María Carolina Schmidt Zaldívar (born 9 September 1967) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

businesswoman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

who was the Minister of the Environment between August 2018 and November 2021, in the second government of

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean businessman and politician who served as President of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic Party (C ...

. She also served as the Minister of Education from April 2013 to March 2014.

Education and early career

She graduated from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

with a degree in commercial engineering, and also studied a short non-degree specialization course in Marketing at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. After finishing her studies, Schmidt worked as a saleswomen in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

under entrepreneur Alfonso Swett. After ten years, she became general manager of the Chilean branch of Nine West Holdings, focusing on expanding the brand to Latin American countries.

Political career

In 2000, Schmidt was named general manager of the magazine ''Capital'', serving in that role for eight years, and was later appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...

to the President’s Advisory Council, where Schmidt focused on children and women's work, specifically the "Chile Grows With You" program. In March 2010, President

appointed her Minister-Director of the

National Women's Service The National Women's Service (; SERNAM) is a public service in Chile, a functionally decentralized organization, with its own funding, which is part of the cabinet-level Ministry of Planning and Cooperation under the President of Chile, created Jan ...

. Her primary accomplishment during her time as Minister-Director was extending

parental leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

from three to six months. In April 2013, Minister of Education Harald Beyer was impeached for "having failed to investigate complaints against universities allegedly engaged in profit-making"; Schmidt was highly regarded in Piñera's cabinet, and as a result she was appointed to the position, serving until Piñera's term ended on 11 March 2014. In August 2017, Schmidt was named general manager of media at

Copesa Copesa (Consorcio Periodístico de Chile) is one of the more important Chilean media conglomerates. Copesa is controlled by Álvaro Saieh, a Chilean business man. Overview Copesa was launched during the mid-1950s by the wealthy Pico-Cañas f ...

. Representing the original host country, Schmidt serves as President of the

2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, was the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference. It was held in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019 under the presidency of the Chilean government. The conferen ...

(COP25) held in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Carolina 1967 births Living people Politicians from Santiago, Chile Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni New York University alumni Women government ministers of Chile Ministers of education of Chile Environment ministers of Chile