Jaime Ardila
Jaime Ardila is a founder of Hawksbill Group, a diversified business and communications consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Jaime brings a strong global business and cross cultural expertise to Hawksbill Group. He has lived and worked in ten countries on three continents over the past 35 years with business acumen in all areas from the manufacturing floor to the c-level suite. He has significant financial expertise from his tenure as regional CFO in five different countries and specific knowledge of Latin America and South America as well as a vast network of contacts in these regions.
Prior to founding Hawksbill Group Jaime spent more than 30 years at General Motors. First beginning his career in 1984 in Colombia as an Export Manager, Jaime most recently served GM as the President, South America region, responsible for operations in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Jaime led the team that launched more than 50 new car models over five years, many of them designed and engineered by the Brazil product development team. This growth was key to attaining and keeping market leadership across five countries. Under his leadership Jaime saw the company’s market share jump from a historic third place to first place in the Brazilian market and second place in Argentina.
During his varied career at General Motors Jaime also served as: Finance Manager for GM Europe in the European Aftersales organization; Treasurer for GM de México; Finance and Administration Director of GM Chile; President of General Motors Ecuador; President of GM Colmotores; President and Managing Director of GM Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay; Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East; GM Mercosur President.
During a brief leave from GM he returned to Colombia to serve as the President of Rothschild Bank of London based in Colombia.
Prior to joining General Motors Jaime was the Chief of the Economic Integration Division of the national Planning Department in Colombia, a section of the Central Bank. He was later named General Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Industry and Commerce.
Jaime currently serves as a Board Member for several companies including Accenture, Goldman Sachs, BDC and Ecopetrol. He previously served as a Board Member for The American Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo and The American Society / Council of the Americas. In September 2015, Jaime was awarded with the SAE Brasil 2015 Award, in recognition of his great contributions to the country’s mobility efforts and engagement in international projects
Jaime was born in Pereira, Colombia. He is fluent in Spanish, English, German and Portuguese. Jaime earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota, Colombia, in 1977, and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics in 1981. He is a great tennis fan and likes to play when time permits.
