Natalia Vega Varela is Policy Director at the Gender Equity Policy Institute (GEPI). In this capacity, she oversees the implementation of GEPI’s research projects, managing tasks ranging from data analysis to policy research. With a background in international development, development policy, macroeconomics, and feminist economic analysis, Vega Varela has collaborated with international organizations and nonprofits, such as the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization. Since joining GEPI in 2021, Natalia has played a pivotal role in advancing the organization’s mission to achieve gender equity through data-driven research and policy solutions. Notably, she authored “Double Disadvantage: Undocumented Women in the U.S.”, an in-depth analysis of undocumented women in the United States, with a particular focus on the four states with the highest numbers of undocumented immigrants: California, Texas, Florida, and New York.

Vega Varela earned her Master’s degree in International Affairs with a concentration in Development from The New School, where her research explored the intersections of inequality and gender dynamics in Latin America and Africa. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. She is currently pursuing a second master’s in Applied Quantitative Methods at Northeastern University.