Daniela Fernandez

Daniela Fernandez is a Bolivian economist and political scientist, deeply committed to advancing climate justice, gender equality, and sustainable development.

Daniela's story

Daniela Fernandez is a Bolivian economist and political scientist, deeply committed to advancing climate justice, gender equality, and sustainable development through public policy and international cooperation. With over five years of experience working across government institutions, multilateral organisations, and youth-led movements, she has positioned herself as a young leader in climate finance and peacebuilding in Latin America.

Daniela currently serves as a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at UN Women Bolivia, where she supports projects aimed at strengthening the economic resilience of rural and Indigenous women. She has also worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and Bolivia’s Ministries of Planning and Foreign Affairs, where she helped integrate climate adaptation strategies into national development policies.

During her tenure in the public sector, Daniela served as an Environmental and Agricultural Economist at the Ministry of Planning, leading the incorporation of climate risk analysis into national investment projects. She contributed to research and policy development in response to Bolivia’s 2023 wildfire crisis, which resulted in securing emergency funding and international donations. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she supported the country’s participation in the Expo 2020 Dubai and coordinated multilateral initiatives on trade and international cooperation.

She is the founder of the Sustainable Finance Hub Bolivia, a grassroots initiative that has trained over 1,000 young people in climate finance, energy transition, and environmental justice. In 2024, Daniela organised LCOY Bolivia, the country’s first Local Conference of Youth, successfully involving rural and Indigenous youth from across the Amazon, Andes, Chaco, and valley regions in national climate discussions. She also collaborates with YOUNGO’s Finance Working Group and was awarded a fellowship to attend the Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice in 2024. Additionally, she was selected as a Don Lavoie Fellow in Political Economy by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, recognising her research on market-based solutions for inclusive development.

Born into a Quechua-descendant family displaced by environmental degradation in the mining region of Llallagua, Daniela’s commitment to climate action is both deeply personal and political. She envisions a world where local voices and traditional knowledge are respected in global negotiations, and where finance becomes a tool for justice, not exclusion.