European Commission in five languages; he has also written and edited 6 other titles devoted to assistance to entrepreneurs.

For 7 years, Alain was the Deputy Manager of the European Business and Innovation Centre Network in Brussels, where he developed and managed a team of people providing various services (training, information, transnational cooperation, network management, etc.) to a clientele of association members in 35 European countries. This activity allowed Mr. Gallez to develop the special negotiation and coordination skills necessary for implementing economic development and know-how sharing activities in an international environment, including working groups, conferences and congresses, information services, etc.  Some of these activities have been co-managed with major European or American Networks like EVCA, TII, NBIA, and leading Business Schools.

Mr. Gallez is a native Belgian French speaker and is fluent in English. He holds a Master of Psychology from Brussels University and has completed several post-graduate business and management programs.

Chafika Chamas is General Manager of CCM Consulting Group, a multi-disciplinary firm specializing in detecting and leveraging development opportunities through optimizing technologies, organization structure and human resources. At CCM, Chafika has led a number of projects with Maghreb national governments and for the European Commission focused on strengthening and expanding the private sectors of Maghreb economies, especially through SME and entrepreneurship development. Chafika is also Founder of MBA (Mediterranean Business Association), a Tunisian-based business incubator with NGO (non-governmental organization) status. MBA’s mission is to promote and facilitate entrepreneurship and SME development, particularly among women and youth, by providing services, assistance, guidance and financing, with the ultimate goal of job and wealth creation. While MBA is based in Tunisia, its area of action is the entire Mediterranean region.

As a development consultant, Ms. Chamas has led different projects for Tunisian as well as international companies. She is a recognized expert in small business development, management strategic decision-making processes, design and implementation of turn-around strategies for companies in difficulty, and corporate relationship building, especially with bilateral and multilateral international organizations. She has developed a strong network of partners throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa with specializations in a broad range of geographic, industry and technology areas. She is active in many non-profit business organizations, including TACC (Tunisian American Chamber of Commerce), where she serves as General Secretary and Board Member, IACE (Institut Arabe des Chefs d’Entreprise - Arab Institute for business, a leading business leaders organization in Tunisia with strong ties in the USA), the businesswomen’s organization within UTICA (Tunisia’s employers federation), the Tunisian French Chamber of Commerce, “Communication Publique”, a French association affiliated with the “Conseil d’Etat” in France.

She started her management career in France where she worked in increasingly responsible managerial positions at BNPI (Banque Nationale de Paris Internationale), GLS-France Group (tourism and travel company), and Media System (PR and Communications). She was a project manager at Bossard Consultants, and Marben Consulting (French and international management consulting firms). Chafika earned a degree in law from the Sorbonne, and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the IHEI (Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales), both in Paris, France. Chafika is fluent in Arabic, French and English.