María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, the first woman from Latin America and the Caribbean to preside over the UN General Assembly (2018-2019), has over 30 years of experience in multilateral diplomacy, focusing on international negotiations, peace, security, disarmament, human rights, Indigenous peoples, gender equality, and environmental issues like biodiversity and climate change.

She has served Ecuador in key roles, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defense, and Coordinating Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage, where she promoted the South American Defense School under the Union of South American Nations. She was Ecuador's first female Permanent Representative to the UN in New York (2008) and has held positions such as Chair of the Andean Community and regional director for South America at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Currently, she leads Cities Alliance and Global Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion, while also being a member of numerous international organizations like the International Crisis Group and the UN Advisory Board on Human Security.

Espinosa has chaired initiatives on debt relief, water economics, and climate governance. In her academic career, she was an Associate Professor at FLACSO, where she led the Program on Socio-Environmental Studies and authored over 50 publications on the Amazon, sustainable development, and global governance.