Working where public money meets communities.
Lawyer and public policy professional. I have worked on how public money is spent, through procurement, transparency and supplier development, and now on how capital reaches small businesses. Next: public finance.
U.S. Department of State Speaker Program, 2025: Honduras, Mexico, Albania · Chicago · English and Spanish
I'm a lawyer and public policy professional. I grew up on the U.S.–Mexico border and started in Mexico's consular service, in Fresno and Chicago. At the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce I was Director of Policy, built an AI tool that helped small and minority-owned businesses find public contracts, ran supplier-development programs for the City of Chicago, and testified before the Illinois General Assembly and the Chicago City Council. Since 2025 I have taken part in the U.S. Department of State's Speaker Program on transparency and AI in public procurement, in Honduras, Mexico and Albania. Today I work in community lending in Chicago, helping small-business owners build credit files and get financed; I teach AI and digital skills at Instituto del Progreso Latino; and I co-chair the Champion Network of Digital Leaders Now. I'm preparing for the Securities Industry Essentials exam, with municipal securities next: the financing side of the public money I have spent years working on.
LL.B., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California · MPP, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy · Executive Certificate in Leading Economic Growth, Harvard Kennedy School · Aspen Institute Applied Data Fellow
Recognition: World Chambers Congress finalist (Geneva, 2023) · Negocios Now Chicago Latino 40 Under 40 (2024) · Co-author, “Owning the Latino Future” (Aspen Institute)
How I work
Transparency. Public money should be traceable. From Chicago's supplier programs to the roundtable with Albania's Public Procurement Agency, my work has been about making who gets public contracts, and why, visible.
Diligence. Trained as a lawyer, I read the documents. Contracts, regulations, credit files: the detail is where the risk is.
Follow-through. I build what I propose: a procurement-matching platform taken from idea to launch, supplier programs delivered for the City of Chicago, training cohorts that ended with people using the tools.
Service. Consular work, community lending and teaching in Spanish share one aim: that small and Latino-owned businesses get a fair shot at contracts and capital.
How to reach me
To invite me to speak, teach or comment, the fastest way is a 30-minute call, or write to info@adrianrodriguez.net.
For consulting and training projects for your organization, the work runs through Agora Virtual, the small consultancy I founded.
When invited, I speak and teach on AI, public procurement and small business, in English and Spanish, from procurement officials and professors to first-time entrepreneurs. The record of those talks, workshops and interviews is below.
Talks and appearances
A record of talks, workshops and interviews since 2024, most of them through the U.S. Department of State's Speaker Program. In 2026: Graphic Show MX in Morelia (August 14–15) and CANACO Servytur Chihuahua, “Impulso Digital” (August 18).
The Speaker Program pairs U.S. professionals with embassies that request a speaker on a specific topic. Most of the engagements below came through it; the rest are from work in Chicago and Washington, DC.
Honduras, San Pedro Sula. Universidad de San Pedro Sula (USAP), June 2025. AI in higher education, U.S. Speaker Program.
Honduras, San Pedro Sula. Club Hondureño Árabe, June 2025. Conversation with business leaders on AI adoption and competitiveness.
Honduras, Tegucigalpa. COHEP, June 2025. AI, data strategy and competitiveness, with business leaders and journalists.
Mexico, Guadalajara, Jalisco. Universidad de Guadalajara (CUCEA), June 13, 2025. “Beyond Innovation: AI as a Strategic Lever,” with U.S. Embassy Mexico and the Consulate General in Guadalajara.
Honduras, Tegucigalpa. Frente a Frente, national television, June 24, 2025. Live panel on AI, governance and the economy.
Albania, Tirana. Parliament of Albania, December 19, 2025. Meetings with Members of Parliament on AI in procurement and anti-corruption safeguards.
Albania, Tirana. Government roundtable, December 15, 2025. Public Procurement Agency, Public Procurement Commission, Centralized Purchases Operator, ministries and AKSHI: risk scoring, anomaly detection and transparency in tendering.
Albania, Tirana. Tirana Pyramid, December 16, 2025. Hands-on AI training for small and medium enterprises.
Albania, Tirana. U.S. Embassy Tirana, Chief of Mission Residence, December 15, 2025. Reception with officials and business leaders on procurement reform.
México, Michoacán, Morelia. Graphic Show MX, August 2025. “Del dato a la decisión: IA aplicada a negocios creativos y PYMES,” 500+ attendees.
United States, Chicago, Illinois. Telemundo Chicago, 2025. Interview on the economic impact of U.S. elections for small businesses.
Honduras, San Pedro Sula. Congreso 5 Más Allá (Academy for Women Entrepreneurs), Centro de Convenciones Copantl, June 2025. Opening session on AI for small business, 1,300+ attendees.
México, Michoacán, Morelia. Universidad Vasco de Quiroga, August 29, 2025. AI for small business development, U.S. Mission Mexico.
United States, Washington, DC. NAPEX Fall Conference, November 2025. Breakout session “Everyday AI, Extraordinary Impact” for nonprofit advisors.
United States, Chicago, Illinois. Consulate General of Mexico, 2025. Workshop series on applied AI for 40 women entrepreneurs, in Spanish.
Mexico, Guadalajara, Jalisco. American Corner Guadalajara, June 13, 2025. Practical AI for women entrepreneurs (Academy for Women Entrepreneurs).
Albania, Tirana. American Corner Tirana, December 19, 2025. Open session with students on AI applications and risks.
Albania, Tirana. RIT Albania, December 15, 2025. Discussion with faculty and students on AI in higher education, 100+ participants.
United States, Chicago, Illinois. Wilbur Wright College, City Colleges of Chicago, 2025. Lecture on entrepreneurship and AI.
United States, Chicago, Illinois. Telemundo Chicago and NBC Chicago, 2024. Interviews on the economic impact of the Democratic National Convention.
Honduras, Tegucigalpa. Banco Atlántida, June 24, 2025. Practical AI workshop for small business owners.
United States. Univision, Al Punto with Enrique Acevedo, 2025. Interview on AI and procurement access for Latino- and minority-owned businesses.
