Misael J.Portillo
Founder, President & Ceo

Misael is a native from Maracaibo, Venezuela.  He has a Bachelor degree in Economics from La Universidad del Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1972, and received an MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1978, where since then he is a member of its Beta Gamma Scholarship Society. Since 2007 he is a permanent resident in the city of Johns Creek, State of Georgia, USA.

He has served as a President and member of different board of directors of distinguished non-for-profit organizations in Venezuela such as ACIZ (Association of Commerce and Industry of the State of Zulia) and the Venezuelan Foundation for Family Medicine. He also served as President of the Board of Directors of Escuela Bella Vista, the American school in Maracaibo, Venezuela, which is a member of the Southern Association of American Schools in the US.

Misael has been an active member of CEVAZ, the Bi-national center Venezuela – USA for many years, favoring at all times the relations between both countries, maintaining up to now his status as member of its Advisory Council. In 1991 - 1994 he was instrumental in developing trade relationships in concert with the United States of America and Venezuela. Since then, his main interest has always been to support the 122 Bi-National Centers (BNCs) members of ABLA (Association of Bi-national centers of Latin America) as a strong network in Latin America, encouraging them to have a more active role in the formation of new generations of Latin American leaders in favor of the relations between Latin America and the United States of America. He was a speaker at the ABLA 1992 Conference, held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and hosted, as Honorary President, the ABLA 1994 Conference in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He was also a speaker at the ABLA 2010 Conference, held in Cali, Colombia.

From 1974-2001 he held many senior level banking positions in Venezuela with major focus in marketing, private banking, corporate financing, mortgage lending, commercial financing, and leasing. From 2001 on he provided financial and managerial consulting services to Venezuelan corporations and financial institutions, at the same time that he was investing in the construction industry in Venezuela.

Misael is currently the President  & CEO of Gipsa S Corp, a Georgia, USA, corporation which is a majority shareholder of The Prepaid Group International, LLC, which is in the prepaid card business, and FundsFirst, LLC, a Georgia corporation dedicated to commercial factoring.