Maria Barragan-Santana was the executive assistant to the president at the Center for Global Development. Before joining CGD, Barragan-Santana, a native of Mexico, worked in the Research Department (RES) at the Inter-American Development Bank, developing and implementing a communications strategy for the intellectual output of the department. She has also been a fellow at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and at the Ministerio Secretaría General de la Presidencia de Chile.
She holds a BA in government, with a citation in Italian, from Harvard University.