María Fernanda Espinosa is an academic, politician and diplomat whose most recent appointment was serving as President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly from 2018 to 2019. She has held positions within the Government of Ecuador that include Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017-2018), Minister of Defense (2012-2014), and Minister of Heritage (2009-2012). Espinosa holds a master’s degree in Anthropology and Social Sciences from the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO), with a specialization in Amazonian Studies. She also studied at Rutgers University in the Environmental Geography doctorate program. She has received scholarships and acknowledgements from the Latin American Studies Association, the Ford Foundation, the Society of Woman Geographers, and the Rockefeller Foundation. In addition to publishing over 30 academic articles and books, her poetry won an award for the National Poetry Prize of Ecuador in 1990.
Espinosa was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
