Meet the family

Luis Casamayor is República’s President and Chief Creative Officer. Prior to co-founding República, Luis was President of Cosmyk Group, which he established in 1994.

Luis has nearly 20 years of strategic marketing, advertising and design experience. He founded Cosmyk as a graphic design studio specializing in corporate identity, logo design, collateral materials, photography and print production. By 2001, the company, based on client demand, evolved into a full-service advertising agency offering additional services such as broadcast advertising, media and web design. Motivating his talented staff to maintain the highest standards for their clients, Luis built Cosmyk into one of the premier regional advertising agencies, acclaimed for its breakthrough advertising and marketing campaigns. In addition, Luis has developed productive relationships with vendors in all relevant areas, including printing, multimedia production, film, photography and community and special-events marketing. The expertise, passion and dedication Luis brings to each project are evident in República’s stellar creative output. The son and grandson of small-business owners, Luis gained invaluable experience working at his family’s printing firm since a very young age.

Ofelia San Pedro is República’s Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, she oversees Finance, Administration, Human Resources, and Information Technology. Before joining República, she was Chief Operating Officer of Kaplan Virtual Education, a subsidiary of Kaplan Inc., a Washington Post Company. Ofelia is a seasoned executive with 30 years of relevant experience in both the private and public sector. She is a fact-based, data-driven, decision maker, using management analytics and financial information to drive operational and organizational change.

In the public sector, Ofelia served as Deputy Superintendent of Business Operations for Miami-Dade Public Schools, the fourth largest school district in the United States and the largest in Florida. At the school district, where she was responsible for Financial Operations, Procurement, Labor Relations, Information Technology, Facilities, Transportation, and Food & Nutrition.

Prior to joining the school system, Ofelia was a corporate executive for over 25 years. She most recently served as Vice President of Global Procurement at Ryder System Inc., responsible for a procurement budget in excess of $2 billion. Previously, she served as Vice President and Controller of Ryder Energy, and later as President of Ryder Energy.

Earlier in her career, Ofelia was an Adjunct Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Miami. A Certified Public Accountant, Ofelia received both a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Miami. In 2005, she completed the prestigious Broad Superintendents Academy.

Emma Carrasco is República’s Executive Vice President. She is a true industry veteran with a lifetime of top-level experience having spent over 25 years in corporate brand management, integrated communications, advertising, public relations, employee communications, customer events, reputation management and interactive marketing. Her titles span the globe. Emma was Vice President of Global Branding and Advertising for Nortel Networks, where she orchestrated a team of 120 people on three continents. She also served as Multicultural Communications Director for McDonald’s Corporation in Chicago, and Corporate Vice President of Brand Marketing for Univision in New York. She began her career at Fleishman-Hillard in Los Angeles.

Emma, a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, is currently the vice chair of WPBT, Channel 2, South Florida’s PBS affiliate.

Silvia Camps is República’s Senior Vice President. Silvia brings to República more than a decade of brand marketing, strategic consulting and promotions experience. Silvia oversees strategy for all of República’s clients and handles operations for the company and its various divisions.

Prior to joining República, Silvia distinguished herself as a high impact leader successfully leveraging her consumer packaged goods and luxury brand experience to grow small businesses. She has served as Executive Vice President of Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York and President of Shape Lovers Inc in South Florida.

Previously, Silvia worked with Kraft Foods, where she directed the company’s core cereal business, promotions, channels, and media for the second largest Post Cereal trademark, Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles. She led all Post Kids ethnic marketing efforts and commercialized Post’s first cereal targeted to Hispanic consumers. Silvia began her career at Polo Ralph Lauren where she managed promotional strategies for all Polo Ralph Lauren brands and spearheaded the launch of the Polo Sport Retail concept store in Miami and RL Restaurant in Chicago.

Silvia holds a BA from Duke University and an MBA from The University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business.

Enrique Dussan is República’s Vice President of Media Services.  Enrique brings extensive global experience, especially within the U.S. general and multicultural markets, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Previously, he was Vice President/Director of Communications Planning at Wing/Grey Global.

A 30-year industry veteran, Enrique has also worked as Vice President of Media at MARCA; Vice President of Media Services at MFP&W/JWT; Vice President and Group Media Director at Casanova Pendrill/Universal McCann NY; and President of Koncecom/Ketchum Puerto Rico.

Over the course of his career, he has managed media services for blue-chip clients such as   Johnson & Johnson, Domino’s Pizza, Visa, FedEx, Campbell’s Soup, Unilever, Apple, Delta Air Lines, Toyota, Miller Lite, Pepsi, Goya Foods, Mitsubishi, and Reliant Energy, among many others.

Early in his career, Enrique spent 11 years with BBDO. He began his career in 1982 in the creative department of Atenas/BBDO in his native Bogota, Colombia.  In 1983, he moved to New York City, where he made his initial inroads into media.  He quickly moved up the ranks within BBDO New York and was promoted to head up media for BBDO Puerto Rico. Later, he was promoted to Vice President/Media Director for BBDO Latin America.

Enrique has a passion for academics and learning. He spent five years as a professor of media at the Sacred Heart University in Puerto Rico.  He holds a B.A. in Marketing and Advertising with a Minor in Communications from Universidad de Bogotá – Jorge Tadeo Lozano.  He’s fluent in English, Spanish and French.

Wendy Grant is Republica’s Vice President for Corporate & Community Relations. Wendy has spent more than two decades as a close advisor to state and national leaders, focusing on policy development, implementation and public outreach campaigns. Wendy has specialized in building relationships and boosting the bottom lines of organizations by fostering long-term growth and policy through strategic bridge-building and solid community relations. She has developed national and international programs and initiatives with an eye on the horizon.

Wendy worked tirelessly as a trusted advisor to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by coordinating events and volunteer operations to mobilize communities and motivate leaders. Her efforts led to policies that benefited Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and all minority students across the state through the College Board Partnership.

In recent work with the Bahamian Ministers of Education and Health, her efforts led to the expansion of a national volunteer literacy program and a breast cancer awareness program aimed at decreasing late-stage diagnoses through education, early detection and screening.

Carlos Santos is República’s Vice President of Communications. His experience spans more than 20 years in the corporate communications and public relations fields.

Prior to joining República, Carlos was the General Manager of Corporate Communications for Latin America and the Caribbean at Delta Air Lines, where he oversaw media and public relations in 32 countries. His duties included executive coaching, coordinating region-wide announcements and media conferences, and serving as corporate spokesperson for international and U.S. media.

In 2002, Carlos joined TXU Energy as Public Relations Manager, where he was responsible for establishing relationships with English and Spanish language media throughout the south of Texas after the deregulation of the electricity industry.

Previously, Carlos worked at Burson-Marsteller in Miami as Manager of the Media Practice, and was later appointed General Manager of the agency’s office in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He worked on a variety of accounts, including Florida Power Corp., Sears, IBM and AT&T.

Between 1993 and 1998, Carlos was with AT&T’s public relations division, where he worked in multiple external and internal communications assignments in Los Angeles, Basking Ridge and Dallas. In 1996, he was a member of the AT&T Communications team that managed media relations during the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Carlos began his career as a business reporter for El Nuevo Día newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in media production from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a master’s degree in Corporate Public Relations from Boston University.

Milton Lebrón is República’s Executive Creative Director. Milton is an innovative and experienced creative director with more than 13 years of experience in creative conceptualization and advertising campaigns for the general and U.S. Hispanic markets.

Milton is a strategic and creative thinker and has a proven track record of success with major brands like Unilever, Sony, Coca-Cola, MTV, Wal-Mart, Burger King, American Express, Coors Light, L’Oreal and Kraft.

He has successfully collaborated with senior management, and creative teams at major agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, Euro RSCG and most recently, Lopez Negrete Communications in Houston.

Will Freyre is República’s Senior Director of Digital Innovation. With more than 15 years experience as a working creative professional, Will has been responsible for designing and directing award-winning campaigns for top brands such as Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, SC Johnson, Wachovia, Gallo Wineries, M&M/Mars, and many others.

Will’s prior experience includes working as an Sr. Art Director at Zubi Advertising, co-founding the agency’s Digital Division and helping evolve it into their Integrated Marketing Division. Seasoned in providing premium creative for a variety of media, Will has also taught graphic and web design courses for Florida International University’s Studio of Digital Arts program (the SODA).

Additionally, Will is an active community leader, and serves on the marketing and social media committees of the non-profit organization, City Year Miami.

Stephane is República’s Senior Director for Client Services.  Stephane is an innovative marketing professional with a 15-year track record working for the U.S Hispanic market, successfully leading the marketing communications efforts of major national brands including McDonald’s, Kmart and General Motors.  His expertise includes multicultural marketing, promotions, broadcast management, and event marketing.  Stephane is a results-driven team player with strong interpersonal, budget management, execution and analytical skills.

In 2000, he joined Alma DDB (del Rivero Messianu advertising at the time) to direct the national U.S. Hispanic McDonald’s account.  He developed McDonald’s national advertising effort for several product categories like Breakfast, Burger, Chicken and Salads along with their value platform (Dollar Menu).  He also managed McDonald’s national Latin music program and Monopoly promotion for more than 8 years.

Stephane started working in U.S. Hispanic marketing in 1996 at Castor advertising in New York, on the Kmart’s account on a national level, including Puerto Rico.  There he also developed the GMC Truck national U.S. Hispanic advertising effort.

Stephane’s heritage makes him the ultimate multicultural expert.  In fact, Stephane was born and raised in Morocco by European parents, was educated in the United States, has worked for the U.S Hispanic market for his entire professional career and is married to a Colombian woman.  He graduated from Emerson College in Boston and speaks five languages: French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and English.

Lillian (Lilly) Franyie is República’s Director of Brand Integration. Lilly is a seasoned marketing communications professional, with more than 15 years experience in advertising, strategic planning, research, corporate communications, media relations, community relations, sales promotions, and special events.

Lilly is a skilled leader with a venerated understanding of multicultural markets. She has directed the national marketing communications efforts for numerous brands, including: Jim Beam Brands, The Real Yellow Pages, BellSouth International, BellSouth Mobility, Cleveland Clinic and FPL. Prior to joining República, Lilly was an Account Director with MGS and the IAC Group. Prior to IAC, Lilly has held various roles with BellSouth Corporation in Atlanta, including: Senior Advertising Manager and Marketing Communications Manager.

Lilly received her BS in Advertising, Journalism and Mass Communication from Florida International University.