Speakers and participants

Diego Chaves González is Senior Manager of the Latin America and Caribbean Initiative (LACI) at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), where he leads research, policy advocacy and dialogue, and technical assistance in countries across the region. His work focuses on the relationship between migration and development, regular pathways and labor mobility, the integration of migrants and returnees, regional cooperation, and social cohesion, with a particular interest in the potential of strategic migration management to drive economic growth and generate sustainable long-term development outcomes. At MPI, Chaves González has led research and policy advisory processes, working with governments, multilateral organizations, donors, civil society organizations, and the private sector. He has led initiatives on regularization frameworks, labor mobility programs, return and reintegration policies, and mechanisms for hemispheric cooperation. He has also provided technical assistance to governments facing rapidly changing migration dynamics. Before joining MPI, he worked for the World Bank and the United Nations. At the World Bank, he supported the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF), which provides favorable financing to middle-income countries hosting significant refugee populations. At the United Nations, he coordinated interagency response platforms in Colombia and contributed to the design of reparations strategies for victims of the conflict. He also served as a presidential advisor in Colombia, where he played a central role in the registration and regularization of 500,000 migrants, and advised similar initiatives in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. Chaves González holds a master’s degree in Economics and Social Development from Cardiff University, a master’s degree in Public Policy from Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science, specializing in International Relations, from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá.