Mariana Martínez

Mariana Martínez manages the Spanish Gateway site. She is in charge of developing relevant content, building up partnership relationships and fostering peer-to-peer learning and sharing of best practices among practitioners and policymakers in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region.

Mariana is an economist with over 15 years of experience in financial inclusion, microfinance and economic development. Prior to joining the Gateway in 2013, she was an independent consultant specializing in microfinance and worked with international organizations, NGOs, microfinance institutions and governments in LAC, among other clients. She was also an economic columnist for the BBC between 2002-2007 and a financial writer for the Spanish Language media channel, Univisión, and she regularly contributed to the media in the region.

Mariana is also a Co-Founder of Andares, Mujeres para las Microfinanzas, a network of over 240 women in 17 countries in LAC and 26 countries worldwide who work in the financial inclusion field and seek opportunities to support the leadership of women in their sector.

Mariana holds a Master in Economics and a Master in Latin American Studies from Florida International University (FIU). She is fluent in Spanish (native) and English. She loves reading and writing stories for children and is currently working on a financial literacy book for kids.