BBH Family Business Leadership Speaker Series

Jose Eduardo Siman ’69

Milady Associates
Chairman of the Board

Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm ET
Location: Columbia Business School
Henry R. Kravis Hall, Room 690
665 West 130th Street
New York, NY 10027

Jose Eduardo Siman ’69 considers himself fortunate to have been born into a family business (Siman Department Stores) owned by a family with impressive entrepreneurial spirit, deep ethical and moral principles, and a belief in the vital importance of education to the success of future generations. In this fireside chat with Professor Gaia Marchisio, you will learn Jose's impressive story, from getting his MBA at CBS, working outside the family business, and becoming Chairman of the Board of a holding company for diversified family-owned businesses across retail, consumer finance, apparel manufacturing, franchisees to global brands, and real estate operating in 25+ countries across the Americas and the Caribbean.

Key Takeaways

• How to scale up and globalize a local business
• How to successfully transition across generations
• What it takes to lead a board through strategic decisions 
• And much more! 

A networking reception will follow. 

Featured Speakers

Jose Eduardo Siman ’69

Chairman of the Board
Milady Associates

Born in San Salvador, El Salvador. Mr. Siman received an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, New York, New York in 1969. Mr. Siman began his professional career with Procter and Gamble in Toronto, Canada, before joining his family’s business in 1979. Since, this business has grown from one department store in San Salvador, El Salvador to a multinational business group with significant operations in retailing, consumer finance, apparel manufacturing and real estate in twenty six countries throughout the Caribbean, Central America and the United States currently living in the United States. Mr. Siman is President of the Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation (SAHF), Miami, Florida. 

Mr. Siman is married, with four adult children. Three of them earned a Master’s Degree from Columbia University: (Business, Architecture and Social Work.)

Professor Gaia Marchisio (Moderator)

Professor Marchisio teaches Family Business Management and Managing Conflict in the Family Business for the Global Family Enterprise Program. She is a family-enterprise researcher, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer with over 25 years of impact across global family enterprises, academic institutions, corporations, public-sector organizations, and others. She not only advises on and researches family enterprise, but is a fourth-generation successor in her own family business.

About the BBH Family Business Leadership Speaker Series

Launched in 2016, the Brown Brothers Harriman Family Business Leadership Speaker Series at Columbia Business School welcomes global family business leaders to campus to share their unique perspectives and to interact with students and alumni. The series, supported with a gift from Brown Brothers Harriman, is open to students, alumni, scholars, and friends.