Marcela Meléndez is Deputy Chief Economist at the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Chief Economist at the World Bank. Her research interests focus on economic development, public policy design and evaluation, antitrust policy and regulation of infrastructure services.

She was Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Previously, she was Partner and Director of ECONESTUDIO, a Colombian economic research and consulting firm recognised for its contribution to the public policy debate, as well as a Lecturer at the School of Economics at the University of the Andes (Colombia). She has co-directed the Mission of Equity and Social Mobility convened by the Colombian government and is the lead author of the 2021 Regional Human Development Report ‘Trapped: High Inequality and Low Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean’.

She holds PhD in Economics from Yale University and a BA in Economics from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia).