María Cecilia Cifuentes holds a Master's degree in Economics and a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She currently serves as Director of the Chilean Center for Financial Studies (CEF) and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics and Finance at the ESE Business School of the Universidad de los Andes, Chile. She is also a member of the Chilean Advisory Council on Pension Policy and a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Chilean Episcopal Conference. With a distinguished career, she was a Senior Economist at Libertad y Desarrollo (2010-2016), a Research Professor at the Universidad de los Andes (2002-2010), and an Economist at Banco de Chile (1994-2002).