The Local Alternative (PDF)

Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rosa Cobo Mayoral is head of the secretary general s Cabinet for Lands and Biodiversity of the Ministry of the Environment of Spain, and was sub-director general of administration at the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). She is an expert in business science.

Rafael de la Cruz is a senior economist in the IDB s Fiscal and Municipal Management Division of the Institutional Capacity and Finance Sector. Previously, he worked as the director general of decentralization in the Venezuelan Presidential Commission to Reform the State and director of the Center for Public Policy at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Administration (IESA). Mr. de la Cruz specializes in subnational public finance, decentralization, and local development.

Mercedes García-Escribano works in the IMF s Fiscal Affairs Department. She is an economist and has worked as a fiscal economist on IMF teams in Mexico and Peru.

José Antonio González Anaya is an economist and currently heads the Federal Entity Coordination Unit of the Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit. He has also headed the Securities, Insurance, and Pensions Unit at the same organization, and was responsible for macroeconomic analysis in Latin American countries for the World Bank.

Victor Manuel Herrera is director of Standard & Poor s in Mexico. He holds a Master s Degree in business administration and has worked in the Corporate Finance Department at Manufacturers Hanover-Chemical Bank.

Roberto Lavagna is an economist and the ex-minister of the Ministry of Economy and Production in Argentina. He is a former presidential candidate in Argentina.

Salvodar Maluquer I Amorôs is an economist and public administrator and was the general manager of Public Administration Budgeting in Catalonia. He was formerly the head of the Technical Board of the Department of Universities, Research, and Social Information, as well as the head of the Programming Area of the Department of Economy and Finance in the Public Administration of Catalonia. Mr. Maluquer Amorôs was also an associate professor at the University of Barcelona.

Hazel McCallion is the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, serving her eleventh straight term. Her training is in business and she has worked for the Kellogg Company.

Ronald MacLean Abaroa works as a specialist on governance and decentralization at the World Bank. He was elected as the mayor of La Paz on four occasions and occupied various posts in the Bolivian Cabinet in Planning and Coordination, Foreign Relations, Treasury, and Development. Mr. MacLean Abaroa is a public administrator and an anticorruption expert.

Juan Carlos Navarro is head specialist at the IDB s Science and Technology Division. He was chair of the Center for Public Policy at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Administration (IESA) and a professor at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Venezuela. Mr. Navarro specializes in Latin American education theory and practice and in science and technology.

Fabiola Ortiz is associate director of the Standard & Poor s Corporate and Infrastructure Ratings Group in Mexico City. She holds Master s Degrees in accounting and business administration.

Carlos Pineda Mannheim is an architect and a specialist in municipal and urban development in the IDB s Fiscal and Municipal Management Division of the Institutional Capacity and Finance Sector. He has worked in the territorial planning area in Honduras and has broad experience in regional and urban planning projects, local development, decentralization, and municipal strengthening in Latin America.

Álvaro Pio Júnior is an economist and public policy analyst at Belo Horizonte Municipal City Hall in Brazil. He has worked at City Hall on several urban socio-economic development projects.

Caroline Pöschl is an attorney and works as a research analyst in the IDB s Fiscal and Municipal Management Division of the Institutional Capacity and Finance Sector. She works in the areas of decentralization and fiscal management for both the IDB and the World Bank.

Júlio Ribeiro Pires is an economist and the secretary of Planning, Information, and Budgets, as well as the former secretary of Finance at Belo Horizonte Municipal City Hall in Brazil. He is also a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte.

Anwar Shah is an economist and the lead specialist in Public Sector Management at the World Bank. He was head of fiscal transfers in the Canadian Ministry of Finance and Government of Alberta, Canada. He is an expert in fiscal decentralization and governance.

Mauricio Silva is executive director for Central America at the IDB, and serves as senior specialist in housing and urban development in the IDB s Fiscal and Municipal Management Division of the Institutional Capacity and Finance Sector. He has worked at the World Bank and has lead nongovernmental organizations in El Salvador. Mr. Silva specializes in urban development, historic urban center reconstruction, and neighborhood improvement.

Ernesto Stein is the regional economic advisor in the IDB s Country Department Central America, Mexico, Panama, and Dominican Republic. He has worked as the lead research economist in the IDB s Research Department. Mr. Stein specializes in macroeconomics.

Anna Tarrach I Colls is an economist and the head of the programming area of the Finance and Economics Department in the Public Administration of Catalonia. She has worked in that administration s Economy and Finance Departments, as well as the Universities, Research, and Social Information Departments. Ms. Tarrach I Colls is an assistant professor at the Open University of Catalonia.