About the blog

Gabriela Cavichioli

Gabriela is an investment officer in the Infrastructure and Energy Division at IDB Invest, based in São Paulo, Brazil. She has over ten years of experience in project and structured finance, specializing in infrastructure and energy projects, with a strong focus on water and sanitation, renewable energy, and social infrastructure in Brazil. Prior to joining IDB Invest in 2021, she served as an associate director in the Global Infrastructure Group credit analysis team at Fitch Ratings. Earlier in her career, she spent several years at Banco Santander Brasil, working in the Project and Structured Finance Division. Gabriela holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM) and an MBA in corporate treasury from the University of São Paulo (USP). She is also a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP).

Gabriela Mera

Gabriela es oficial de inversiones de BID Invest en la División de Instituciones Financieras, y está a cargo de la originación y estructuración de operaciones de financiamiento para el sector financiero y mercado de capitales en Ecuador. Tiene más más de 13 años de experiencia en la banca multilateral y ha liderado varios proyectos en los sectores financiero, de mercados de capitales y corporativo en América Latina y El Caribe. Antes de trabajar para BID Invest, Gabriela fue oficial de inversiones del sector privado del BID en Washington DC, donde estuvo a cargo del liderazgo de proyectos con instituciones financieras y empresas corporativas que buscaban atender las necesidades de la base de la pirámide socioeconómica en América Latina y el Caribe. Previo a esto, fue consultora financiera en el Departamento Fiduciario y de Adquisiciones del BID en Ecuador. Gabriela trabajó en el Departamento de Control Interno del ABN-Amro Bank, sucursal Ecuador y tiene un MBA en finanzas de la Johns Hopkins University y un posgrado del Programa de Desarrollo de Liderazgo para Gerentes de Minorías de la misma institución. También es ingeniera en administración de empresas y contadora pública, ambos títulos obtenidos en la Universidad Católica de Ecuador.

Gary Barker

Gary Barker, PhD, is a leading global voice in engaging men and boys in advancing gender equality and positive masculinities. He is the CEO and co-founder of Promundo-US, which has worked more than 10 years in nearly 40 countries. He is also co-founder of Instituto Promundo in Brazil, which began work on healthy masculinities and male allyship more than 20 years ago. Gary is co-founder of MenCare, a global campaign working in more than 50 countries to promote men’s involvement as caregivers, and co-founder of MenEngage, a global alliance of more than 700 NGOs. He co-created and leads the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), the largest-ever survey of men’s attitudes and behaviors related to violence, fatherhood, and gender equality. He is a co-author of the 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 State of the World's Fathers reports. He has advised the UN, the World Bank, numerous national governments, and key international foundations and corporations on strategies to engage men and boys in promoting gender equality. In 2017 he was named by Apolitical as one of the 20 most influential people in gender policy around the world. He is an Ashoka Fellow and received the Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices for his work to engage men for gender equality. He holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology and a Research Affiliate position at the Center for Social Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Gastón Astesiano

Gastón Astesiano is Head of the Single Window for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in the IDB's Vice Presidency for Countries. He joined the Bank in 2002 as part of the Young Professionals Program, in the Infrastructure Division of the Southern Cone. In 2007 he joined the Energy Division, where he was in charge of the development of energy projects. In 2011, he was appointed Operations Advisor of the Infrastructure Department, in charge of quality control of operations, management of the department's portfolio, and served as Coordinator of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). In September 2014, he was appointed Senior Advisor to the Vice Presidency of Countries, where he led the operational team in the design and implementation of corporate reforms such as: The New Guidelines for the preparation of Country Strategies of the IDB Group, The Regulation for the Incorporation of Parameters of Capital Adequacy in Financial Planning: Programming with Sovereign Guarantee Limits by Country and the Merger of the assets (U$5MM) of the Fund for Special Operations (FOE) to the Capital of the IDB. Since August 2017, he leads the IDB PPP Team, created to coordinate the IDB Group's technical assistance in PPP matters. He has a law degree from the Universidad Católica Argentina, is Master in Law (LLM) and Master in Economic Policy (MPA) from Columbia University.

Gema Sacristán

Gema Sacristán is IDB Invest's Chief Investment Officer. She joined the Inter-American Development Bank in 2008 as an Investment Officer in the Structured and Corporate Finance Department, where she subsequently became Chief of the Financial Markets Division. Prior to this role, she held various leadership positions in commercial and investment banking in Madrid, London and New York. Among them, she was the director of the Export and Agency Financing Unit for the Americas at BBVA New York and vice president and product manager in the area of Global Trade Finance at Banco Santander Nueva York.

Gian Franco Carassale

Gian Franco Carassale es oficial líder de inversión en BID Invest. Posee amplia experiencia en el análisis, estructuración y financiamiento de proyectos de energía renovable en varias jurisdicciones de América Latina y el Caribe, y ha asistido a gobiernos de la región en la preparación y lanzamiento de programas de energía renovable. Gian Franco es licenciado en economía de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina y posee una maestria en finanzas de la Universidad Di Tella.

Gonzalo Arauz

Gonzalo Arauz is an investment expert in telecommunications, media and technology (TMT). He is a lead investment officer of IDB Invest, based in Buenos Aires, since 2017. He has extensive experience in the origination, structuring and management of complex debt and capital transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining IDB Invest, he was an investment officer at the IFC (World Bank) serving the TMT and infrastructure sectors. Arauz has an engineering degree from Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires and an MBA from Wharton School.

Guillermo Foscarini

Guillermo is currently the Managing Director and Chief of the Corporates Division for IDB Invest where he leads the origination and structuring of investments in the agribusiness, manufacturing, tourism and digital economy sectors totaling +$1.5B per year. 

He joined the IDB Group in 2019 after spending almost 17 years at the International Finance Corporation, private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, where he held several senior investment and development banking positions as Principal Investment Officer in the Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services & Credit Risk Departments. 

Guillermo has worked on +150 corporate and project finance transactions, as well as equity and quasi-equity investments in Africa, Asia and Latin America & Caribbean totaling +$4.5B.  

Guillermo holds a MSc in Risk Management from New York University (NY, USA), a MBA from Universidad del CEMA (Argentina), and a CPA degree from the Universidad Católica de Cordoba (Argentina).    

Guillermo Mulville

Guillermo leads the Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) Team at IDB Invest, which he joined in 2016. He is responsible for developing business strategies and plans, and for managing clients and structuring the transactions of the TMT sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the IDB Group, he worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for more than nine years, as Head of the TMT sector for Latin America and the Caribbean. He previously worked at ABN AMRO Bank for 12 years. He was Enron International’s Global Finance Manager for two years. He served as board member of Pan-African and Pan- American companies engaged in broadband and cell tower distribution and infrastructure, with portfolios in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Guillermo earned a master’s degree in finance from Universidad del CEMA and a professional degree in business administration from Universidad de San Andrés (both in Argentina).

Harry Devonshire

Harry leads the Argidius Foundation's advocacy and learning agenda, advancing more effective SME support globally. He co-authored SCALE, INVEST and other sector knowledge products, and is a co-founder of the Growth Firms Alliance, a network of philanthropic foundations supporting growth firms in emerging economies.

Henry Mooney

Henry Mooney serves as Economics Advisor with The Inter-American Development Bank. He previously worked with investment bank Morgan Stanley in London, The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Government of Canada, including on dozens of advanced and emerging market economies in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Henry's responsibilities have included leading regional macroeconomic and financial research publications, serving as chief and team leader for IMF and World Bank technical assistance and financing operations focused on sovereign debt issuance, debt restructuring, and public financial management, as well as producing economic forecasts in the context of adjustment programs and surveillance. Henry is a dual Brazilian and Canadian citizen, who completed his studies in economics and finance at Concordia University (BA), The London School of Economics (MSc), The University of London (PhD), and Harvard University (MPA).

Hilen Meirovich

Hilen Meirovich is the Managing Director of Climate and Environment at IDB Invest. Hilen, has over 20 years of experience in climate finance, sustainable infrastructure, and environmental finance, with roles at IDB, IDB Invest, and active speaker at global climate forums. Under her leadership, IDB Invest expanded its climate advisory services, quadrupling climate-related transactions, and building a $10.3 billion climate finance portfolio. Her leadership included spearheading innovative financing mechanisms, resource mobilization, and aligning organizational practices with the Paris Agreement. An example of those innovations as the development of Latin America’s first blue bond, and positioned IDB Invest as a climate leader across MDBs and other international actors. Hilen holds a PhD in Political Science from Georgetown University, an MA in Public Policy from Georgetown University, and an MA in Political Science from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.