Not all visionaries wear the same face. Some emerge from boardrooms, across international borders, and within the complex world of global finance. Infrastructure development is not just about building structures—it is the foundation that transforms economies, elevates communities from poverty, and creates pathways to sustainable futures. But mega infrastructure projects don’t materialize without champions. They need those who see beyond balance sheets and profit margins, who understand that financing is not just about returns but about reshaping possibilities for generations to come.
Dr. Carmen M. Castro has never conformed to traditional expectations. She doesn’t just operate within financial systems—she revolutionizes them. From driving international project financing in the United Arab Emirates to spearheading renewable energy initiatives in the Caribbean, she has consistently gravitated toward challenges that demand both vision and decisive action.
From Academic Heights to Global Infrastructure Pioneer
With over three decades of experience in international business and mega infrastructure projects, Dr. Carmen M. Castro has carved out a distinguished presence in global finance. As the Founder & CEO and Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of Castro & Partners Private Equity Firm, L.P.—an $8 billion powerhouse established in 2025—she embodies determination, expertise, and unwavering commitment to sustainable development.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico in humble beginnings, Dr. Castro’s journey toward becoming a global finance leader began with her pursuit of academic excellence. Her career officially launched after receiving her Doctorate in International Business Administration in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She witnessed firsthand the transformation of the UAE, particularly Dubai’s rise as the region’s crown jewel, during her 36-year residence in the Emirates.
Rather than following traditional career paths, Dr. Castro chose to blaze her own trail in the male-dominated world of international project financing. After years of working as a broker under senior management teams and navigating countless corporate hurdles, she made the bold decision to establish her own private equity firm in late 2024. This pivotal choice was driven by her unique management style and an impressive pipeline of lucrative projects ready for immediate launch.
Today, as she champions global infrastructure development, Dr. Castro continues to inspire and lead, carrying forward values of perseverance, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to creating sustainable solutions worldwide.
Balancing Academia and Global Finance
What distinguishes Dr. Castro from many financial leaders is her dual commitment to academia and business. As a Distinguished Professor of International Business and Comparative Economics, she begins each day teaching students, starting online classes at 5 AM to ensure her academic responsibilities receive full attention. For on-campus instruction, she maintains a three-day weekly schedule, teaching master’s and doctoral students from 4 PM until 9 PM.
Her ability to simultaneously lead a global private equity firm rests on an exceptional senior executive team, including Mr. Michael Perry (Chief Financial Officer and Advisory Board Member), Mr. Martin Famania (Vice President of Construction Development), and Mr. Robert Marchetti, Esq. (Chief International Legal Officer). This leadership structure, complemented by independent consultants who work directly with clients, allows Dr. Castro to focus on international business development while ensuring the firm’s growing project pipeline remains robust.
This balance between educating future leaders and financing transformative projects represents Dr. Castro’s holistic approach to global impact—building both the physical infrastructure for tomorrow while nurturing the human capital that will maintain it.
Navigating Regional Complexities in Global Infrastructure
Dr. Castro’s extensive experience across the Middle East, South America, and Africa has given her unique insights into the varying challenges of financing mega infrastructure projects in diverse regions.
She identifies the Middle East—particularly the United Arab Emirates—as currently the most conducive region for international project financing, citing its stable government, political monarchy, and continual evolution. Having witnessed the UAE’s transformation over 36 years, she considers it exemplary for international business operations related to mega infrastructure financing.
In contrast, she highlights significant obstacles in Africa, noting the complex political systems across various countries and investor hesitancy. She points to China’s substantial lending for African infrastructure projects, observing that default scenarios could lead to Chinese control of these assets—effectively a form of economic colonization driven by China’s global strategy.
Similarly, Dr. Castro notes that certain South American regions face comparable challenges due to political tensions, rising inflation, and poor economic outlooks. She cites Argentina as a prime example of these difficulties, illustrating her nuanced understanding of how political and economic landscapes profoundly impact infrastructure development possibilities.
Championing Clean Energy and Grid Resilience
Among Dr. Castro’s most passionate pursuits is developing sustainable energy infrastructure, particularly in her homeland of Puerto Rico. She identifies the privatization of government sectors as an emerging trend crucial for building sustainable infrastructure projects, pointing to Puerto Rico’s partnership with LUMA to restore the island’s energy grid.
Dr. Castro advocates for increased engagement between the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Honorable Jenniffer González Colón, and international investors specializing in renewable energy grid resilience. She emphasizes that Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure, like much of the world’s, requires comprehensive updating to combat severe decay and ensure a sustainable future.
This commitment has driven Dr. Castro to return to Puerto Rico with her private equity firm, focusing on alleviating the energy crisis by attracting foreign direct investment not only to Puerto Rico but to other Caribbean islands as well. Her firm embraces the global push toward sustainability not as a new trend but as a longstanding commitment, having focused on clean energy investments for over 15 years.
Expanding Healthcare Infrastructure Through Innovation
Beyond energy, Dr. Castro’s vision extends to revolutionary healthcare infrastructure. Through a strategic partnership with Mulk Enterprises, UAE—a $2 billion conglomerate based in Dubai—Castro & Partners is developing state-of-the-art virtual online hospitals in Palmas Del Mar, Puerto Rico, and Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco, Mexico.
These facilities will feature online telehealth consultations, AI-driven diagnostics, chronic disease management, and remote patient monitoring, addressing critical healthcare needs in underserved communities.
Additionally, the firm is establishing two pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, anticipating medicine shortages in North America, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East due to newly imposed tariffs by U.S. President Donald J. Trump. This forward-thinking approach demonstrates Dr. Castro’s ability to identify emerging challenges and implement solutions that serve multiple regions simultaneously.
Strategic Approach to Investment Success
Dr. Castro’s methodology for evaluating potential investments reflects her academic rigor and practical expertise. At Castro & Partners, projects undergo comprehensive evaluation before presentation to international investors, including the preparation of 100+ page investment packages covering executive summaries, investment theses, SWOT analyses, PESTEL analyses, economic freedom indicators, business environment rankings, country risk assessments, and regional economic outlooks.
This meticulous approach typically requires four weeks to complete and varies according to client responsiveness. By sharing these processes, Dr. Castro underscores her firm’s commitment to thorough due diligence—a critical factor in the success of mega infrastructure projects.
For emerging markets like Guyana, with its trillion-dollar infrastructure budget for 2024, Dr. Castro advocates prioritizing projects based on their impact on local residents, dividing initiatives by sector, focusing on human capital development, engaging international consultants with proven track records, employing Big Four accounting firms for due diligence, and creating development training programs to ensure job creation for local communities.
Breaking Barriers: A Female Leader in International Finance
As a woman in a predominantly male field, Dr. Castro’s journey reflects both personal determination and academic insight. Her doctoral dissertation, “Hispanic Women in Senior International Business Management: Why So Few? Barriers to Women in Management” (later published as a textbook available on Amazon), identified key barriers including limited social recognition, political recognition, economic independence, cultural identity challenges, traditional family values, educational achievement gaps, and few entrepreneurial advancements for Hispanic women and women of African descent.
Rather than accepting these limitations, Dr. Castro created her own opportunities and encourages all women—regardless of background—to take control of their careers. She emphasizes that women must challenge themselves in non-traditional roles and overcome fear of male counterparts in international business. Dr. Castro notes the trend of professional women delaying motherhood until their late 30s or 40s to prioritize careers, with others choosing not to become mothers to maintain professional lifestyles.
Her advice to women aspiring to global leadership positions emphasizes the importance of developing a global mindset and vision, becoming lifelong learners, and acquiring education daily to remain at the forefront of their fields.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Dr. Castro leverages her platform as a keynote speaker to inspire future business leaders. Recently, she addressed the 20th Congress of Leadership, Sustainability and Innovation by Euro Hispanoamericana in Xalapa, Veracruz on March 22, 2025. Her presentation, “Developing Global Leadership Skills with Moral Decision-making for a truly Global Vision of Mexican Entrepreneurs to acquire a better global Economy for Mexico,” showcased her commitment to ethical leadership development.
This high-profile event featured notable participants including Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, Telemundo Sports Commentator Jesús Barrón, Viva Aerobus Head of Brand Pedroluiz Ibarra, Group ALENA CAO Jorge Jaimes, and entrepreneur Paco Benítez. Dr. Castro’s inclusion among these distinguished guests highlights her recognition as a global thought leader capable of inspiring both female and male students in international business.
Future Trends and Long-Term Vision
Looking toward the future of international infrastructure financing, Dr. Castro anticipates artificial intelligence playing an increasingly important role in project evaluation. However, she maintains that human expertise remains invaluable in assessing project viability and determining resource allocation for presentation to international investors.
She emphasizes that all contemporary mega infrastructure projects must be driven by technology and sustainability considerations to secure a brighter future for all, particularly regarding natural resources like water. “Without water there is no life, and if there is no life we will become extinct as a human race. Therefore, we need to protect each other and protect mother earth as we continue to build these massive infrastructure projects.”
Dr. Castro’s long-term goal for her firm is ambitious—to become the first trillion-dollar company owned by a Puerto Rican female international entrepreneur. Her immediate focus remains on developing current international projects in Puerto Rico and Mexico, including virtual hospitals and pharmaceutical facilities, while advancing her clients’ international projects through effective capital fundraising.
Legacy of Achievement and Impact
When reflecting on her most significant accomplishments, Dr. Castro points to her academic achievements and subsequent professional success in the Middle East. Just three days after receiving her doctoral degree, she began working in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, later becoming a Distinguished Professor to children of royal families from the UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain.
Her impressive list of accolades includes nominations for Women in Leadership – Global 200 Women Power Leaders for Capital Fund Raising (2025), the International Venture Capital Guru Entrepreneur Award (2021), the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award (2018), recognition among Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women (2014), and the Global Female Economic Champion Award (2013), among many others.
When asked about the legacy she hopes to leave, Dr. Castro envisions being remembered as “a Puerto Rican woman born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in humble beginnings and economic hardship [who] has been able to rise and become a Powerful Global Business Leader by following her passion in Higher Education, International Business, International Project Financing for Mega Infrastructure projects around the world.” She hopes that when people see these mega infrastructure projects, they will recognize that Dr. Carmen M. Castro was “the woman behind the project financing and capital fund rising of each of these projects to make a better sustainable future.”
Guide to Success in International Finance
Dr. Castro offers valuable advice to young professionals aspiring to careers in international project financing or private equity. She emphasizes the importance of passion for the work, embracing international travel, maintaining an open mind toward different cultures, studying real-world case studies, following business news outlets, and understanding the unique business models of successful private equity firms like Blackstone.
Her own leadership approach reflects these principles, focusing on recruiting top talent without micromanaging them. “What I love about my job as the Founder & CEO, Chairwoman of the Advisory Board is that I work alongside a magnificent group of highly qualified business professionals,” she explains. “My overall leadership skills include knowing how to hire the best talent out there and not micromanaging them because I have done my due diligence and know they are the right person for the position.”
