Manuel is the Director of the Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization, which aims to provide solutions to the challenges affecting human and labor cross-border mobility. It prioritizes migration risk mitigation and economic crisis, particularly during the current pandemic.

EXPERTISE: International migration, cross-border remittance transfers, financial inclusion and access, informal economies, democracy and governance in fragile states

EDUCATION: Ph.D. in political science, University of Texas at Austin | M.A. in Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin | M.A. in Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin | B.A. in International Relations, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica

DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE: Over 20 years working in development finance, diasporas, transnational economic engagement between migrants and their homeland. Work in more than 100 countries, with development work on West Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

LANGUAGES: English and Spanish