OEA - Informe CIDI INF. 660 25 de 2025

OEA/Ser.W

CIDI/INF.660/25

23 May 2025

TEXTUAL

REGULAR MEETING OF THE

INTER-AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT (CIDI)

MAY 27, 2025

ON: STRATEGIC ACTION FOR ADDRESSING BRAIN DRAIN

TALENT RETENTION AND COOPERATION

BIOGRAPHIES OF GUESTS SPEAKERS

Jason Marczak, Vice President and Senior Director, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Atlantic Council

[image]Mr. Marczak joined the Council in 2013 to launch the center and set the strategic direction for its work. Marczak has twenty-five years of expertise in regional economics, politics, and development, working with high-level policymakers and private-sector executives to shape public policy.

Under his leadership, the Latin America Center delivers constructive, results-oriented solutions to advance hemispheric prosperity and is a regular venue for heads of state, cabinet-level officials, and other publicand private-sector leaders to build consensus on regional priorities and the broader global linkages. He recently co-authored a strategy for US engagement with the region, co-edited a book on the future of the US-Colombia relationship, and led groundbreaking work on the economic gains of reducing wait time at the US-Mexico border. In 2021, he led the establishment of a Caribbean Initiative at the Atlantic Council. Under Marczak’s direction, the Center has achieved consistent annual growth both in scale and scope while advancing a global vision for its select lines of geographic and thematic programming.

Since 2016, Marczak has been an adjunct professor at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs where he teaches on Central America and immigration policy. He was previously director of policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas where he worked closely with US and global business executives and was cofounder and senior editor of Americas Quarterly magazine. In 2003, he joined Partners of the Americas to advance work on civil-society engagement in the Summits of the Americas. Marczak held positions at the National Endowment for Democracy and as a legislative aide in the office of then US Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) with a portfolio including trade and foreign affairs.

Marczak frequently provides Englishand Spanish-language media commentary and has testified before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. In 2022, he was invited by the House Financial Services Committee to join a congressional delegation in Barbados and present work to nearly a dozen Caribbean heads of government. In 2023, on the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Marczak was presented with the Visionary Leadership Award. He received a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University. Marczak is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

[image]Leo Preville, Director, CARICOM Single Market

Mr. Preville is the Director, CARICOM Single Market, at the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Unit based in Barbados. He joined the Secretariat in September 2020.

Prior to this he worked with the Government of Saint Lucia in the capacity of Permanent Secretary for over twelve years, most of which he served as Permanent Secretary the Ministry responsible for Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs. He also served as Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation as well as the Department of Labour.

Mr. Preville also spent five years as Director of Economics and Research at the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority and was Chief Information Officer in the Government Information Service of Saint Lucia between 1990 and 1995. He was a tutor with the University of the West Indies for courses in Micro and Macro Economics, Quantitative Methods, Managerial Economics and Financial Management in the degree programmes in Management and Economics offered by the UWI, through the Open Campus.

Mr. Preville holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication from the University of the West Indies; a degree in economics and management as well as a master’s degree in economics from the UWI.

Mattia Makovec, Senior Economist, Social Protection and Labor Global Practice, World Bank

[image: A person in a suit AI-generated content may be incorrect.]Mr. Makovec currently leads analytical work, lending operations, and policy dialogue on jobs, migration, and social protection in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on advancing evidence-based solutions to regional employment and migration challenges.

With extensive global experience, Mattia has significantly contributed to World Bank initiatives across other regions, such as Europe and Central Asia – where he was one of the leading author of the flagship report "The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia" - and in East Asia Pacific, where he served from the Indonesia country office.

Before his tenure at the World Bank, Mattia held both academic and policy roles, including positions at the University of Essex in the UK, the University of Chile, and at the Ministry of Labor in Chile. Mattia holds a PhD in Economics from Bocconi University in Milan and a Master’s degree in Economics from University College London.

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