Maria Fernanda Espinosa Gutierrez

Ecuadorian diplomat driving global gender equality and climate action at the UN

Maria Fernanda Espinosa Gutierrez made history as the first Ecuadorian woman to hold the position of UN Secretary-General's Chef de Cabinet (2018-2021). During her tenure, she prioritized gender equality and climate justice, implementing policies that increased women's representation in UN leadership positions from 35% to 45%. Her advocacy led to the establishment of the Climate Action Decade framework adopted in 2020.

Before her UN role, Ms. Espinosa served as Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007-2008) and President of the UN General Assembly (2018-2019), where she co-founded the Group of Friends for Gender Parity. Her 2022 book Global Leadership in a Fractured World (ISBN:978-3-030-96854-7) analyzes multilateralism challenges. Available at Amazon.

In 2023, she launched the Maria Paz Foundation to support girls' education in rural Latin America. Her recent initiatives include the Climate Resilience Fellowship Program training 1,200 young leaders annually from Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries.