The Organization of American States is an international organization founded on April 30,1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington,D.C.,OAS is a "multilateral regional body focused on human rights,electoral oversight,social and economic development,and security in the Western Hemisphere," according to the Council on Foreign Relations. As of June 2023,35 states in the Americas are OAS members. Since the 1990s,the organization has focused on election monitoring. Luis Almagro was inaugurated as OAS secretary general in 2015.
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral,steady employment,or a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate,and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled US$38 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent.
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington,D.C. with campuses in Bologna,Italy and Nanjing,China. It has consistently been ranked one of the top graduate schools for international relations in the world. Foreign Policy has rated it among the top three programs globally since 2005,earning third,second,and first place across different years' editions.
Accion is an international nonprofit. Founded as a community development initiative serving the poor in Venezuela,Accion is known as a pioneer in the fields of microfinance and fintech impact investing.
Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou is a Greek politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014,and served as First Vice-President of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009. She is the current Regional Governor of the Ionian Islands.
Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela is a Chilean political scientist,academic,diplomat and politician;the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile under President Michelle Bachelet;former Assistant Secretary General,Assistant Administrator,and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme;and the former Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations,to Brazil,and to the Organization of American States.
Kathleen Waldron is an American academic administrator who served as president of William Paterson University of New Jersey (2010-2018) and president of Baruch College of the City University of New York (2004-2009) before retiring in 2018. She also served as Dean of the College of Business,Public Administration and Information Sciences at Long Island University from 1998 to 2004 and had an international banking career for 15 years. Waldron graduated from Stony Brook University in 1970 and received her doctorate in Latin American history from Indiana University in 1977. Waldron started her academic career as an assistant professor of Latin American history at Bowdoin College in Maine. During that time she obtained a Fulbright Fellowship and taught at the Universidad Catolica de Andres Bello in Caracas,Venezuela. Waldron left her academic career in 1980 and joined Chemical Bank in New York before moving to Citibank where she remained for 13 years. During that time,she led the strategic planning efforts of the global private banking division and also served as president of Citibank International in Miami from 1991-1996. Waldron developed the division’s first comprehensive global executive training program before deciding to return to university life in 1998. At Baruch College,Waldron significantly increased the institution’s endowment,raising over $50 million in her first year as president. At William Paterson University,she guided the 10,000 student public institution to become a leader in community cooperation,increasing student diversity while improving student retention and graduation rates. She oversaw the physical renovation of the campus and introduced new doctoral and masters’programs. Now retired as president emerita of WPU,she continues to lecture and publish about leadership in higher education.
Pro Mujer is a nonprofit development organization that provides financial inclusion,health and education programs to low-income women in Latin America. One of the largest women's organizations in the region,Pro Mujer operates in Argentina,Bolivia,Mexico,Nicaragua,Peru and Guatemala with headquarters in New York City. Since its founding in 1990,Pro Mujer has disbursed more than $4 billion in small loans,provided over 10 million health interventions and impacted more than 2 million women across the region.
The Inter-American Dialogue,also known as the Dialogue or IAD,is a U.S.-based think tank in the field of international affairs primarily related to the Western Hemisphere. Headquartered in Washington,D.C it intends to "foster democratic governance,prosperity,and social equity in Latin America and the Caribbean". The Dialogue's research areas focus on the rule of law,education,migration,remittances,energy,climate change and extractive industries.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian is president and CEO of Women's World Banking,the world's largest network of microfinance institutions and banks.
Laura Chinchilla Miranda is a Costa Rican political scientist and politician who served as President of Costa Rica from 2010 to 2014. She was one of Óscar Arias Sánchez's two Vice-Presidents and his administration's Minister of Justice. She was the governing PLN candidate for president in the 2010 general election,where she won with 46.76% of the vote on 7 February. She was the eighth woman president of a Latin American country and the first woman to become President of Costa Rica. She was sworn in as President of Costa Rica on 8 May 2010.
Michael E. Shifter is president of the Inter-American Dialogue and an adjunct professor of Latin American studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and writes for the council's journal Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA),and a contributing editor to Current History.
Jose W. Fernandez is a Cuban-American attorney and diplomat currently serving as the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth,Energy,and the Environment. Fernandez previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic,Energy,and Business Affairs from 2009 to 2013.
Women's World Banking is a nonprofit organization that provides strategic support,technical assistance and information to a global network of 55 independent microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks that offer credit and other financial services to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world,with a particular focus on women.
The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy was a panel of Latin American leaders and intellectuals,co-chaired by former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil),César Gaviria (Colombia) and Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico).
Jaime Aparicio Otero is the Bolivian Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States and was Bolivian Agent to the International Court of Justice,in the Hague,in the process against Chile related to the Silala waters. Ambassador Aparicio is a career diplomat,lawyer,journalist and a Washington-based legal and political advisor. He was also a political analyst working in international public and corporate affairs in Latin America,the Caribbean,North America,and Europe. He has a Law Degree from the Higher University of San Andrés of La Paz,the Bolivian Diplomatic Academy and the Institute d’Etudes Politiques commonly referred as Sciences Po de Paris.
Michael Schlein is the president and CEO of Accion,a global microfinance and impact investment nonprofit.
Luis Enrique García Rodríguez is a Bolivian economist with wide experience in Latin American economic integration and international economic affairs.
Rebecca Reichmann Tavares,from Southern California,USA,has worked in the field of development,race relations,and women’s rights. She was the UN representative for Brazil and Regional Programme Director of UN Women’s Brazil &Southern Cone Office./ President and CEO of the Brazil Foundation,Interim Coordinator of the Every Woman Every Child (EWEC) Initiative of the UN Secretary-General,representative of the UN Women’s Office in New Delhi,and Interim Representative of UN Women in Afghanistan.
Leopoldo JoséMartínez Nucete is a Venezuelan-American lawyer,writer,and politician. He was previously a member of the Democratic National Committee and an opposition deputy in the National Assembly of Venezuela. Martinez is the current nominee to become the United States Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank.
