Paula Caballero is The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Regional Managing Director for Latin America. In this role, she leads a team of more than 300 staff across 16 countries, stretching from Mexico to Argentina, to deliver bold, new strategies and partnerships to conserve the world’s most biodiverse region.
Caballero has extensive experience in sustainable development. She is recognized as having created the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals concept, which is considered to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” For this work, she received the German Sustainability Award in 2019 and the Zayed International Prize for the Environment in 2014 for her contribution to “environmental action leading to positive change.”
Prior to TNC, Caballero has been managing director, Lands for Life Program at Rare. Before that, Caballero served in many senior-level positions, including as global director for the World Resources Institute’s climate program, senior director for environmental and natural resources at the World Bank, and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombia and the United Nations Development Program. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a commitment to sustainability, equity, and development issues working closely with a wide array of international counterparts.
Caballero holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Brown University and a master’s degree in international relations with a focus on transboundary resources from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia.
A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Caballero enjoys hiking, history, and meditation. To date, she has traveled to and worked with more than 80 countries.