Ambassador Gangotena was, until recently, Ecuador's ambassador to the United States. Over his lengthy public career, he has been actively involved in Ecuadorian politics, business, education, and journalism, having served as chief-of-staff for President Sixto Ballen, executive director of the National Modernization Council, business professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and president of the Universidad de Las Americas. From 2000 to 2003, he was a board member for Ecuador's Fulbright Commission, and from 1989 to 1993, he served as board chair for the Children of the Street Foundation. He has published widely on business and public administration in Latin America and has been a respected op-ed columnist in Ecuador for over fifteen years. During a fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy in 2005, Ambassador Gangotena examined how and why Ecuador has been successful in advancing and sustaining its democracy, paying particular attention to inclusion of indigenous people and the avoidance of armed political conflict and narcotics-based organized crime.