H.E. Maria Fernanda Espinosa is a distinguished diplomat, academic, and multilateral expert with over 30 years of experience in international negotiations, global governance, and sustainable development. From 2018 to 2019, she served as President of the United Nations General Assembly, becoming the first woman from Latin America and the Caribbean to hold the position. 

Throughout her career, she has worked at the highest levels of government and diplomacy, specializing in peace and security, disarmament, climate change, biodiversity, human rights, Indigenous peoples, gender equality, and multilateral cooperation. She has led complex regional and international negotiations for over a decade. 

In Ecuador, she served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Defense. In 2008, she became Ecuador’s first woman Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. 

Currently, she holds several prominent international positions. She is President of Cities Alliance and Executive Director of Global Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, and co-chairs the Climate Governance Commission, the Coalition for the UN We Need, and the Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery initiative. She is a member of the UN Advisory Board on Human Security and the High-Level Advisory Council of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, among others. 

Her contributions have earned numerous accolades, including the “Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa” from The New School. She is the author of more than 50 academic publications, op-eds, and book chapters.