About the blog

Matilde Peñagaricano

Matilde is Investment Officer in Financial Institutions at IDB Invest, where she joined in 2017. Matilde is responsible for the relationship with the Uruguayan financial market, while originating and structuring transactions with Financial Intermediaries of the Southern Cone and expanding access to financial services throughout the region. Within the IDB Group, her focus is the structuring of sustainable finance operations. She has participated in sovereign guaranteed operations and technical assistance, as well as in loan transactions, capital markets and capital investments that promote access to financing for SMEs, financial inclusion, women's empowerment and climate change mitigation. Before joining IDB Invest, he worked at the IDB Group both at the IDB public window and at the IDB Lab. He was a Credit Analyst at Itaú Unibanco and Research Assistant at the renowned think tank of the Center for the Study of Economic and Social Reality (CERES), among others. Matilde has a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Glasgow (Scotland), as well as a Master's degree in Finance and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of the Republic (Uruguay).

Matthieu Pegon

Matthieu leads the Blended Finance Team at IDB Invest, which he joined in 2017. He is responsible for managing concessional resources that are invested in transformational projects where risks are too high for commercial finance alone. He is the IDB Group’s focal point for blended finance issues. Before joining the IDB Group, Matthieu worked as Structured Finance Senior Specialist for the Green Climate Fund, the largest multilateral climate finance fund. He also worked at BNP Paribas as Vice President in Structured Debt Capital Markets with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Matthieu earned a master’s degree and a bachelor's degree in finance from Grenoble École de Management (France).

Mattia Chiapello

Mattia Chiapello is a Development Impact Officer at IDB Invest, where he supports the design, monitoring, and evaluation of projects to ensure they deliver measurable impact across Latin America and the Caribbean. With extensive experience in data analysis and knowledge management, Mattia specializes in evidence-based practices and strategic learning to strengthen institutional accountability, improve project results, and foster innovation in development projects. Mattia holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University.

Mauricio Ayala

Mauricio is an Officer in the Climate and Environment Division of IDB Invest, where he joined in 2024, after being an Advisory Services Officer in the Public Private Partnerships team for more than 6 years. Her work consists of actively supporting private corporations in the development of sustainable and bankable infrastructure and corporate projects. Prior to joining the IDB Group, he worked for more than three years as Legal and Economic Advisor to the Vice Minister of Finance and Public Credit in Colombia. He also worked as an attorney at Duran & Osorio Abogados, a Colombian law firm that focuses on infrastructure projects. He has extensive experience in the structuring and evaluation of PPP projects, particularly in Colombia, but also in the rest of the Latin American region. Mauricio holds a Master of Laws degree from Columbia University in New York (USA), and a double degree in Law and Economics from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia).

Mauricio Jimenez Pijoan

Mauricio Jimenez Pijoan has more than eight years of experience in strategic consulting in the Consumer Goods, Retail, Automotive, and Financial Services sectors. He has led the definition and implementation of business and digital strategies for leading companies in these markets in several countries in Europe and America. Currently, he leads the strategy consulting practice for the industrial sector at NTT DATA Mexico.

Mauro de la Vega

Mercedes Gárate

Mercedes Garate is an industrial engineer specializing in industrial organization by the ETSII-UPM in Madrid; she is director of the strategic consulting practice for the hospitality, Transport & Leisure line at NTTdata in Spain. She has more than 15 years of work experience, having developed transformational projects and strategic thinking in the field of land and air transport for public clients such as Renfe, Metro de Madrid, Metro de Barcelona, AENA, or Enaire or private clients such as Iberia or IAG group.

Michelle Espinach

Michelle Espinach, Sustainable Banking Manager at Banco Promerica Costa Rica, leads all initiatives related to the bank's strategy to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Those include, among others, financing structures for new products, preaching with the example and measure the impact of all the efforts that the bank and its staff are putting into the sustainable strategy. One of her objectives is for Banco Promerica to become the first Costa Rican bank to issue green or sustainable bonds.

Michelle Shayer

Michelle Muhringer Shayer is a lawyer specialized in corporate sustainability management with an MBA in environmental management from the University of Sao Paulo. She works as a senior environmental and social specialist in the Social, Environment and Corporate Governance (ESG) Division at IDB Invest. Michelle currently coordinates the gender risk assessment process at IDB Invest. She has also worked in sustainable development in the private sector (mining, infrastructure, industrial, financial institutions, consultancies) and in non-profit organizations, and has more than 15 years of experience in assessing social impacts.

Milagros Rivas

Milagros Rivas Saiz is Division Chief, Advisory Services, at IDB Invest, which she joined in 2021. She is responsible for leading the Climate Change, Gender and Inclusion, SME Development, Digitalization, and Public-Private Partnerships areas. Before joining the IDB Group, Milagros worked for the International Finance Corporation as Global Head of Strategy Director and Global Head of Advisory Services, a position in which she helped develop highly sustainable projects and open markets to private investment. Previously, she was an Executive Committee member of Acciona Energía. Milagros has extensive experience in consulting, from her work at McKinsey & Co. Milagros earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). https://www.linkedin.com/in/milagros-rivas-saiz/

Milena Correia Cafruni

Milena Correia Cafruni is a Social and Environmental Officer at IDB Invest. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo and a Master's degree in International Cooperation and Development from La Sapienza University of Rome. Milena has been working since 2014 with issues of identification and management of social impacts and stakeholder engagement. At IDB Invest, she acts as focal point in the identification and management of gender risks in DSP/SEG.

Mónica Ballesteros

Monica is a Public Policy Consultant for The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research arm of the Economist Group. Monica is the project manager for the Global Microscope, an index that assesses the environment enabling financial inclusion in 55 countries across the world. Prior to her work at the EIU, Mónica was part of the G20 team at the Mexican Ministry of Finance, where she focused on the financial inclusion agenda. She also worked for a strategic consulting firm in Mexico, where she designed and implemented communication and crisis management strategies. Monica has a Master's degree in International Affairs from Tufts University, where she majored in international finance and development economics. She has a BA in Political Science from Wellesley College.