Margarita Herdocia

Margarita Herdocia describes herself as “ a lucky daughter of two amazing parents, and a mother blessed with three great gifts from God: her three loving sons”.

Margarita leads her Family Office which invests in and manages a diverse portfolio of financial, technology, health care, AI & Behavior Modification, and general services around the world. She also runs projects in residential & commercial real estate, including Citi Tower at Acropolis in the Dominican Republic, and duty free zones in Costa Rica.

Margarita believes that “one of my life missions is to create happy & secure jobs” and with that aim she has led for the past decade, Best Food Groups & Kentucky Food Groups which operates TGIFridays, KFC, Pizza Hut, WAPI & Siembras y Cosechas restaurants. Her latest start up is PLNT BURGER, a one year old fast casual restaurant chain she co founded, has stores around the Washington DC area, and aims to give people the ability to “Eat the Change you want to see in the world”. Margarita is President of the Board of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO Gold) in Costa Rica.

She is very involved in several philanthropic initiatives and NGOs, including “Ticos y Nicas: Somos Hermanos” & its star project HUG (Humanitarian University Grants) which gives scholarships to Nicaraguan students fleeing the violence in their homeland; Fundacion UBUNTU which finances several charity organizations in Nicaragua; ADA, Amigos del Aprendizaje; and Democracy Lab, a think tank that promotes improvements in political systems around the world; & Peace Builders, which teaches Meditation, Self Awareness & Violence Reduction inside Prisons.

Margarita attended Duke University and Columbia University’s Barnard College, and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Political Science and Psychology, and a Minor in Economics; she is currently a study group leader at the Harvard Business School/YPO MBA program. Margarita is a member of the 2005 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute and is a Moderator for CALI (Central American Leadership Initiative). Margarita’s business & philanthropic track record has been covered extensively by digital & printed media, including the cover of Forbes Magazine for her role in food franchises.