Cecilia Valdés is journalist from the Catholic University of Chile with almost 30 years of experience. She holds a Master degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and currently leads the communications for the regional office of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO. Through a network of more than 20 journalists in the region and a local team in Santiago, Ms. Valdes has managed to raise awareness in the public opinion and key stakeholders about FAO´s work on Zero-Hunger, healthy eating, rural development and climate change.

Prior to this post Ms Valdes lead the communications department of Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose Chancellor, Heraldo Muñoz, was the leading Minister in President Michelle Bachelet´s Cabinet. She has also held high-level corporate communications positions in the ministry of Finance and the Municipality of Santiago. In New York, she worked in in the development of the Spanish-language edition of The Wall Street Journal, and edited the Central American edition of this newspaper. She also was a communications officer in International Planned Parenthood in Latin America and the Caribbean. While living in the USA and Brazil she was a foreign correspondent of different TV channels and newspapers.