Manuel (Manny) A. Mencia

Manuel (Manny) A. Mencia is a Senior Advisor with Perceptual Advisors. He served as Sr. Vice President of the International Trade and Development unit of Enterprise Florida, Inc. from 1997 to 2021. During that period, he was responsible for planning and implementing the State of Florida’s export promotion and foreign direct investment recruitment programs. In 2000, Export Magazine and the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED) conferred their Gold Award to EFI’s Division of International Trade, as the best statewide export development organization in the country. In 2001, EFI received the prestigious Presidential E-Award for Export Development in its first year of eligibility. In 2009, EFI’s ITD unit received the President’s E Star Award for Export Promotion Excellence, our nation’s highest trade development honor.

Mr. Mencia is a former President of SIDO (State International Development Organizations), the national organization of State Trade Development Agencies, having served two terms in 2010-2012 and 2016-2017. Between 2016-2017, he also co-chaired the International Committee of the Council of State Governments and serves on the board of the Florida Export Finance Corporation, World Trade Center-Miami, FIU’s ’s CIBER Center and the Florida District Export Council.

In 2017, King Phillip VI of Spain awarded Mr. Mencia the Order of Isabella the Catholic for his contributions to promoting ties between Spain and the United States. In January 2021, President Jair Bolsonaro awarded Mr. Mencia the National Order of the Southern Cross Rank Official, one of Brazil's most important distinctions to foreign nationals.

Mr. Mencia obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida International University in Education and a BA degree from St. Thomas University in Political Science