María Otero is President and CEO of ACCION International. A leading global microfinance institution that seeks to open the financial systems in developing countries to reach the poor, ACCION provides technical assistance, equity investment and financial services to 27 of the most advanced microfinance institutions in the world.

Ms. Otero is a leading voice on sustainable microfinance, and has published extensively on the subject, including as co-editor of The New World of Microfinance, published by Kumarian Press. Ms. Otero chairs the board of ACCION Investments, a US$20 million investment company for microfinance, and co-chairs the Microenterprise Coalition. She also serves on the boards of directors of three regulated microfinance institutions in Latin America: Mibanco in Peru, BancoSol in Bolivia and Compartamos in Mexico. Ms. Otero serves on several other boards, including that of the Calvert Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace, and BRAC Holding of Bangladesh, the largest NGO in the world. She is also coordinator of the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds, which convenes 18 equity investment funds dedicated to microfinance.

From 1995-2005, Ms. Otero served as the chair of the MicroFinance Network, a global association of 30 leading microfinance institutions. She chaired the board of Bread for the World from 1992-1997. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Ms. Otero to serve as chair of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation, a position she held until January 2000. She has also served in an advisory capacity to the World Bank's Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP).

Since 1997, Ms. Otero has been an adjunct professor at the John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In 2000, she received Hispanic Magazine’s “Latina Excellence Award,” and was also featured in Latina magazine. In 2005, she was profiled in Newsweek’s special report, “How Women Lead” as one of 15 of the World's Most Powerful women.

Maria Otero has an MA in Literature from the University of Maryland and an MA in International/Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS. She was born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia, and resides in Washington, DC with her husband and three children.