Ricardo Herrero

Ricardo “Ric” Herrero is the Executive Director of the Cuba Study Group. In that capacity, he manages the organization’s initiatives, such as setting strategic objectives and educating policymakers on policies that improve the wellbeing of the Cuban people, at home and the diaspora. 

Ricardo is a strategic communications and public affairs professional with close to two decades of experience working at the intersection of international relations, politics, media, and philanthropy. From 2012 through 2017, he led two successful advocacy campaigns to promote diplomatic and economic ties between the United States and Cuba, and was recognized by the Obama Administration for his pivotal work shaping public opinion in support of the former president’s efforts to normalize relations with Havana.

Ricardo is also the co-founder of MANO Americas, a Miami-based non-profit that produces Maker Faire Miami and the 10x10KCuba tech startup challenge, which connects talented programmers and entrepreneurs in Cuba with startup ecosystems across the United States, including Boulder and Palo Alto.

Prior to his work on Cuba policy and advocacy, he co-founded and served as Director of Operations for Concordia Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral healthcare organization based in Miami, Florida, and was an associate corporate counsel in the Manhattan office of The Beanstalk Group, LLC, the world’s leading brand licensing agency and consultancy, where he specialized in intellectual property licensing and dispute resolution.

Ricardo served as the Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in 2010, and has advised several state and federal electoral campaigns and political organizations in South Florida and Latin America. His views and articles have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, USA Today, The Miami Herald and Huffington Post, and he has appeared as a guest commentator on NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Noticias Univision and Telemundo.

Ricardo has a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a B.A. in Business Administration from Florida International University. He was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico and is the son of Cuban exiles.