Arthur Fioravante Chiba
Consultant · Facilitator · Author
I help leaders and teams work well across cultures, borders, and languages.
About
What I am really interested in is human nature. Following that curiosity has taken me to more than a hundred countries and through seven industries, from government and humanitarian aid to financial services and technology. Early in my career, friends started calling me the group's unofficial career coach, and I began mentoring people through their own career questions, drawing on my own approach: seeing myself as a generalist by design, someone who reads a new industry the way most people read a map.
I am a consultant, facilitator, and writer based in São Paulo. For most of the last 15+ years I have worked where cultures meet: as Global Chief Operating Officer of AIESEC across 120 countries, then for 5 years in Amsterdam as a director at SkillLab, and now independently, helping companies enter new markets and helping their leaders run teams that span time zones and first languages.
Other professional adventures include a stint at Itaú Unibanco, first as a management trainee, later on focused on performance management, a season as product manager at Revelo, and a stretch as the International Committee of the Red Cross's employer branding lead for Latin America, one of the toughest sales jobs I've had: convincing doctors and nurses to deploy into active conflict zones. Earlier still: an English teacher, a research intern, and some government time too, back at USP, in international relations and communications.
I hold an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in International Relations from the University of São Paulo, and I teach as a guest professor at the School of Economics, Business and Accounting of the University of São Paulo (FEA-USP). I am an experienced facilitator, drawing on Theory U and anthroposophy for a consciousness-based approach to collaborative leadership and systemic change, and I have designed and led 20+ strategic retreats in 10+ countries. I work in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, and get by in French and Italian.
I also write. O Japonês de Osasco ("The Japanese Guy from Osasco") is part travel memoir, part autobiography, part poetry. I wrote it for the university students who kept asking me the same question: how do you build a career that gives you an international life?
For organizations
How I work with companies:
Facilitation, training & learning
I design and run learning experiences for teams that work across borders: everything from team building and feedback sessions to strategy retreats and training programs, including recent work on the responsible use of AI. 20+ of them so far, in 10+ countries. The work draws on Theory U and anthroposophy, a consciousness-based approach to collaborative leadership and systemic change, and adapts to what the group needs, from a single intensive session to a multi-day offsite.
ExampleIn July 2026, delivered a two-day workshop on effective communication for the UN in Rio, with sessions ranging from active listening and how to give good feedback to storytelling and ethical AI usage.
Fractional executive
I step into a senior role for a defined period when a company is scaling or entering a new market and wants an operator who has done it before. I work across three areas that travel together: people and organization; market expansion and internationalization; and implementation and customer success. The common thread is people, whether they are your staff or your clients.
ExampleThis meant opening Latin America and Africa as new markets at SkillLab, then stepping in as Director of Customer Success and Professional Services, running a 10-person team across 9 nationalities and sustaining partnerships and implementing projects with the World Bank, GIZ, UNICEF, and the IDB, alongside European municipalities and government bodies across the Gulf region, in 40+ countries.
ESG & social impact
Talent and employability have been the thread through my whole career, the "S" in ESG, and this is the part of my work that feels like a genuine passion project. At INSEAD, I steered a very traditional MBA toward social entrepreneurship on purpose. I help mission-driven organizations measure the change they actually create, and get ready for standards like B Corp.
ExampleI put that into practice when I also inherited the role of Director of Impact at SkillLab, designing and implementing the company's theory of change from the ground up, owning it onwards through impact measurement, and co-leading our B Corp certification.
For individuals
Mentoring for new managers and career changers
One-to-one sessions for two kinds of people: new managers who have just taken on a team that spans countries and cultures, and professionals rethinking the shape of their career, especially those who want an international one. One-to-one, practical, and confidential.
ExampleIn the last 15+ years of my career, I've directly managed 70+ people from 20+ nationalities, acting as a career mentor to many of them alongside being their manager.
Writing & speaking
O Japonês de Osasco
A travel memoir told through ninety countries, each with its own poem. Available on Amazon and Uiclap. An English edition is on the way.
Speaking & teaching
Guest professor at FEA-USP. I have spoken at UNESCO, Amazon, the YMCA, FGV, and international development forums on culture, leadership, and international careers.
Poetry, writing & travels
Writing in several languages is my creative outlet, and a second collection is on the way.
Contact
What are you working on?
I read everything that comes through here and reply within a few days.