Valeria Budinich

Valeria Budinich is a leading Social Innovator and entrepreneur with 30 years of global experience in developing and scaling up social innovations. She focuses on creating a more inclusive and sustainable world while improving people's lives.

Valeria has a strong background in building and leading multi-cultural teams dedicated to advancing innovation and entrepreneurship for social and economic inclusion. Her work spans across 26 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America/Caribbean regions.

Currently, Valeria is a Systems Entrepreneurship Advisor at the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT, where she conducts research on innovation ecosystems to support innovators and system change entrepreneurs. She also designs capacity-building approaches to enhance their problem-solving abilities for complex social issues.

Valeria Budinich pursued her education by studying Industrial Engineering, completing an M.S. at The University of Texas at El Paso and a Bachelor's degree at Universidad Centroamericana in Managua.

Throughout her career, Valeria held key positions in various organizations, including being the Founder and CEO of Ashoka Full Economic Citizenship Initiative at Ashoka, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Legatum Center at MIT Sloan, and Vice-President roles at Business Design Associates, Inc., Endeavor, and EnterpriseWorks. Her experience also includes serving in leadership, program development, and project management roles across different regions.