overview

• Marinés Aponte holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (2002) and a master’s in business administration (MBA) from the University of Puerto Rico. She is a Professor of Finance at the Business College at the

  University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Rio Piedras Campus where she teaches Entrepreneurial Finance among other courses. As one of the collaborator professors of the UPR i+c (Innovation and Commercialization Center), she directed the Business Incubator from 2021 to 2023 (funded with CDBG-DR funds) and actually works as mentor for the entrepreneurial teams, particularly in the area of financial projections for the new enterprises. Aponte inserted Puerto Rico in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research and was the principal investigator and team leader of the Puerto Rico national research team from 2013 to 2020. In addition to the yearly publication of the national report, she is co-author with the other two members of the team during those years, of several peer reviewed papers in entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico and the global context. These have been presented in several academic conferences and public policy forums. Dr. Aponte has a long trajectory collaborating with community groups and foundations both as board and committee member as well as supporting the development of specific projects.