Leonardo Felice Gorordo is an American entrepreneur, investor and diplomat, and CEO of Embark, a management and finance consulting company. Gorordo was the United States Executive Director of the World Bank from 2023 to 2025. He is best known for his work on Cuba–United States relations through both advocacy and public service. Gorordo's career includes service in the White House under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as an advisor to President Joe Biden's Cancer Initiative.“The Washington Times:"Topic - Felice Gorordo”
Additionally, Gorordo has held various leadership roles in the private sector, most notably as the CEO of eMerge Americas.
Early life and education
Gorordo was born and raised in Miami, FL, to a Cuban-American family and attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.“Wolverines: Belen Jesuit Alumni Magazine (Felice Gorordo - p.27)”“A new voice in Miami: Felice Gorordo's Roots of Hope” From 2000 to 2001, he was International Vice-president of Key Club International, an international service program for high school students in 38 countries.“Key Club International:"Former Key Clubber starts his own nonprofit” Gorordo attended Georgetown University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in government in 2005. He also studied at the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain. While in college, he was an intern in the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Administration of President George W. Bush. As a sophomore at Georgetown University, Gorordo co-founded (with a group of college students) Roots of Hope (Raíces de Esperanza), a non-profit focused on youth empowerment in Cuba through technology and entrepreneurship.“The Hoya: Rethinking social impact”“Kiwanis International Magazine:"Key Club Alum Felice Gorordo turns enthusiasm into action”
Public service Upon graduating from college, Gorordo served in the Administration of President George W. Bush as an aide to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and later as Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Col. Emilio T. Gonzalez. From 2006 to 2007, Gorordo was detailed to the U.S. Department of State and served in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.“Cuba Study Group: "Felice Gorordo Profile” He also was an advisor to the President & CEO of Jackson Health System.“Biden Care Initiative/Staff:"Felice Gorordo, Advisor” In 2011, Gorordo was appointed by President Barack Obama as one of fifteen White House Fellows.“The White House - Office of Communications:"WHITE HOUSE APPOINTS 2011-2012 CLASS OF WHITE HOUSE FELLOWS (September 7, 2011) ” From 2011 to 2012, he served as the White House Fellow to the President's Domestic Policy Advisor Cecilia Muñoz, and worked in the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. In this capacity, he worked on Latino and immigration outreach and led the organizing of the first “White House Conference on Connecting the Americas. ” The conference included the participation of then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, several cabinet secretaries and high-level business and government leaders from throughout the Americas in lead up to the 2012 Summit of the Americas.“The Obama White House:"White House Conference on Connecting the Americas: Part 1”
In 2021, Gorordo advocated for the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and attended the White House bill signing ceremony with President Joe Biden. America Magazine reported that Gorordo was under consideration to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See by President Biden.
As CEO of eMerge Americas, Gorordo has been instrumental in connecting Florida's major tech hubs of Miami, Tampa and Orlando in 2021 to work on a more open business environment for startup ecosystem building. In April 2022, in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Gorordo helped to organize a conference for mayors and private sector leaders to discuss the ways cities can benefit from digital assets and blockchain technologies.
World Bank On July 18, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Gorordo to be the U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
President Biden renominated him on January 23, 2023, to be considered under the new session of Congress. Gorordo was favorably reported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 7, 2022, and again on March 8, 2023. The entire Senate confirmed his nomination on May 10, 2023
Gorordo was the U.S. representative on the Board of the World Bank Group, overseeing the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In this role, his responsibilities included participating in the World Bank Board Audit Committee and Committee on Development Effectiveness, as well as overseeing operations and policy-setting for the organization's global workforce. Gorordo was also involved in reviewing and approving projects with annual financial commitments of approximately $130 billion in loans, grants, equity investments, and guarantees.
Gorordo has worked on initiatives to mobilize private capital and engage venture capital and private equity investors in supporting Sustainable Development Goals. He has advocated for human rights, including LGBTQ rights, stating that "LGBTQ rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBTQ rights." Gorordo supported Ukraine following Russia's invasion, working to engage the private sector in the country's rebuilding efforts. He has also engaged minority-owned businesses to participate in World Bank projects and programs, and has organized events at the World Bank focused on celebrating diversity and addressing issues such as racism and antisemitism.
In addition, Gorordo has supported initiatives to leverage new technologies and financing models to encourage investments in research and development, including efforts aimed at cancer research. As part of his role on the World Bank Board, Gorordo has conducted field visits in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America to assess Bank projects and meet with various stakeholders, including government officials, business leaders, and civil society representatives.
He stepped down as acting U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank in January 2025.
Entrepreneurship Following the White House Fellowship,“Talented Young People Are Choosing the Private Sector Over Government” Gorordo joined Clearpath, (acquired by L1BRE), a venture-backed tech company focused on revolutionizing the paper-based immigration filing process – just as TurboTax transformed tax filing. In 2014, he became CEO & President of Clearpath, which leveraged patented-technology to enable individuals to file their own immigration applications.“St. Augustine:"Online firm seeks to become immigration “TurboTax"” He established partnerships with LegalZoom, H&R Block, and Univision,“Arriba Valle Central” and successfully sold the company in 2016 to L1BRE. After the acquisition of Clearpath, Gorordo was CEO of L1BRE, a tech company with operations in the U.S. and Mexico. In 2018, Gorordo was named CEO of eMerge Americas, a venture-backed platform which seeks to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across the Americas, and transform Miami into becoming the tech hub of the Americas.“Miami Herald:"eMerge Americas conference is getting a new leader. The old one isn't going far” In 2019, he led the organizing of the sixth annual eMerge Americas conference, which attracted more than 16,000 attendees and 400 participating companies from over 40 countries.“Miami Herald:"Our success is Miami’s success.’ eMerge Americas to open with new leader, same vision ” Gorordo also served as co-host for AOL co-founder and Revolution LLC's CEO & Chairman Steve Case’s “Rise of the Rest” Tour through South Florida in 2019.“Miami Herald:"Former AOL head praises Miami startup scene: ‘There’s a hunger here, a scrappiness.”
The South Florida Business Journal recognized Gorordo with the Ultimate CEO Award in 2023.
Gorordo also was a venture partner at private equity fund I Squared Capital.
Advocacy
U.S.- Cuba relations In 2003, Gorordo co-founded Roots of Hope after traveling to Cuba for the first time with the purpose of building bridges between young people on and off the island.“Non-profit Quarterly:"Roots of Hope Charts a New Course for Cuban-Americans and Cuba” He built and led a network“BEST GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION Raices de Esperanza (Roots of Hope) ” with over 5,000 students and young professional members across 50 universities in the U.S.“Generation gap: Renewed ties expose painful Cuban-American rift ” He also organized 10 youth leadership conferences at leading universities, including Harvard, Georgetown, Princeton, and Cornell. In 2009, Gorordo was an advisor to Grammy winner Juanes and helped organize the historic "Peace without Borders" (Paz Sin Fronteras) concert in Havana, Cuba, with 1.2 million young people in attendance.“The Economist:" If music be the food of love...” Gorordo contributed to the re-establishment of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic ties,“Gulf News:"Obama’s Miami connections helped smooth path to meeting with Castro ” and accompanied then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry“Miami Herald” to the re-opening of the Embassy of the United States, Havana in 2015,“Millennial Monitor:" ” and President Barack Obama on his historic trip to Cuba in 2016“The White House - Office of the Press Secretary:"Readout of the President’s Meeting with Cuban-American Leaders” (the first sitting U.S. president to travel to the island since President Calvin Coolidge in 1928).“Spring Break in Havana, Obama headed to Cuba”
On July 11, 2021, peaceful protests occurred in Cuba, inspired by the song Patria y Vida. In the aftermath of these events, President Joe Biden invited a group of Cuban-American community activists, including Gorordo, to a meeting at the White House. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the political situation in Cuba and explore ways to support the Cuban people in circumventing censorship and accessing free media and internet services.
Cancer Moonshot In 2015, Gorordo and his mother participated in the pilgrimage trip to Cuba with Pope Francis, which led to her being blessed by the Pope and reuniting with her family on the island after 46 years.“NBC News:"Bridging the Gap With Young Cuban Generation through 'Roots of Hope'”“CNN:"Cancer victim returns to Cuba to see Pope Francis” After losing his mother to pancreatic cancer, Gorordo became involved with then-Vice President Joe Biden’s “moonshot to cure cancer.”“Miami Herald: Op-ed” In 2016, he helped in the organizing of the White House Cancer Moonshot Summits.“El Nuevo Herald:"A decisive battle against cancer” In 2018, Gorordo joined the Biden Cancer Initiative and led the organizing of more than 450 Biden Cancer Community Summits across the U.S. to focus national attention on creating actionable solutions in the fight against cancer. In 2018, Gorordo also was an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at StartUp Health, a venture fund and accelerator investing in “Health Moonshots” – like curing cancer – and building a portfolio of digital health companies in over 20 countries.“Health Transformer:"From Pain to Peace & Purpose”
Affiliations