LUIS ALBERTO MORENO

Former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)


  • One of the most prominent players on the global financial and multilateral scene 
  • During his 15-year tenure, he led a profound transformation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, consolidating it as the principal source of long-term financing for Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Before joining the IDB, Moreno served as Colombia’s ambassador to the United States (1998-2005), strengthening relations between countries and supporting the creation of bilateral assistance programs such as Plan Colombia
  • Moreno has received numerous accolades for his leadership and public service including: Colombia's highest peacetime decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Boyacá; the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service; the Clinton Global Initiative Global Citizen Award; and the Atlantic Council’s Leadership Award
  • He is member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum; a member of the International Olympic Committee and of the Latin American Conservation Council 
  • He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and on the Boards of Directors of Coca-Cola FEMSA, Dow Chemical and Nubank a private digital bank

Luis Alberto Moreno has been one of the most prominent players on the global financial and multilateral scene, and is respected as one of the great connoisseurs of the current reality of Latin America and a great promoter of its development.

Currently, he serves as Managing Director at Allen & Co LLC, a private investment bank based in New York; a position he has held since February 2021. Moreno is the former President and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB), the leading and principal source of long-term financing for Latin America and the Caribbean; a position he held for 15 years. During his tenure, Moreno transformed the IDB by, among other things: increasing the Bank’s financial strength by optimizing the use of its capital, revamping its private sector affiliations (IDB Invest) and innovation laboratory (IDB Lab), standardizing gender and diversity objectives as part of its public and private sector programs, pushing for the adoption of new technologies and innovation to increase the impact and efficiency of the Bank’s operations and, leading the organization through a an unprecedented operational response in support of member countries during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic.

Before joining IDB, Moreno served as Colombia’s Ambassador to the United States from 1998 until 2005, leading bipartisan and bilateral assistance initiatives including Plan Colombia, a program to fight drug trafficking and promote social and economic recovery. Moreno previously served as Colombia’s Minister of Economic Development and served as strategic advisor to leading private sector organizations.

Moreno is a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum; a member of the International Olympic Committee and of the Latin American Conservation Council. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and on the Boards of Directors of Coca-Cola FEMSA and Nubank, a private digital bank.

Moreno has received numerous accolades for his leadership and public service including: Colombia's highest peacetime decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Boyaca; the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service; the Clinton Global Initiative Global Citizen Award; and the Atlantic Council’s Leadership Award.

Moreno is highly qualified in the areas of development finance, public policy and social, economic and institutional development. He has an established record of advocacy for gender and diversity objectives, and leads numerous initiatives to benefit the global community such as advances in renewable energy and protection of the environment, healthcare access, climate resilience and adaptation, sustainable cities, and digital connectivity and innovation.

Moreno is married to María Gabriela Sigala and has two children, Nicolás and Natalia Moreno Foglia. In addition to his native Spanish and English, he speaks Portuguese and French.

Luis Alberto Moreno tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience and is not limited to the topics we have listed below. These are topics that have proven valuable to customers in the past and are meant only to suggest the speaker's range and interests:

  • Latin American Outlook:  Challenges, realities, and perspectives
  • Global Outlook
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Digital connectivity and innovation
  • Sustainable infrastructure development
  • Renewable energy and the environment
  • Climate resilience and adaptation 
  • Sustainable cities
  • Regional integration 
  • Base-of-the-pyramid markets

Bold ideas for a richer, more just, further integrated region in the world, and infinitely happier

Latin America is an enigma. While the media publishes headlines about protests, crime, inequity, populism, and debt, those seven hundred million people who live and work in this region face a reality that is infinitely more complex, amazing, and, on several occasions, encouraging.

Few people understand this duality more intimately than Luis Alberto Moreno. After being at the heart of political, diplomatic, and corporate activity in the southern hemisphere for over three decades, Moreno gives us a valuable journey through countries with accelerated transformations that resist conventional interpretation.

Through his friendship with youth, mayors, academics, business executives, artists, chefs, heads of State, and small entrepreneurs, Moreno highlights the paradox of a continent where frustration coexists with creativity, patriotism, solidarity, and hope.