Ximena Escobar de Nogales is CASIN’s Acting Director since June 2007. She is an economist trained at the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) and at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., she also holds a D.E.S. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Relations in Geneva (IUHEI). Her thematic interests include the role of the private sector in economic development, the integration of developing and transition economies in global markets, multidimensional diplomacy, and corporate communication, among others. In 2005 she co-founded the Geneva Private Capital Symposium to uncover investment opportunities in emerging markets. Under this umbrella Ximena managed an international investor conference on microfinance in 2005 and on SME finance in 2007. Prior to joining CASIN, Ximena worked as a diplomat at the Colombian Mission to the European Union in Brussels (1996-2000).