Ricardo Celaya

Ricardo has always been looking for innovative ways to create a positive impact in his community. He switched from working in the manufacturing industry for several years to run an Art, design & communication agency.

Passionate about technology, business, politics and art, he has started different creative ventures throughout his career. In 2009, cofounded ARTO, an Art, design & communication agency which aims to take ART TO THE PEOPLE. Today, ARTO has three developed business branches: ARTO Studio, a design and advertising agency; Celaya Brothers Gallery, a contemporary art gallery; ALL CITY CANVAS, a street art media and production platform.

Back in 2007, he co-founded JOIN, a web-based citizen journalism platform that works as a channel of communication for young Mexicans to give their opinion or propose solutions to different challenges in the country. In 2010, JOIN received the World Youth Summit Award in the category of “Pursuit of truth” at the United Nations in New York, for using technology to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

More recently, he co-founded PIECE, a Mexican boutique consulting firm focused on Strategy, Innovation and Financing for Governments and Enterprises.

He has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford (2011), and a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from the Technological Institute of Monterrey, Mexico (2005). During his studies at Oxford, he served as president of the Social Entrepreneurship Oxford Business Network. In 2010, he had the honor to be recognized as one of the Top 100 entrepreneurs of the Northeast of Mexico during the Monterrey Venture Capital Conference.