NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Alejandra Ríos joined Women’s World Banking in 2016 to lead the credit area for the product development team. In this role, she is responsible for managing all strategic credit related engagements, replicating existing products with network members and associates, developing new services and providing strategic direction.  Ríos has over 20 years’ experience in project management, institution-building, strategic planning and credit management in the field of MSME finance. She began her professional career in 1995 with International Project Consult (IPC), where she participated in and managed a number of short and long-term projects in Latin America and Albania. In 1999 she took up a consultancy position with Women’s World Banking in which she carried out a wide array of projects in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. These projects consisted of advice and assistance given on such areas as housing programs and housing loans; credit department organisation and management; individual lending methodology; rural lending; staff training and incentive schemes; and IT management.  Ríos joined Sparkassenstiftung fur Internationale Kooperation (SIK) from 2000-2004 as a short-term consultant, responsible for several assignments in the Philippines.

Ríos holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Rennes, France, as well as an advanced post-graduate degree on the study of agricultural and industrial projects (University of Rennes). She speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.