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About the event

The Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner has been held annually by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce since 1970. The Gala honors two outstanding leaders – one Brazilian and one American – who have been particularly instrumental in forging closer ties between the two nations. Past honorees have included President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President Bill Clinton, Min. Henrique Meirelles, and Henry Kissinger.

The highly anticipated 2022 Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner took place at The Glasshouse and was attended by nearly 1,000 participants from the business, financial, and diplomatic communities, many traveling from Brazil. The program honored, as Brazilian Person of the Year, Luiza Helena Trajano, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Magazine Luiza – and as American Person of the Year, Virginia (Ginni) M. Rometty, Former Chairperson, President, and Chief Executive Officer of IBM.  Special awards were bestowed upon two non-profit organizations – Instituto de Pesquisas em Tecnologia e Inovação (IPTI) with the Entrepreneurship in Social Responsibility Award, and Mantena Global Care with the Community Impact Award.

The Person of the Year Fellowship Program is funded by proceeds from the Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner, and conducted in partnership with Instituto Ling and Fundação Lemann and has co-supported over 138 Brazilian students who have already graduated or are studying to obtain graduate degrees from top tier American universities.

In addition to the gala, a series of parallel events sponsored by institutions such as Financial Times, Banco Itaú, BTG Pactual, Bank of America, Citi, Forbes Brasil, and J. Safra Group contributed to making the week of the gala “Brazil Week” in New York.

The POY has become the premier event of the Brazilian-American community in the United States, and its success has enabled the Chamber to expand its annual programming to further develop the ties between Brazil and the United States.

We would be honored to once again have your prestigious participation at the 2023 Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner.

 

Sincerely,

Awards Committee
Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

For more information, please e-mail awardscommitteepoy@brazilcham.com, or call (212) 751-4691.

 


2022 PERSON OF THE YEAR HONOREES

A brief biography of Luiza Helena Trajano and Virginia (Ginni) M. Rometty, follows:

Luiza Helena Trajano is Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Magazine Luiza. With a degree in Law from the University of Franca, she is responsible for introducing the purchase option of credit and online transactions in Brazil, and for the leap in innovation and growth that placed Magazine Luiza among the largest retailers in Brazil.

The choice of Luiza Helena Trajano was a recognition of her courage, perseverance, and dedication, transforming a family-owned retail company into one of the largest establishments in the industry, using technologies alongside the largest international corporations and fostering the advancement of e-commerce in Brazil. Her entrepreneurial spirit, social projects, dedication to education, and commitment to diversity have led to the highest ethical and moral standards in the business environment and have incited great social impact, factors that coincide with the values ​​promoted by the Chamber.

 

Virginia (Ginni) M. Rometty was the American recipient of the 2022 Person of the Year Awards.

Beginning her career with IBM in 1981, Ms. Rometty held a series of leadership positions across the company and led the successful integration of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, creating a global team of more than 100,000 business consultants and service experts.

Since becoming CEO in January 2012, Ms. Rometty has led IBM through the most significant transformation in its history, reinventing the company to lead in the new era of AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, and quantum technologies, all delivered on IBM’s enterprise-strength cloud platform.

The choice of Ms. Rometty recognized her direct and indirect involvement in Brazil and IBM’s strong, centuries-old relationship with the country.

 

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