• Principal Operations Specialist at the Gender and Diversity Division of the Inter-American Development Bank

Maria Teresa Villanueva currently serves as the Principal Operations Specialist at the Gender and Diversity Division of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C. With over two decades of experience, she specializes in strategic alliances and public-private partnerships aimed at fostering investments in inclusive economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Maria Teresa is a subject matter expert in the field of gender equality and women's leadership. Her primary focus areas encompass employment, entrepreneurship, as well as addressing critical issues like youth pregnancy and violence against women. In her current role, she takes the lead in mainstreaming and overseeing gender and diversity direct investments in the Bank's operations and initiatives. Since 2016, Maria Teresa has spearheaded the Gender Parity Accelerators Initiative (Iniciativas de Paridad de Género-IPG), a collaborative effort between the IDB, the World Economic Forum (2016), and the French Development Agency (2019). IPGs are high-level public-private collaboration model, aimed at identifying and closing gender gaps that hinder women from accessing job and entrepreneurship opportunities on equal terms. Under her leadership, the initiative has successfully launched IPGs in nine countries, including Chile, Argentina, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico. Maria Teresa's educational background includes a master’s in development management from American University in Washington, D.C., and a dual degree in business administration and economics from Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala. She holds both Guatemalan and Swiss citizenship and takes pride in being the mother of Ana (19) and Eric (17).