Maria Varinia
MICHALUN

Maria Varinia Michalun leads the team dedicated to providing policy recommendations on governance and strategic planning for regional development in the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. She specialises in the multi-level governance of regional development, with an emphasis on institutional relationships. Varinia contributes to policy dialogue on national, regional and local governance, providing recommendations for building integrated governance practices, reinforcing administrative capacity for public investment, implementing decentralisation reform, establishing territorial governance structures, improving public service delivery, and enhancing citizen well-being. She has worked with national and/or subnational governments in a variety of countries, including Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Panama, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay.

Varinia holds a Master degree in Public Affairs from Sciences-Po Paris, with a concentration in welfare systems complemented by extensive work in regional economic development. She received her undergraduate degree in international economics from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, in Washington, DC.