“Maria, a community leader, showed me that we needed to invest in actions that guarantee women like her in the most vulnerable and excluded conditions, the opportunities and resources necessary to fully participate socially, economically, politically, and culturally.
Ms. María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila’s initial years were with family businesses, La Auxiliadora Funeral Home. She founded Internacional de Seguros in 1997, becoming the first woman President of an Insurance Company. In 1999, she became the first woman Minister of Foreign Affairs in El Salvador, serving five years.
In August 2004, she was elected the first woman President of a private bank and held this position when HSBC acquired a controlling majority in 2006. In 2007, she pioneered a new function in the region as Corporate Sustainability Head till 2015.
In the social sector, Ms. Brizuela de Ávila has been a member and director of lawyer associations and institutions dedicated to sustainable development such as the Foundation for the Development of Salvadoran Women (FUDEM), and the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES). She was also the first woman member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) from Mexico to Panama. Board member of nonprofits such as the University of Miami External Advisory Board on Latin America, and Trustee of the Zamorano Agricultural School in Honduras.
Besides being a GWL Voices member, Ms. Brizuela de Ávila continues to serve as Vice President at Universidad Dr. Jose Matias Delgado, Commissioner at the International Commission on Missing Persons based in The Hague, member of Plan International, the Aspen Minister Forum, the Advisory Council of the Latin American Private Sector Regional Centre in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Diplomatic Academy Council of the Salvadoran Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is also Non-Executive and Independent Board Member on Business Boards: El Salvador Stock Exchange, Davivienda Financial Conglomerate El Salvador, and Davivienda Honduras.
She has received multiple recognitions. In 2020, she was named one of the 100 most influential women in Central America and the Caribbean by Forbes Magazine.