Michelle Muschett was appointed assistant secretary-general, assistant administrator, and regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in November 2022. She is a social policy and global development specialist with extensive multisectoral experience in senior leadership roles.
Prior to joining UNDP, Muschett served as senior public policy adviser and executive education director at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, where she advised governments and policymakers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America on strategies to address multidimensional poverty. She also held the position of senior policy and strategy adviser at the Fourth Sector Group, providing guidance on mobilizing collective leadership, scaling innovative business models, and leveraging development finance to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient economic systems globally.
In the public sector, Muschett served as deputy minister and minister of social development of Panama. During her tenure, she led the development of the country’s first national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the creation of the first childhood MPI in Latin America, and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level through civic participation and strategic partnerships. She also chaired the National Concertation Council for Development, a legally established multisectoral dialogue platform focused on building consensus around national development priorities.
Muschett holds master’s degrees in public administration from Cornell University, commercial law from Externado University of Colombia, and management of heritage and cultural projects from the Palazzo Spinelli Institute for Art and Restoration in Florence, Italy. She is fluent in Spanish, English, and Italian.
Muschett is a Member at the Dialogue since 2026.
