Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces is an Ecuadorian academic, diplomat, politician and poet. A linguist graduated from the Catholic University of Ecuador. She holds a master's degree in Anthropology and Social Sciences from the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO) with a specialization in Amazonian Studies and doctoral studies in Geography at Rutgers University. Espinosa has more than 30 years of professional experience in academia, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and high-level government positions. She started her career working with local communities in tropical rainforest stewardship in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with indigenous peoples and indigenous women in the first ever Debt for Nature Swap. In her early career, and then as a minister, Espinosa specialized in multilateral negotiations on climate change, biodiversity policy, especially on genetic resources and traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights, after serving as advisor in biodiversity, climate and indigenous peoples’ policies (1999-2005), and later as regional director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature UICN (2005-2007); as minister of foreign affairs, trade and integration, (2007-2008 / 2017-2018); as ambassador and permanent representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in New York (2008-2009) and Geneva (2014-2017) and as minister of natural and cultural heritage (2009 - 2012). In Ecuador, she also served as minister of national defense (2012 - 2014), and as advisor for the constitutional process of 2008. With a vote of two thirds of its membership, her most recent appointment was to serve as President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (2018 - 2019), becoming the fourth woman in history and the first from Latin America and the Caribbean to be elected and preside over this body since its foundation in 1945. Espinosa is recipient of numerous scholarships and acknowledgements from the Latin American Studies Association, the Ford Foundation, the Society of Woman Geographers, the Rockefeller Foundation, the German Agency for International Cooperation, all of them for her research and academic work in the Amazon, climate and biodiversity and the rights of indigenous peoples. She has also produced several works of poetry that included the National Poetry Prize of Ecuador in 1990. Espinosa received the 2019 Rehabilitation International Award for Outstanding Achievements in innovation “for her Innovative work in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities globally” and was also declared by the BBC as one of the 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2019. In 2020 she received the Sundance Film Festival on Women’s Leadership Award, and most recently, in October 2021, she received the “5th Sun Award” from FILAC for her “outstanding contribution to advance the agenda of the rights of Indigenous Peoples” and the Brian Urquart Award from the UN Association of the United Kingdom, for Distinguished Service to the UN. Among other responsibilities , Espinosa is currently acting as Commissioner and co-chair of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission, Councilor of the World Future Council, Member of the High-Level Advisory Council for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, co-chair of the Coalition for the UN We Need, and Member of the Group of Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion. Additionally, Espinosa acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for the Latin American and Caribbean Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples and the Common Home of Humanity. She is currently fellow at the Bosch Academy, institution hosting her work on these international initiatives. As a fellow, she analyzes challenges and alternatives for an inclusive and effective global governance and UN reform, to address current challenges, including the health, climate, and inequalities crises.