In a significant leadership shift at the World Bank Group, Dr. Susana Cordeiro Guerra has been appointed Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), positioning her at the forefront of one of the world’s most complex economic landscapes.
Tasked with steering the Bank’s engagement with 31 nations across the LAC region, Cordeiro Guerra now oversees a development portfolio totaling US$41.5 billion. Her appointment marks a milestone as she becomes the first woman from Latin America to hold the position — a symbolic and strategic move by the Bank to reinforce local representation at the highest levels of development leadership.
From her base in Washington, DC, Cordeiro Guerra is expected to drive initiatives centered on job creation, institutional strengthening, and enhanced collaboration between public and private sectors. Her mandate reflects a broader shift in World Bank policy from aid dependency toward long-term, job-centric economic resilience.
“Jobs are more than economic levers — they restore dignity, strengthen communities, and open pathways to sustainable growth,” Cordeiro Guerra emphasized in a statement outlining her vision. “Our goal is to work hand-in-hand with governments and private actors to make this vision tangible.”
Her track record backs the ambition. Prior to her current role, Cordeiro Guerra held several senior leadership positions at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she led economic strategies focused on fiscal discipline, statistical modernization, and data-informed governance. Between 2019 and 2021, she spearheaded a sweeping modernization of Brazil’s National Statistics Office (IBGE), overseeing its entire national census infrastructure and 12,000 staff members.
Earlier in her career, she served within the World Bank itself, contributing to decentralization and local development strategies across multiple regions.
Academically, she brings elite credentials to the table — a PhD in Political Science from MIT, a Master’s in Public Administration and International Development from Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA in Social Studies from Harvard College. Her research has spanned public sector innovation, labor market transformation, and regional economic disparities.
Cordeiro Guerra succeeds Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, who now transitions to lead the World Bank’s operations in East Asia and the Pacific — a leadership reshuffle that underscores the Bank’s efforts to localize expertise and build policy responses grounded in regional context.
As Latin America and the Caribbean face persistent inequality, economic shocks, and climate vulnerability, the appointment of a leader known for data-driven execution and fiscal reform signals a more assertive, regionally informed development posture from the Bank.
