About the blog

João Diniz Abud

João Diniz Abud is an Environmental and Social Lead Officer at IDB Invest in São Paulo, in charge of evaluating environmental and social loan risks, proposing mitigation measures consistent with international best practices, and supervising project performance. He has over 15 years of experience in environmental and social impact studies and assessments for urban developments, infrastructure, mining, wind power, pulp and paper, food production and agribusiness projects in Latin America and Africa. Before joining IDB Invest, he has worked for other multilateral development banks and for some of the major international E&S consultancy companies, where he was responsible for conducting environmental, OHS and social compliance audits across a spectrum of industries. João holds a BSc. (Geography) from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a M.Sc. in Spatial Planning and Environmental Management from the University of Barcelona, Spain.

Joaquin Lennon

Joaquin Lennon has been an economist at the International Monetary Fund's Statistics Department since 2022, where he leads projects to improve data standards and transparency of countries' official economic data. Previously, Joaquín worked as an economist at the Strategy and Development Department of IDB Invest during the years 2018 and 2021, where he contributed to the preparation of the IDB Group’s Country Strategies, among other strategic products, and led the implementation of data-driven tools to identify the of the Group's borrowing countries’ development challenges and to better understand which interventions could generate the greatest development impacts through the private sector. Joaquin is a co-author of numerous knowledge products on Latin American and Caribbean economic development. Other previous positions Joaquín has held include researcher in economic and public policy issues at the University of Chicago, market analyst at Euromonitor International, economist in the Chilean Chamber of Construction's economic studies department, and consultant on policy evaluation projects in Chile, his native country. Joaquin has a master's degree in applied research methods from the University of Chicago, a master's degree in public policy from the University of Chile, and a bachelor's in economics from the same university.

Jorge Márquez

Jorge holds a Master's degree in Public Policy with a specialization in Finance from Harvard University, a Bachelor's degree in Economics with a special mention from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a CFA Financial Analyst certification from the CFA Institute. Jorge has more than 20 years of experience in the financial markets as a structurer, investor and advisor. He started working at Banco de México in the Financial System Analysis area and later at Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal (SHF) where he served as Chief Financial Officer and developed the first mortgage securitization trading models. Subsequently, he led Infonavit's Financial Markets area, first in charge of the issuance of more than 30 billion pesos in mortgage securitizations, and shortly after the creation of the Infonavit afore with more than 100 billion pesos under management. Subsequently, he was Deputy General Director of Banobras, participating as a member of the Board of Directors. Since 2014, Jorge has served as co-founder and Managing Partner of Inteligencia Capital, a boutique advisory and investment banking firm specializing in the non-bank and SME sector in which he has supported the non-bank financial sector, mainly sofomes, to develop financially and be able to finance themselves through the stock markets. Jorge participates as a member of the Board of several sofomes.

José Antonio Cortés Barrientos

José Antonio Cortés holds a Bachelor's Degree in Actuarial Science with a Master's Degree in Insurance and Risk Management from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Essex. In 2015, he joined FIRA, a development financial institution administered by the Central Bank of Mexico and dedicated to supporting the development of the country's rural, agricultural, livestock, forestry, and fisheries sectors, where he held the position of Deputy General Director of Credit until 2020 and the position of Deputy General Director of Business Promotion at present. As Deputy General Director of Credit, he coordinated the regulation and supervision of loans and guarantees and the operation of Financial Intermediaries. In the position of Deputy General Director of Promotion, he develops programs and products, strengthens business relationships with Financial Intermediaries, companies, and clients, and identifies and adopts elements of innovation. In addition, prior to his work at FIRA, Act. Cortés worked in different public and private institutions in the financial sector and the Central Bank of Mexico. In sum, he has 25 years of experience in the financial system, where he has specialized in agricultural and rural financing.

José Baig

José is the editor of IDB Invest's Sustainable Business blog.

José Claudio Linhares Pires

José Claudio es economista líder en la Oficina de Evaluación y Supervisión del BID y autor de varias evaluaciones sobre proyectos de desarrollo implementados por el Banco. Antes, fue asesor presidencial en el Banco Nacional de Desarrollo Económico (BNDES), en especial en cuestiones relacionadas con la reestructuración de los sectores de infraestructura en Brasil. También fue investigador del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) junto con el Departamento Económico del BNDES y economista del Departamento Intersindical de Estadística y Estudios Socioeconómicos (DIEESE) en Brasil. Tiene un doctorado en economía de la Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro y está especializado en temas relacionados con el desarrollo productivo.

José Luis Lobera

José Luis Lobera es especialista líder de comunicación del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), donde asesora en temas relacionados con el sector privado y la sostenibilidad. Su trabajo en el departamento de Knowledge, Communication & Innovation (Conocimiento, Comunicación e Innovación) del BID también incluye la comunicación regional en América Latina y la organización de eventos. A título personal, es editor del blog sobre el arte de contar historias Storyplot (www.storyplot.net). Tiene una licenciatura en ciencias políticas y un máster en relaciones internacionales y comunicación de Boston University.

Jose Pablo Zuñiga

José Pablo Zúñiga es oficial de crédito en BID Invest, con base en Washington D.C. José Pablo es responsable del seguimiento de operaciones estructuradas y de mercado de capitales en la región. Jose Pablo se unió a BID Invest en mayo de 2017. Previo a BID Invest, se desempeñó como director senior de financiamiento estructurado (SF, por sus siglas en inglés) de Asset Backed Securities (ABS) en América Latina, donde lideró proyectos globales, desarrollo de metodologías y reportes especiales. Anteriormente, José Pablo fue director de financiamiento estructurado en Europa para Fitch con base en Madrid, España y en Monterrey, México. Con más de 15 años de experiencia, José Pablo cuenta con una licenciatura en economía de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma, una maestría en economía de la Universidad de Costa Rica y una maestría en finanzas de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

José Quiñones

José Ramón Tora

Juan Carlos Páez

Director ESG - Infrastructure and Industrial Processes at IDB Invest. Juan Carlos, a civil engineer (National Polytechnic School of Ecuador) with a master’s degree in Infrastructure Planning (University of Stuttgart, Germany), is a project manager and a socio-environmental auditor certified in ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. He has more than 30 years of professional experience in management of public and private projects; socio-environmental management; execution of socio-environmental studies; conception and execution of hydraulic, civil and road projects; public acquisitions; socio-environmental audits; and management of state modernization programs, social programs and agricultural development programs, among others. He was the Director of the Environmental Advisory Program for the Andean Region with Fundación Natura, perhaps the most important NGO of Ecuador at that time. He served as Under-Secretary (Vice-Minister) of Environmental Management in the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador, and since 1998 has been a specialist of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, managing public and private projects in almost all Latin American countries. As a Principal Environmental and Social Officer of the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Division of IDB Invest, the private window of the IDB Group, he is the Head of Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Telecom and Tourism Sectors. Juan Carlos has so far published 4 books and various articles on issues related to the environment and the management of natural resources.

Juan Fonseca

Juan is a Senior Investment Officer of the Manufacturing Unit at IDB Invest for the Central American region. He is a Costa Rican citizen and has worked for almost eighteen years at the IDB Group, promoting the sustainable development of Latin America and the Caribbean through the structuring and implementation of financial solutions for private sector clients. During this time, he has led more than 50 projects in most of the Central American countries and some in South America. His professional career in banking, finance, and management has been carried out more than 25 years, where his main focus has been working with companies and projects at corporate level. His extensive experience includes financial and risk management, loan structuring, syndications, investment banking, project financing, equity and mezzanine financing, mainly. Juan holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from INCAE Business School and a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Costa Rica. Likewise, he is a Technician in Stock Exchange Operations of UCR/FUNDEPOS and graduated from IPADE’s Top Management Program of Mexico.