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Discover best practices and trends from the Latin American and Caribbean private sector shared by IDB Invest specialists in agribusiness, development impact, energy, financial institutions, transportation, and more.

 

Blog authors

  • Stacy Swann

    Stacy Swann is managing director of IDB Invest's Blended Finance Division. Her background as an investor includes impact, angel, and venture investing, as well as project and corporate finance. From 2015 - 2023, she was CEO of Climate Finance Advisors, a financial advisory and consulting firm focused on supporting investors of various types, including banks, institutional investors, and impact fund managers. She has held senior and executive positions with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the US Department of the Treasury, Enron Corporation, and other organizations. In her personal capacity, she is a co-founder of Resilient Earth Capital. She serves on multiple boards, including the Montgomery County Green Bank and the Green Guarantee Company, and sits on the Climate Panel of the Maryland State Pension Fund. Ms. Swann holds an MBA in finance and development economics from American University, a master's degree from Harvard University, and a bachelor's degree from City University of New York - Hunter College.

  • Stefan Wright

    Stefan es oficial líder de Inversión en Turismo de BID Invest. Ingresó en 2016, y su trabajo se enfoca en la ejecución de transacciones financieras en América Latina y el Caribe. Cuenta con más de diez años de experiencia en el Grupo BID, durante los cuales generó soluciones de deuda y capital innovadoras, estructuró proyectos complejos e integró servicios de asesoría en sus transacciones orientadas al desarrollo sostenible. Antes de ingresar al Grupo BID, Stefan pasó cuatro años como director ejecutivo de Near Shore Solutions Inc. en Jamaica, recaudando capital y brindando servicios de asesoría financiera. Previamente, Stefan pasó siete años en banca de inversión, durante los cuales ejecutó transacciones de deuda y capital, además de prestar servicios de asesoría en fusiones y adquisiciones en Bank of America Securities en Nueva York. Stefan tiene una maestría en administración de empresas (MBA, por sus siglas en inglés) con énfasis en finanzas de la Universidad de Nueva York (EE.UU.), y un título de pregrado en contabilidad de la Universidad de las Indias Occidentales (Jamaica).

  • Stefano Pereira

    Stefano Pereira is Senior Development Impact Advisor at FinDev Canada where he is a contributor the organization’s thought leadership agenda. Prior to joining FinDev Canada, he worked in the Development Effectiveness Division at IDB Invest. His areas of research include private sector development, productivity and green economics and his work has been featured in books, technical papers and academic journals. He holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Toronto and B.A. in Economics from the University of the West Indies.

  • Stephanie Eder

    Stephanie is an Investment Officer in the Blended Finance Team at IDB Invest. In the course of her career of more than ten years in the IDB Group, she has participated in structuring projects for investment funds with financial institutions and has analyzed investment projects for financial institutions. Before joining the IDB Group, she was an auditor at Deloitte & Leitner in Vienna, Austria. She earned a master’s degree in international relations and international economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (USA) and a master’s degree in international business from the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein (Austria).

  • Stephanie Oueda

    Stephanie is the head of gender and diversity at IDB Invest, based in Washington, D.C. At IDB Invest, our goal is to improve lives. As Head of Gender and Diversity, Stephanie's role is to ensure that all operations have a positive impact in leading to a more gender-balanced society. Mainly, she focuses on the empowerment of women, although the role also covers the empowerment of men in the Caribbean. Under her leadership, this area of the organization now works on programs to include other underrepresented groups and increase other dimensions of diversity in order to work towards a more inclusive society. For example, the inclusion of people of African descent, LGBT +, indigenous people and people with disabilities. Stephanie has two master's degrees, one in economics and one in political science from the University of Montreal and the Sorbonne University, respectively.

  • Stephen Thomas

    Stephen leads the Financial Institutions Team for the Caribbean region at IDB Invest, which he joined in 2019. He is responsible for originating and structuring financing transactions for financial intermediaries that have an impact on development, by increasing access to financing, fostering women’s empowerment and supporting climate change mitigation programs, among others. Before joining the IDB Group, Stephen led teams focused on equity brokerage, investment advisory and wealth management for First Citizens in Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and Barbados. He previously worked as Debt Capital Markets Head of Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited, covering clients across the wider English-speaking Caribbean region. Stephen earned a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. (USA) and an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of the West Indies.

  • Su Hyun Kim

    Su Hyun Kim is a Sustainable MSME Consultant at the Advisory Service Division (ADV) of IDB Invest. She works on advisory projects that provides guidance and action plans for IDB Invest client companies to transform their operations and value chain into a sustainable one. She also works in knowledge product creation related to sustainable value chain, circular economy, silver economy, sustainability indicators, and other topics. Prior to joining IDB Invest, Su Hyun held positions related to technical assistance and advisory projects in the World Bank and IDB. She holds a Masters of Public Affairs from Cornell University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

  • Sumiko Andrade

    Sumiko Andrade is a Corporate Affairs and Transparency Officer in the Risk Department at IDB Invest. Before taking on this role, she worked in the Office of Evaluation and Oversight at the IDB Group, where she primarily focused on evaluations related to the private sector. Her experience includes work in impact investment funds, origination, analysis, and assessment of transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Previously, she collaborated with the Inter-American Development Bank on initiatives from the Social Protection and Health Division in Mexico and Central America. Sumiko holds a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University and an MBA from the Barcelona Executive Business School.

  • Sung Nam Choi

    Sung Nam Choi is a professional in IT projects for development. Before joining IDB Invest, he worked as a principal manager in the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of the Republic of Korea. He led IT projects for developing countries such as national digital agenda, broadband masterplan, e-government systems & applications, and digital inclusion policy. In addition, he conducted IT advisory services and managed IT training programs collaborating with international organizations like International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), Asian Development Bank (ADB), African Development Bank (AfDB), and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Furthermore, he has 7 years of field experience in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He launched the first virtual Spanish IT education platform (CEABAD, https://ceabad.com/, located in Nicaragua) for policymakers, experts, and college students in Latin America. He coordinated over 30 MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) including digital business, e-commerce, Fintech, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain technology through this platform. He also served as the representative of the Office of KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) in Costa Rica. He studied a Ph.D. in Public Administration at Korea University, earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from Yonsei University (Korea), and completed the Executive Education Program of Digital Transformation in Government at Harvard Kennedy School (USA).

  • Susana del Granado

    Susana del Granado is an environmental and social officer at IDB Invest based Panama, responsible for evaluating environmental and social impacts and risks of loans, proposing mitigation measures consistent with international best practices, and supervising project performance. Susana holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Policy from the State University of New York at the School of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in United States. She also holds a Master of Science from SUNY-ESF and a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (United States). She has a degree in biology from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in Bolivia. As environmental and social coordinator at the Inter-American Corporation for Infrastructure Financing (CIFI), she has evaluated environmental and social risk in highway, hydroelectric, solar, and port projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. As a senior researcher at the think tank for Advanced Studies in Development (INESAD) she focused on research projects in environmental and ecological economics. She worked as an associate researcher at the Institute of Ecology of La Paz-Bolivia, leading research on adaptation to climate change in Aymara-peasant communities and at the School of Development Studies (CIDES) of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, leading historical comparative studies on non-renewable resource management.

  • Susana Marín

    Susana Marín is a Fund Manager at IDB Invest, where she joined in 2019. In her role, Susana is crucial in managing financial resources, enhancing donor relations and securing major contributions from international funds. She has effectively managed multiple donor-funded technical cooperations, demonstrating her expertise in fund management and commitment to meeting donor expectations. Her leadership in impact reporting to donors and strategic evaluations significantly advances transparency and decision-making within the institution. At IDB Invest, Susana contributes to major project oversight and process enhancements, contributing to the institution's strategic direction and commitment to international standards of cooperation. Susana holds a Master of Applied Leadership & Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. She also earned a Bachelor of Finance from Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia. Fluent in Spanish and English, Susana is dedicated to using her strategic insights and leadership skills to foster global economic and social dialogues.

  • Sustainable Business Team

    Like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), our commitment is to economic growth and social inclusion; that is central to our identity as part of the IDB Group. But our focus is on the private sector. As the private-sector arm of the IDB Group, we know the region. We work where our clients are and can provide them with customized financing solutions and expert advice tailored to their specific industry and market. IDB Invest is owned by its 48 member countries, 26 of which are in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Each country’s voting power is proportional to the number of IDB Invest shares it holds.

Negocios sostenibles