Spring Meetings

Mia Mottley is the Eighth Prime Minister (PM) of Barbados and the first woman to occupy the high office, following General Elections on May 24th 2018. She led the Barbados Labour Party to an emphatic victory, winning all 30 seats in the House of Assembly.

An Attorney-at-Law and Senior Counsel, PM Mottley has been active in the political life of Barbados for almost three decades. First elected in 1994, she is now serving her sixth term as Member of Parliament for the constituency of St. Michael North East. She has held various cabinet positions including, Minister of Education and Culture, Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs, and Minister of Economic Affairs. In 2003, she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister.

PM Mottley currently also holds the portfolios of Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment. She chaired the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in early 2020. Miss Mottley also serves as the Lead Head of Government within CARICOM, bearing responsibility for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

PM Mottley served as Co-Chair of the Americas Cruise Tourism Task Force for the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America markets during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In addition, she has served as Co-Chair of the Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (November 2020 to October 2021). 

PM Mottley chairs the One Health Quadripartite Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance and the Climate Vulnerable Forum/ Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance.

Ms. Ana María Ibáñez Londoño a citizen of Colombia, was appointed Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge (VPS) as of June 1, 2023.  Prior this appointment, Ms. Ibáñez Londoño was Economics Principal Advisor in VPS since 2019 when she joined the IDB.  In this role, she coordinated and supervised the VPS knowledge program in close collaboration with the operational departments, focusing on aligning the multi-annual agenda with the development priorities of the Region.

Before joining the Bank, Ms. Ibáñez was a Professor in the School of Economics at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá since 2003, where she conducted cutting-edge research on migration, rural development, and the consequences of conflict. Additionally, from 2012 2016, she was Dean of the School of Economics at the same university and from 2008 2012 was the Director of the Research Center of the School of Economics (CEDE). She has been a visiting professor and senior fellow at several universities during her career, including Princeton and Yale, and is an accomplished writer of publications and books with particular emphasis on migration, forced displacement and armed conflict.

Ms. Ibáñez served in the Board of Directors of Grupo Éxito, BBVA-Colombia, Fundación Éxito and Fundación Saldarriaga Concha, as well as the Advisory Committee of the United Nation’s Peace Building Fund, and the World Bank’s Commission on Poverty.

Ms. Ibáñez holds a Ph.D. degree and a Master’s degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland at College Park and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.

Nadia Calviño is the President of the European Investment Bank Group since January 1st, 2024. She served as First Vice-President of Spain and Minister for Economy and Digitalization (2018-2023), and as Chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF (2022-2023). Before joining the Spanish government, Mrs. Calviño had a 12-year tenure at the European Commission as Deputy Director General for Competition, Deputy Director General for Financial Services, and Director General for the EU Budget. She holds degrees in Economics (1991) and Law (2001).

Donna Wellington joined the bank in 2005, after working 15 years in the financial services industry in insurance and advisory services. In her position, Donna has responsibility for revenue generation and regulatory affairs across all key segments of the banking operations of the Barbados Operating Company in 4 countries (Barbados, Antigua, St Kitts and St Lucia). Ms. Wellington’s current passion is the digital transformation agenda as well as renewable energy and corporate lending for climate sustainability, areas requiring urgent focus for the Barbados Operating company and wider bank.

A seasoned corporate banker with 35 years’ experience in the financial services industry, Ms. Wellington also has a strong accounting background with a BSc in Accounting from the University of the West Indies. She is a member of the Certified Professional Accountants Association of Canada (CPA) and holds a Master’s Certificate in Financial Leadership from Schulich Business School, York University. She was also appointed to the Independent Fiscal Council of Barbados and is a member of the BERT Monitoring Committee to monitor the Government’s fiscal performance under the current IMF Programme in Barbados.

Mr. Bo Li assumed the role of Deputy Managing Director at the IMF on August 23, 2021. He is responsible for the IMF’s work on about 90 countries as well as on a wide range of policy issues. Before joining the IMF, Mr. Li worked for many years at the People’s Bank of China, most recently as Deputy Governor. He earlier headed the Monetary Policy, Monetary Policy II, and Legal and Regulation Departments, where he played an important role in the reform of state-owned banks, the drafting of China’s anti-money-laundering law, the internationalization of the renminbi, and the establishment of China’s macroprudential policy framework. Outside of the PBoC, Mr. Li served as Vice Mayor of Chongqing—China’s largest municipality, with a population of over 30 million—where he oversaw the city’s financial-sector development, international trade, and foreign direct investment. Mr. Li was also Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. He started his career at the New York law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he was a practicing attorney for five years. Mr. Li holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and an M.A. from Boston University, both in economics, as well as a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He received his undergraduate education from Renmin University of China in Beijing.