OUR FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
Born in El Rosario, Sinaloa, Mr. Guillermo Elizondo Collard is an Agricultural Engineer, specialized in genetic improvement of plants, who graduated with Honorable Mention from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey campus, where he received twice the “Premio Al Saber” for outstanding academic achievement.
He began his professional career as a researcher in the Office of Special Studies, the Joint Program between the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States and Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture. He also completed Agriculture and Business Executive Education Programs at Harvard University in 1990 and 1997.
Under his tireless leadership, Grupo Ceres continues to receive recognition as one of “The Best Mexican Companies” for its high performance in business management and best business practices, awarded by Banco Nacional de México, Deloitte and Tecnológico de Monterrey.
For Mr. Elizondo, it has been a priority that his companies have an equitable work environment and that the dignity of all his collaborators is respected.
He is Founder and current President of the Board of Directors of:
TIMELINE
Mr. Guillermo Elizondo Collard is born on August 15 in Rosario, Sinaloa.
He begins his studies as an Agricultural Engineer at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.
He founds his first company, Cribas Portátiles del Noroeste, his first step to what is today Grupo Ceres.
Creates his company Tractores y Semillas, distributor of Porsche Diesel tractors.
Founds Seferssa to offer solutions in the fields of nutrition, seeds, and agrochemicals.
Creates Rancho Natoches, dedicated to the breeding of thoroughbred and quarter horses.
John Deere distribution begins through Agroequipos del Valle.
Launches Inmobiliaria Ceres for the construction, development, leasing, and sale of industrial spaces.
Creates Corporativo Ceres, a group of companies that offers comprehensive solutions to the agricultural sector, as well as logistic, financial, and technological services.
Starts Armex, Almacenadora Regional Mexicana, general warehouses with value-added services.
The corn research program begins.
Creates Semillas Ceres.
Creates Desarrollo Industrial Sinaloa (Dissa)
First Expoceres is held.
Launches the Centro de Productividad Ceres.
Creates Ceres Agrotecnología.
Creates Mercanta, a company dedicated to the commercialization of food products and to offer logistics services in national and international markets.
Creates the Terminal Transoceánica de Topolobampo, a maritime terminal with port services.
Founded Asterra, a company that provides agricultural insurance.
Creates Fundación Carlos Elizondo Macías, the corporate social responsibility arm of Grupo Ceres.
Starts Agrocapital, which offers financing solutions for the productivity of the agricultural and rural sectors.
PHILANTHROPY
His deep interest in the well-being of marginalized groups, as well as the economic development of Sinaloa, has motivated him to found and lead institutions that have transcended and changed the lives of countless people.
These institutions include: the “Casa Hogar Santa Eduwiges” to give shelter to homeless children; María Auxiliadora Home for the Elderly Foundation; Valores Topolobampo, AC to improve the well-being of the children, youth and families who live in the Port of Topolobampo; Ahome Pro-Education Board; the “Promotora de Apoyo a la Juventud”, dedicated to the care of at-risk youth and directed by The Salesian Order of Don Bosco; among others.
His philanthropic participation has also transcended state boundaries, being a founding partner and member of the Mexican Foundation for Health AC.
Since 1972, through the Patronato de Becas AC (Scholarship Board AC) he began investing in education with the support of various businessmen from Sinaloa, with the purpose of helping hundreds of students complete their university studies, so that their economic limitations would not be an impediment to transforming their lives and the lives of their families.
However, the most meaningful effort for Don Guillermo is the Fundación Carlos Elizondo Macías, IAP created in 2004 in memory of his beloved son, and dedicated mainly to the social investment in Higher Education for students with excellent academic performance who live in poverty, offering them opportunities for educational and professional growth and a better quality of life. In Mexico, 37% of the population experiences poverty, insecurity, inequality, unemployment and violence, all caused in great part by a lack of education.
The Fundación Carlos Elizondo offers the only national program focused on covering registration and tuition for complete degrees in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields of any university in the country for brilliant youth who live in poverty or extreme poverty, and who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend university, which is why year after year an educational and socioeconomic analysis is carried out to select the scholarship recipients.
Carlos Everardo Elizondo Macías
(03/05/1963 - 09/03/1998)
Through this Scholarship Program, the students form a community through which a culture of support and collaboration is fostered, they create a network of contacts, and their education becomes more well-rounded. As part of this unique program, all scholarship recipients receive training with a focus on social responsibility through a program developed by the Tecnológico de Monterrey that includes a curriculum on moral values and volunteering activities.
Every year the list of graduates increases, with now more than 1,000 success stories that include scholarship recipients who have become postgraduate degree students in Mexico and abroad, successful professionals, and entrepreneurs, who in gratitude to the Fundación Carlos Elizondo, have in turn become donors to the program themselves.
The goal is to support these brilliant students and ensure that their socioeconomic limitations are not an obstacle to aspire to a better life and achieve their professional goals.
Become a donor - let’s join forces to change lives through education.
With a career driven by his work ethic and values, today, 64 years after the creation of Grupo Ceres, Mr. Elizondo maintains his constant passion for agribusiness and his interest in finding solutions for socially disadvantaged sectors.
His vision for anticipating problems and opportunities, and responding to them strategically and with common sense, has characterized his professional career.
An efficient, fair, empathetic and honest leader, he has transcended the business sector with his integrity and humanistic conviction, dedicated to the pursuit of the well-being of those he leads and to contributing to the development of a prosperous and fairer Mexico.
EXPOCERES
Expoceres celebrates 30 years of promoting the development of the field, giving more than 60,000 exhibitors and visitors each year the space and knowledge to thrive in agribusiness in Mexico and generate strategic alliances that benefit all stakeholders. This platform offers farmers technology, knowledge, products, and services backed by science in order to improve their productivity and profitability.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
1980
The SARH, Secretaría de Agricultura y Recursos Hidráulicos (Secretary of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources) recognizes Mr. Elizondo for having participated in the development of the Centro de Investigaciones Agrícolas del Noroeste (Northwest Agricultural Research Center) 25 years after it was founded
1993
The Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (UAS) recognizes Mr. Elizondo for his work and spirit of collaboration in support of youth education, with the phrase “The world needs people like you.”
1994
Agronomist Engineers of the Tecnológico de Monterrey recognize Mr. Elizondo on his fortieth anniversary of practicing his profession, as “a born fighter who does not know failure.”
1997
Mr. Elizondo received the Galardón Nacional Ocho Columnas de Oro (National Eight Columns of Gold Award) for his impressive leadership in the business sector and his contributions to the national economic restructuring during difficult times for the country.
2004
The Agronomic Federation of the State of Sinaloa recognizes Mr. Elizondo for his outstanding achievements in the development of regional agriculture, “serving as encouragement to continue in the noble task of producing the food that the country demands.”
2005
The Mexican Health Foundation recognizes the determined and committed vision of Mr. Elizondo as a Founding Member who helped create and shape this institution.
2007
Mexico’s Great Place To Work Institute certifies Grupo Ceres as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Mexico and recognizes its leadership for promoting policies and practices that improve the quality of life of its employees.
2011
The Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo recognizes Mr. Elizondo for allowing its students to participate in professional internships at Grupo Ceres in order to enrich their knowledge, skills, perspectives and values, as part of the type of quality professional training that Mexico needs.
2012
AMSAC (Mexican Association of Seed Growers) recognizes Mr. Elizondo as a “man who sowed the seed which germinated into the association that it is today,” and for his professionalism, vision, and commitment in favor of the seed industry in Mexico.
2013
Eugenio Garza Sada Award is given to Guillermo Elizondo Collard by FEMSA and the Tecnológico de Monterrey, which recognizes “those who with their commitment, passion, and dedication contribute to the development of Mexico through actions that raise the standard of living and well-being of the communities.”
Grupo Ceres is recognized for the first time as one of the Best Mexican Companies awarded by Citibanamex, Deloitte and Tecnológico de Monterrey.
2014
CEMEFI (Mexican Center for Philanthropy) awards the Fundación Carlos Elizondo Macías IAP the optimal level of Accreditation in Institutionality and Transparency.
The Promotora de Apoyo a la Juventud thanks and recognizes Mr. Elizondo as the founder of the Salesian Order’s work in Los Mochis, quoting Don Bosco: “Let us never miss the opportunity that is presented to us to do good.”
SUTERM (Union of Electrical Workers of the Republic of Mexico) Section 72, recognizes Mr. Elizondo for his altruism and his unconditional support for the most marginalized youth.
2015
Grupo Ceres receives the Companies Committed to Children recognition, awarded by the municipality of Ahome.
2016
The Tecnológico de Monterrey, Sinaloa campus, awards Mr. Guillermo Elizondo Collard the Mérito EXATEC, the highest level of distinction given to exemplary Tec alumni. He was commended for his exceptional career path, for acting in accordance with the values and principles of the university, for his talent, his spirit of service, and his contribution to the social and economic development of the state of Sinaloa and of the country.
2017
The Government of Ahome and the Municipal Institute of Art and Culture, recognize Mr. Elizondo for his enormous contribution to the educational development of young people and for his invaluable support for the creation of the “Yo soy Lector” (“I Am a Reader”) Library through the Fundación Carlos Elizondo Macías.
2020
The Sinaloa Private Assistance Board awards the Premio al Mérito Filantrópico (Philanthropic Merit Award) to the Fundación Carlos Elizondo Macías to honor and recognize its outstanding work.
2022
AMSAC (the Mexican Association of Seed Growers) highlights the career of Guillermo Elizondo Collard for his great dedication and contribution to the development of the seed sector in our country for 60 years, for the benefit of agriculture in Mexico.
RANCHO NATOCHES
In 1978, his passion for horses prompted him to create Rancho Natoches, a prestigious breeding farm and genetic improvement center for Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses.
He has achieved a fruitful career of more than four decades in this field, accompanied by a human team that is prepared and passionate about horses.
For more than ten years, through partnerships with the Universities of Sonora and of Zacatecas, Rancho Natoches has received students in their final semester of veterinary medicine school and related programs, so that they can complete their social service requirement, participate in professional internships, gain experience in the prevention of health issues, and learn about horse breeding programs.
Rancho Natoches is one of the leaders in the production of high-quality racehorses from the best bloodlines every year.
Thoroughbred
That's Life
Horse of the year, Best Mexican Filly, Gold Award, Triple Crown winner at the Hipódromo de las Américas in 2007.
Winner of the International Dama del Caribe Classic in Puerto Rico in 2007.
Genubi Asquifar
Winner of the International Dama del Caribe Classic in 2020. Named Adult Champion Mare in 2023.
Quarter Horse
Julies Jet Smooth
Leading Stallion in Mexico in 1994.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
Researcher focusing on the genetic improvement of corn in all farming areas of Mexico.
Thesis on the genetic improvement of tomato to improve its resistance to handling and increase production.
As representative of Mexico's Office of Special Studies, presented the results of a two-year evaluation of ten vegetable species in eight localities in Sinaloa and Sonora at the annual meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Science in Antigua, Guatemala.
Founding agronomist of the INIA, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrícolas (National Institute of Agricultural Research)
Founding agronomist of the INIFAP, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research)
Founding agronomist of the CIANO, Centro de Investigaciones Agrícolas del Noroeste (Northwest Agricultural Research Center)
Responsible for the Vegetable Research Program in Northwest Mexico for the Office of Special Studies, the Joint Program between the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States and Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture.
EXTRA-PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS
- American Seed Trade Association
- Asociación de Almacenes Generales de Depósito
- Asociación Mexicana de Distribuidores de Fertilizantes
- Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Caballos Cuarto de Milla, A.C.
- Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Caballos Pura Sangre, A.C.
- Codesin, Consejo para el Desarrollo Económicos de Sinaloa
- Consejo Consultivo de Banamex, S.A.
- Consejo de Nacional Financiera
- Consejo Nacional Agropecuario
- Consejo Nacional de la Fundación Mexicana para la Salud, IAP
- Consejo Regional de Banamex
- Consejo Sinaloense de Empresarios, A.C.
- Consejo Sinaloense de Hombres de Negocios
- Fundación Mexicana para el Desarrollo Rural
- International Food and Agribusiness Management Association
- Jockey Club Mexicano, A.C