Joan Larrea, CEO of Convergence, is an expert in catalyzing investment in places that need it most and brings with her over 25 years of experience in emerging markets investing.

Since 2016, Joan’s leadership has driven Convergence to become a global independent authority for blended finance. As CEO, Joan ensures Convergence continues to elevate the field of blended finance through its products and services and accelerate the flow of private capital into SDG projects across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Joan also serves on the FinDev Canada Advisory Council, the Advisory Group of Financial Experts for the Global Environment Facility’s Non-Grant Instruments Program, and HRH The Prince of Wales Sustainable Markets Council.

Prior to joining Convergence, from 2014 to 2016, she served as Managing Director for Business Development and Partnerships at the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC, now the Development Finance Corporation), leading OPIC’s efforts to partner with philanthropic and private investors to increase capital flows to OPIC's target markets. Before OPIC, d from 2005 to 2014, Joan was a managing director on the emerging markets team at Global Environment Fund, a privately held asset manager with USD 1 billion in assets under management, dedicated to the energy, environmental, and natural resource sectors. She began her career in 1996 as an investment officer at the International Finance Corporation, where she concluded pioneering transactions in diverse infrastructure and manufacturing sectors across Asia.

Joan holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and an MA and BA from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese.