Michelle S. Butler, Chief Operating Officer
Michelle is an entrepreneur at heart inspired by finding cutting edge projects and turning them into reality. Michelle has founded a number of unique ventures, including being among the first to enter into legal and direct trade between the U.S. and Cuba; specializing in the oversight of U.S. Department of Treasury monitored financial transactions between the U.S. and Cuba as an embargoed country. Michelle also founded a non-profit organization which assists entrepreneurs in San Diego, CA start and grow businesses.

Michelle holds a Master's in Pacific International Affairs from the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California San Diego, a challenging degree combining the core of a traditional MBA program and an International Relations curriculum. She also graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Communication and Spanish from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

In 2002, while working as a marketing consultant, Michelle noticed the untapped potential for U.S. companies in the Cuban market subsequent to the easing of the U.S. embargo toward Cuba in 2000. She combined previous business experience, her academic specialty in U.S. - Latin American political economics, and entrepreneurial spirit to pursue a unique business opportunity and became among the first to export directly and legally from the U.S. to Cuba. She went on to lead the first official trade delegation to Cuba on behalf of the state of California in partnership with the World Trade Center Association Los Angeles - Long Beach, securing a $10 million trade pact for the state of California.

Michelle then became a full partner and CEO in the Navarretta Group, a company that specialized in facilitating trade between the U.S. and Cuba responsible for bringing numerous U.S. companies successfully into the Cuban market with annual sales volume in the multi-millions. Michelle has collaborated with members of the U.S. Congress on trade policy with Cuba and has been a guest speaker and interviewee for various print, radio, and television media regarding U.S. - Cuba relations in addition to hosting numerous trade shows and events in Cuba for various U.S. firms. Michelle remains involved with Navarretta Group as a shareholder and active in U.S. - Cuba trade, politics, and cultural relations.

Michelle is also Co-Founder, President & CEO of the Women's Business Center of California (WBCC). The WBCC is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization committed to assisting entrepreneurs starting, expanding, or enhancing small businesses in San Diego County. Michelle founded the WBCC as an independent organization after discovering the WBCC as a grant-funded program in desperate need of repair due to fiscal mismanagement and an un-unified Board of Directors. She then founded it as an organization, recruited a new Board of Directors, and completely revamped the program, running it like a business, as non-profits should be run.

Michelle has lived, worked, or played in over 15 foreign countries in North America, South America, Europe, and the Caribbean. She maintains committed to the San Diego small business community and has received accolades for her work including:

▪ 2007 40 Under 40 Honoree, San Diego Metropolitan Magazine
▪ 2007 101 Powerful Women Speaker, San Diego
▪ 2007 Women Who Mean Business Nominee, San Diego Business Journal
▪ 2007 BRAVO! Advocate of the Year, National Association of Women Business Owners
▪ 2006 Best Small Business Advocate, San Diego Supplier Development Council
▪ 2006 Women Making History, San Diego Daily Transcript
▪ San Diego Regional/Metro Revolving Loan Fund Advisory Board Member
▪ Vice President Marketing, Organization of Women in International Trade San Diego
▪ Editorial Advisory Board, U.S. Cuba Trade News Magazine
▪ Patron Level Member and Supporter of the San Diego World Trade Center