About the blog

Paola Bazán

Paola Bazán es oficial de inversión de la División de Grandes Empresas de BID Invest. Paola se integró al BID en 2008, donde ha trabajado en la estructuración de financiamientos de deuda a largo plazo en operaciones de agronegocios y biocombustibles en América Latina y el Caribe, con especial atención en la producción de cultivos, lácteos, energía renovable y eficiencia energética. Antes de ingresar al Grupo BID, Paola ocupó puestos en el área de finanzas corporativas en varias empresas internacionales de Sudamérica pertenecientes a los sectores de seguros, minería y telecomunicaciones. Tiene un MBA en finanzas de George Washington University y una licenciatura en administración de empresas de la Universidad de Piura, Perú.

Patricia Tatto

Patricia is President and founder of Women in Renewable Energy Mexico AC, (MERM) a non-profit Civil Association in the renewable energy sector, with the purpose of empowering women in the field of renewable energy in LATAM.

Patricia Yañez-Pagans

Patricia Yañez-Pagans is a Principal Economist in the Development Effectiveness Division of IDB Invest. With extensive experience in impact measurement across multiple areas, both in the public and private sectors, she currently leads the work on ex-post evaluation for the IDB Invest portfolio and the impact knowledge agenda. Patricia joined the IDB Group under the Young Professionals Program and served as an Economist in the IDB's Office of Strategic Planning and Development Effectiveness and as Research Fellow for IDB’s Research Department. She has also worked as a consultant for different institutions, such as the World Bank, UNICEF and the Ministry of Development Planning of Bolivia, and as a Professor of Economics at the Universidad Católica Boliviana. Patricia has a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master’s in Applied Economics from Pompeu Fabra University, and a Master’s in Social Policy and Development from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Paula Castillo

Paula Castillo is a Senior Officer in the Strategy, Planning, and Synergies Division of IDB Invest, where she leads the strategic and analytical work in transport, social infrastructure, and public-private partnerships (PPPs). Paula is also involved in developing regional frameworks and corporate strategy initiatives aimed at maximizing IDB Invest’s impact. Prior to her current role, Paula served as a technical advisor to the Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and worked as a consultant in the IDB’s Transportation Division. Before joining the IDB Group, she contributed to Colombia’s National Planning Department in the Infrastructure Division and held academic positions at the Universidad de los Andes. Paula holds a degree in economics, a master’s in sustainability management from American University’s Kogod School of Business in the United States, and a master’s in economics from the Universidad de los Andes.

Paula Peláez

Paula Pelaez is the Director of MSME, Gender, Diversity and Inclusion, Advisory Services, at IDB Invest. Paula and her team support clients and the region in promoting inclusive and sustainable through improved business practices and innovative financing instruments. She has over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of private sector and development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She has worked with UNDP, BSR, CARE Canada, Aga Khan Foundation, and Grupo Aval on various topics such as inclusive business, sustainable sourcing, business and human rights, women empowerment, value chain development, impact investing and microfinance. Paula has a MSc in Environmental Studies from York University, Canada, and a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. 

Paula Valencia

Paula Valencia is an environmental and social specialist at IDB Invest, based in Washington, D.C. and she leads the agribusiness group within the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Division. She is responsible for evaluating environmental and social impacts and risks of agribusiness operations, proposing mitigation measures consistent with international best practices, supervising the performance and sustainability of projects, offering technical assistance to customers and generating knowledge products. She has extensive experience in the public and private sectors of Latin America and the Caribbean, having worked with the IDB Group for more than 19 years, primarily in agribusiness, financial intermediation, and manufacturing projects. Paula is an Industrial Engineer from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), she has a master's degree in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University (United States) and other studies in agriculture from Cornell University (United States).

Pilar Carvajo Lucena

Pilar is an Investment Management Officer, Blended Finance Team at IDB 
Invest, which she joined in 2017. She provides 
support to the origination and structuring processes 
of the concessional tranche of investments in the 
energy, agribusiness, manufacturing and financial 
services sectors, especially in Central America and 
the Caribbean. She is also responsible for managing 
the relationship with donors, including fundraising 
and project portfolio monitoring. 
Before joining the IDB Group, she worked at Acción 
Global Investments, where she participated in the 
origination and structuring of equity investments in 
financial institutions in Asia and Latin America. She 
previously worked at Deloitte providing advice to 
infrastructure and renewable energy clients, among 
other sectors, and managing their financial risks. She 
has more than five years of experience in the 
management of financial and equity investment risks 
in emerging markets. 
Pilar earned a master’s degree in business 
administration (MBA) from the MIT Sloan School of 
Management in Cambridge, MA (USA) and a 
professional degree in law and business 
administration from Universidad Pablo de Olavide in 
Seville (Spain).

Rachel Robboy

Rachel Robboy is an experienced international development banker with core expertise in financial and non-financial risk management, portfolio management, deal structuring and business development with a focus on Latin America.

As Chief Risk Officer of IDB Invest, Ms. Robboy oversees credit, market, and operational risk along with the environmental and social risk and special assets teams. Ms. Robboy chairs and votes on multiple senior management bank committees, and is a leader of sustainability; diversity, equity and inclusion; and corporate ethics at IDB Invest.

Over the past two decades, Ms. Robboy has held senior-level positions at the Inter-American Development Bank Group including Chief of the Portfolio Management Division and advisor to the Vice President for Private Sector and Non-Sovereign Guaranteed Operations, as well as other leading roles in the Infrastructure Division and the Special Operations Unit.

Ms. Robboy holds an MBA in international finance and a master’s in international affairs from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, both in Washington, D.C.

Rafael González

Rafael joined IDB Invest in January 2023 and is currently a consultant in the Sustainable Business and MSMEs team within the Advisory division. Before IDB Invest, Rafael worked as a Distribution Executive for the retail and institutional segment in LATAM and US Offshore at Jupiter Asset Management, a London-based asset manager; before this, he was a Financial Services Commercial Officer at the UK Department for International Trade; promoting investment, trade, and technical cooperation between the UK and Colombia, including the analysis of regulatory barriers to market access; and lastly, Rafael worked as an Associate Relationship Manager at Citibank Corporate Banking. Rafael holds a Master's degree in Development Management from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree in International Business Administration from Universidad de la Sabana.

Rafael Matas

RAFAEL MATAS TRILLO is presently Head of the Andean Region and Energy Sector Lead, in the Infrastructure and Energy Division of IDB Invest, based at IDB Invest’s head-office. He has been working for the IDB Group since 2007, leading the development of transportation, renewable energy, transmission and water and sanitation transactions in Latin-America.

As Head of the Andean Region since 2020, Mr. Matas leads a team that has structured and financed paramount transactions such as Lima Airport, the Rumichaca-Pasto and Pamplona-Cucuta 4G toll-roads through social bonds, the first solar PV project finance transactions in Colombia, and the largest wind projects in Peru to date with Engie and Enel, among others.

He is presently also the Energy Sector Lead of IDB Invest, where he leverages on the experience and knowledge of the energy markets, obtained throughout the last 17 years helping countries to develop its PPA frameworks (such as Uruguay or the Dominican Republic), structuring numerous solar, wind and green transmission transactions (in Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Colombia), and designing innovative products such as the first Total Credit Guarantee from the IDB Group to wrap a debenture of infrastructure to finance a wind transaction in Brazil, or the IDB Invest Green Transmission Line Certificate.

A Spanish national, he has received awards for innovative project finance execution. Previous to the IDB Group, Mr. Matas worked for the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) in its Hong Kong office for two years, managing the Spanish desk of the BBVA in China, and mainly devoting to corporate finance transactions.

He has a Law Degree and LLM by ESADE (Spain) and a Master in Foreign Service by Georgetown University.

Raúl Sánchez

Raúl Sánchez is a Development Effectiveness officer for the IDB Invest Strategy and Development Department. He is in charge of developing impact assessments of innovative projects to provide evidence to our clients. Raúl is specialized in transportation, health, education, and telecommunications projects. He has a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois and master's degrees in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and La Plata.

Rebeca Fernández

Rebeca Fernández coordinates technical advisory projects for the Corporate Governance unit of IDB Invest, a team she joined in 2019. She is a specialist in the development of communication, promotion and participation strategies that result in the dissemination of sustainable business practices. Before joining the IDB Group, she worked as a journalist, specializing in politics and business, for Diario El Universal (Venezuela), Latin Trade Magazine and Univisión, among other media. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Venezuela), a master's degree in International Relations from the Instituto de Empresas (Spain) and a professional certification in Public Relations from Rutgers University (USA).