About the blog

Marcos Siqueira Moraes

Marcos Siqueira é especialista em parcerias público-privadas (PPPs), com formação multidisciplinar e mais de uma década de experiência na identificação, preparação e gerenciamento de PPPs. De 2008 a 2014, Marcos foi o chefe da Unidade de PPP de Minas Gerais, no Brasil, que recebeu vários prêmios nacionais e internacionais por sua excelência técnica. Como profissional no setor de infraestrutura, Marcos conduziu pessoalmente transações de mais de US $ 3 bilhões em setores como transporte, infraestrutura social, energia e ativos ambientais. Colaborando com bancos multilaterais de desenvolvimento, Marcos teve uma experiência internacional diversificada, participando de iniciativas de capacitação na África, América Latina e Ásia. Foi professor associado de políticas públicas na Fundação João Pinheiro e na Fundação Dom Cabral. Atualmente, é especialista sênior na equipe de parcerias público-privadas do Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento.

Margarita García de Paredes

Margarita Garcia de Paredes is an Environmental and Social Lead Officer at IDB Invest, focusing on integrating sustainable practices in infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and the entire portfolio of IDB Lab. Before assuming this role, she specialized in structuring infrastructure and energy projects as a Lead Investment Officer at IDB Invest. Previously, Margarita was the Head of Structuring and Agency at Banco Internacional de Costa Rica, S.A. (BICSA) and held various positions in the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of BNP Paribas, Panama Branch. She holds a B.S. in Finance from the Catholic University of Panama, an A.S. in Environmental Science from Montgomery College, an MBA from the University of Louisville, and a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability from Harvard University.

Margarita Roldós

María Alejandra Blanco-Iturbe

Maria Alejandra is a Sustainable Business and MSME Specialist in the Advisory Division at IDB Invest. She is responsible for supporting corporates and financial institutions to adopt sustainable models across their operations while helping drive and scale impact and meaningful contributions towards development. Prior joining the IDB Invest, she worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as focal point for LAC at the the Business Call to Action (BCtA) global inclusive platform, as well national advisor for the private sector and SDGs. She previously worked for Plan International developing and overseeing Human Rights projects in LAC and worked at the Ministry of Planning and Development in Venezuela advising bilateral and multilateral development programs. She earned a Master's Degree in Applied Political Studies from Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP), and a Bachelors' in Government and Politics from University of Maryland, College Park.

María Cecilia Acevedo

Maria Cecilia Acevedo is a Lead Strategy Officer in the Strategy and Development Effectiveness Department at IDB Invest in Washington, DC. María Cecilia leads the preparation of country strategies for IDB Invest, in particular providing technical analysis by including the private sector perspective for Latin America and the Caribbean. María Cecilia conducts research on economic development issues, especially on the contribution of the private sector to the welfare of the population and the mechanisms through which market solutions are efficient to achieve this objective. A Colombian national, María Cecilia received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, and an M.A. in Economics from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. 

María Cecilia Alvarez Bollea

María Cecilia Alvarez Bollea is a Specialist in State Modernization in the Innovation to Serve Citizens Division (IFD/ICS) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). María Cecilia leads the Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) agenda, and technical and operational support to IDB member countries for compliance and implementation of international standards in this matter. Maria Cecilia's work includes technical support to private sector entities to implement transparency and corporate integrity reforms, in light of good practices and international standards. Before joining the IDB, she was a Senior Attorney in the Legal and Compliance Department of Aes Argentina and Pampa Energía (Argentina) and was a member of the Integrity team of the United Nations Global Compact in New York. María Cecilia has a law degree from the National University of Córdoba (UNC) and has a Master's degree in International Relations from the University of Bologna, Italy and an LL.M. (Master of Law) from Fordham Law School, New York.

María Cecilia Deza

María Cecilia Deza is a senior economist in the Country Department for Central America, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Previously, she was a regional economist in the Andean Countries Department and a consultant in the IDB's Fiscal Management Division. Before joining the IDB, she worked as an economist at BBVA Bank in Peru and the same country's Ministry of Economy and Finance. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, an M.A. in Public Administration from Columbia University, and an M.A. in Applied Economics from the University of Maryland.

Maria Eduarda Gouvea Berto

Maria Eduarda Gouvêa Berto is an economist with a master's degree in business administration (Pontifical Catholic University – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). She has more than two decades of professional experience, having worked in the private and public sectors and multilateral organizations. Since 2020, she has worked at the IDB's Water and Sanitation Division in Washington D.C. as a senior financial and institutional specialist. Previously, she worked a consultant for the International Finance Corporation on the PPP advisory team. She has worked for more than a decade structuring public-private partnerships in the infrastructure sectors in Brazil, with a particular focus on financial modeling and project finance. In 2017-2018 she held the position of Finance Secretary of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was also Managing Director of the Brazilian Project Structuring Company (EBP), a partnership between BNDES, Banco do Brasil, Itaú, Santander, Bradesco, Votorantim, Citibank and Haitong with the objective of advising governments on the structuring of projects infrastructure and mobilization of private capital (2014-2016).

Maria Isabel Palomer

Operations Specialist of the Southern Cone Countries Department (CSC). The CSC Department develops and promotes strategies and programs with member countries and supports the execution of country-specific operations, among others. As Country Coordinator for Paraguay, she is responsible for supervising and supporting the fulfillment of the lending operations pipeline, monitoring portfolio performance, supporting the preparation of the Country Strategy, and ensuring coordination with the different operational areas of the Bank. She focuses on ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and generating public-private synergies to maximize the development impact of interventions. María Isabel is a Commercial Engineer and holds a Master's degree in Government and Public Management from the University of Chile. Previously, she worked as a Senior Operations Associate in the Chile Country Office, supporting the supervision of the execution and monitoring of projects in the Bank's portfolio.

María Laura Lanzalot

María Laura Lanzalot is the Development Effectiveness Officer of IDB Invest in Argentina. María Laura supports the identification, design, monitoring and evaluation of projects and investments in order to maximize their impact on economic, social and environmental development, with a focus on projects with financial institutions. Additionally, she contributes in the implementation of economic analysis, impact evaluations and testing of innovative solutions. Previously, she worked in the Department of Development Effectiveness in Washington DC. Her areas of interest are economic development, financial inclusion and applied economics. She has a master's degree in economics from the Universidad de San Andrés (UdeSA) and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

María Lucrecia Monge

María Lucrecia Monge is currently Commercial Director of Women's products at G&T Continental. She is responsible for the development of a holistic program, both internally and commercially, for SMEs led by women in Guatemala. María Lucrecia has worked in the construction industry, as Key Account Manager in the telecommunications industry and as Coordinator of an Entrepreneurship Center at the academy. Since 2015, she has been actively participating as an assistant professor in business, entrepreneurship and marketing courses for Business Administration, Psychology, Gastronomy and Entrepreneurship degree course at the Francisco Marroquín University. She is passionate about entrepreneurship and business as a driver of the local economy, a marketing enthusiast, an avid reader and a life-long learner. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a specialty in Marketing and an Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship, both from the Francisco Marroquín University.

María Noel-Vaeza

María Noel Vaeza is the director of UN Women for Latin America and the Caribbean.