Maria Eugenia del Castillo currently serves as a Special Advisor to the Vice Presidency of the Dominican Republic (DR). With a dual training in international affairs and economics, she has committed her professional career to public service. With over 15 years of leadership roles in the multilateral system, including positions at both the Inter-American Development Bank and as a diplomat to the UN, she has fostered cross-sectoral collaboration to contribute to advancing the world's most complex problems at both national and international levels. Most recently, Maria has been a key player in the creation and deployment of the COVID-19 vaccination strategy in the DR, facilitating coordination across different entities, the private sector and international organizations to deliver a complex, fast paced response to the pandemic. Maria also served as the DR's lead negotiator in the construction of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. In 2012, Maria was selected to serve as a UN Facilitator and G77 negotiator (representing 133 countries) in topics related to food security and climate change. Maria graduated summa cum laude from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the DR with a degree in Economics and holds a Masters Degree from Columbia University. She is also a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.