Mariana is a Senior Manager at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. With a passion for transforming cities into vibrant, inclusive, and resilient places, Mariana works on innovative, low-carbon solutions that improve urban life for people and the planet. Along with partners, she designed the UrbanShift platform, a groundbreaking global initiative in partnership with UNEP, WRI, ICLEI, and C40, and funded by the GEF, which focuses on collaborating with cities across the Global South to elevate climate leadership, foster capacity building, and inspire impactful change. She now provides advice for the effort.

Mariana also works in multi-million-dollar proposal development, strategic communication, and research efforts. Her previous experience at the World Bank included working on urban investment projects and authoring and editing works on slum upgrading, municipal infrastructure, and urban regeneration. Before, she worked at the University of Michigan’s William Davidson Institute and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Mariana holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from the Catholic University of La Plata, Argentina, and dual Master’s Degrees in Public Policy and Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and two daughters.