Paloma Baena Olabe

Paloma Baena Olabe is a governance, policy and sustainability expert with over 18 years of experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked with heads of governments and leaders of the private sector in over 20 countries, leading complex multi-party negotiations and delivering transformational projects to drive growth, investment, trust and better public services in developing and OECD countries alike.

As Global Director for Governance at Save the Children International she led the global transformation of the largest organisation for children in the world, reaching over 155 million children in 120 countries each year. Between 2012 and 2017 Paloma worked at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) where she was Deputy Head of the Integrity Division and Senior Counsellor for Policy and Strategy.  Prior to the OECD, Paloma worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) where she established the Transparency Area leading to large financial operations and transformative projects with governments across Latin America; she has also worked at the World Bank, advising investors and governments on political risks and public-private partnerships. She started her career as a strategic management consultant for the public sector (PwC) and as a legal counsel on international project finance operations in the top-ranked law firm Cuatrecasas Abogados.

Paloma has published on sustainability, the governance of the digital economy, public management, development, growth and inequality. She has taught strategy and management at the Adolfo Ibanez University in Chile, and policy and sustainability at several master degree programs in the polytechnic school of Madrid. She is currently Adjunct Professor at IE University.

Since January 2019, she is a non-executive Board member of the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation for Human Rights. She is also Vice-president of the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association.

Paloma holds a J.D. from Complutense University in Madrid, a Maîtrese in International Law from Aix-Marseille III and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, focused on political and economic development and public leadership. She is a citizen of Spain and of the United States of America.