Global Network for Zero Advisor Juan Francisco Sifontes is an established sustainability and business transformation leader in Central America with more than 30 years of experience and accomplishments in the engineering and manufacturing sectors. 

In his current role as Rector, Academic Director and Dean of Engineering at the Key Institute in El Salvador, Juan is inspiring future generations of sustainability professionals and continuing his dedication to impact-based learning, mentoring and enriching the life of others. 

Prior to his transition to academia, Juan served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Sherwin-Williams of Central America for thirteen years. During his leadership at Sherwin-Williams, Juan oversaw a deep retrofit of their production plant which quadrupled installed production capacity and greatly reduced production cycles and a transformational shift to sustainability and decarbonization with a focus on energy, water, waste, green products and EPD’s. Juan also delivered the first LEED Gold certified building in El Salvador and was responsible for onboarding hundreds of LEED retail projects into USGBC’s Arc platform. 

Before Sherwin-Williams, Juan served as a StartUP Mentor focusing on sustainable affordable housing with MERAKI Sifontes & Gutierrez, Director of Balanced Foods ALIANSA at Corporacion Multi Inversiones and as a Production Manager at GRUPO AGRISAL. 

Recognized by his peers for his vast expertise in sustainability practices, Juan received the prestigious USGBC Sustainability Leadership Award in 2021. Juan has also been involved with the World Green Building Council, the Green Building Council of El Salvador, Habitat for Humanity and the Kriete Institute of Engineering and Science. 

As an advisor for GNFZ, Juan will leverage his extensive expertise in corporate decarbonization strategies, sustainable business transformation, the manufacturing sector and Central America toward the growth of the GNFZ net-zero certification platform.