Isabel de Saint Malo

"The Vice President of the Republic and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado, has over 20 years of experience in consulting, development and implementation of public policies in Latin America. Following her election as Vice-President and her appointment as foreign minister, she became the first woman to hold both positions in the history of her country. She was the Alternate Ambassador from Panama to the United Nations in New York and worked with the United Nations Development Program, as Country Manager for Panama for 15 years. From this office, she worked with the team that designed and executed the Agreements called Panama 2000 (“Acuerdos Panamá 2000”), in whose framework the legislation to create the Panama Canal Authority was drafted, to receive the waterway once it reverted to Panamanian hands. She was awarded by the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Promotion of Peace, for the achievements in building dialogue and consensus throughout her career, and for the role played by the Government of the Republic of Panama, preparing the stage for the meeting between the presidents of Cuba and the United States, in the framework of the VII Summit of the Americas. The Vice-President is the first person in Latin America to receive this recognition. She also received from the Panamanian Business Executives Association (APEDE) the award of “Woman of the Year 2012”, for her contributions in building national consensus for over two decades. She has been part of the board of directors of several organizations such as: BBVA Bank, Fundación Democracia y Libertad, and the Women Corporate Directors Association of Panama, among others. Currently, in her capacity as Vice-President of the Republic, and based on the priorities of the Government of Panama, she presides the Social Cabinet (“Gabinete Social”) and supports the National Council for Development (“Concertación Nacional para el Desarrollo”), where she seeks to articulate social policies, in coordination with civil society, around the strategic objective of eradicating poverty and social inequality through the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. In that same course of action, from her office she promotes matters related with transparency, the fight against corruption and gender equality. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, among other aspirations, she promotes the project of modernization and institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose main objective is to promote the professionalism of Panamanian diplomacy. Her vision is to promote a foreign policy where Panama serves as a country of dialogue; consensus building, positioned at the forefront of the global development agenda. She has a Degree in International Relations from Saint Joseph´s University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University."