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Claudio Orrego

Distinguished Fellow, Global Cities

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Council expert Claudio Orrego

About Claudio Orrego

Claudio Orrego is a distinguished fellow for the Global Cities team at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. From March 2014 through March 2018, he was the governor of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. Prior to that, he was elected as the presidential candidate for the Christian Democrat party. He has served in the national government as minister of housing and urban development and public property and as head of the State Modernization Commission.

In the private sector, he was vice president of Sonda, a position he left in 2004 to return to public service. Orrego became a national figure during his eight-year period as mayor of the Municipality of Peñalolén, when he was awarded the title of "Best Mayor" twice in Chile. During the Pinochet Dictatorship, he held an active role as a human rights activist and a national student leader. Orrego received a law degree from the Catholic University of Chile and holds a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government.