Emilio Lezama is the CEO of the LATAM based creative agency Los hijos de la Malinche. He is renowned for his work in communication strategy and impact campaigns in the entertainment industry, public policy, electoral campaigns, NGOs and the private sector. As director of Los hijos de la Malinche, he was in charge of strategy and communications in Latin America for Alfonso Cuaron’s ROMA, for which he won several awards. He is also known for his work as a writer and political analyst. His weekly column at El Universal is widely read in Mexico. He was also a permanent analyst at the Debatitlan TV show with Brozo, and a geopolitical analyst for ADN 40. His novel “El Mejor Mundo Posible” was published in 2019, he cowrote a book on the state of Communications and Media called “En Busca del Presente” and has released two albums with his band LEZ. He supports West Ham.

What is your current position? What are your favorite and/or challenging responsibilities?

CEO of Los hijos de la Malinche.

I enjoy dealing with clients and finding ways to solve their problems.  My favorite aspect is the creative element to strategic communication, designing innovative strategies that can help further our client’s objectives. That’s always the biggest challenge: finding the adequate tactics to solve our client’s needs, which are always different and varied, and therefore need an intelligent, profound and tailored strategy.

How does your current position compare to what you thought you would be doing when you first started your degree at the Elliott School?

As an undergraduate I had studied political science and so one of the reasons I enrolled in GW was that I wanted to learn how to take advantage of my social science background in the world of communications, which is where I wanted to work after graduating from GW. I had seen so many marketing agencies and people that would have this very superficial and improvised way of dealing with communications problems; it was all very aesthetical and not very methodical. So I thought that if I could merge my knowledge of social science with a knowledge of communication I could find much more meaningful and effective ways to tackle communication. I am very happy to have accomplished just that.

What part of your career do you find most rewarding and why?

I love meeting interesting new people and participating in creative projects. I get my drive from that. It’s always very gratifying to look back on a campaign once it’s done and see all your ideas come alive.  However, above all, we always try to do communications with social impact, and the most gratifying thing is seeing that positive impact on the community.

How has your Elliott School graduate degree been valuable?

Learning is an invaluable experience, but often the most valuable things you take from studying are the people and experiences you encounter. I met amazing people during my time at the Elliott School and some have even become part of my working team.

What was the most rewarding aspect of your time at the Elliott School?

Living in a foreign country and having to face the challenge of adapting is always very rewarding. It opens your mind up and makes you a more tolerant and understanding person. The Elliott School allowed me to interact with people from all over the world and that was very enriching.

Share a fun work from home/quarantine story!

When everyone started to work from home, there was no need for me to go to meetings or be at the office. At the time I was taking a very demanding course on soccer tactics and one day I realized that my dream had been to be a soccer player. So one day I packed my things and went to Panama to try my luck as a soccer player. I tried out with a team and completely failed. So I went to the coach and thanked him for the opportunity and told him I’d head back to Mexico. But he said that no one should be judged from one try and I should stay the whole week. I did, and ended up staying the whole season. I didn’t play much, just a couple of cup games, but I trained every day with the team and was part of the squad. Incidentally we were champions of the Panamanian first division that year.

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The #ElliottProud profile series is managed by the Elliott School Office of Graduate Admissions and highlights graduate program alumni to answer common questions posed by prospective, incoming, and current students. For more information on this series or to submit questions, e-mail the Office of Graduate Admissions at esiagrad@gwu.edu.

The views expressed by students profiled do not necessarily represent those of organizations they work for, are affiliated with, or the Elliott School of International Affairs.