Nancy Birdsall is the founding president of the Center for Global Development's. From 1993 to 1998, she was executive vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank, where she oversaw a $30 billion public and private loan portfolio. Before that she worked 14 years in research, policy, and management positions at the World Bank, including as director of the Policy Research Department. Prior to launching the Center, she served for three years as Senior Associate and Director of the Economic Reform Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books and many scholarly papers. Ms. Birdsall received her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Maria Castro is the former Minister of Finance for Guatemala. Prior to her appointment, she served as Deputy Minister for Financial Administration under President Molina. Ms. Castro has also worked as a consultant and advisor on Economic matters for the World Bank, UNDP, and IADB.  She holds an M.A. in Finance from the University of Chile. Ms. Castro is Guatemalan.

Santiago Levy is the Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Prior to his work at the IDB, he served as General Director at the Mexico Social Security Institute as well as Deputy Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico (1994-2000). Mr. Levy holds an M.A. in Political Economy and a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University. He was also a post-doctoral fellow at Cambridge. Mr. Levy is Mexican.

Miguel Székely Pardo is the Director for the Center for Education and Social Studies in Mexico (CEE).  Prior to his work with the CEE, he served as political advisor to former Presidential Candidate Josefina Vázquez Mota (PAN) and as Undersecretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Ministry of Social Development in Mexico. Dr. Szekely holds an M.A. in Public Politics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Oxford. He is a native of Mexico.