Manuel Orozco is currently a senior director of remittances and development at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Fellow for the Center for International Development at Harvard University, Senior Migration; Remittances Advisor for the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

He has theorized, conducted extensive research, policy analysis and advocacy on issues relating to economic development, global flows of remittances, and migration and development worldwide, and regional trends in Central America. His work has led to international policy and business initiatives leveraging these flows to build assets among families and migrants, strengthen market competition, and promoting innovative development policies. He works directly with migrant organizations and nationalities in several countries and provides advice on diaspora engagement and financial independence.

Some of his achievements include the design and implementation of a financial advising strategy that successfully motivates people to formalize their savings at financial institutions. The strategy has reached over half a million people in more than 15 countries. He has also introduced strategies on microfinance, and methods that link diaspora investments in their homelands.

In 1999 he introduced a pricing methodology on remitting transaction costs (now adopted by the World Bank) and produces a scorecard on industry competitiveness in money transfers. His work has included the design of evaluation tools to determine a project’s development impact. He works and monitors financial sectors in more than 50 countries. He has worked extensively in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.

In addition, he has provided political analysis on Central America, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. He has written country reports for Freedom House and reviewed political trends since the democratic transition in Central America.

He is also member of the Committee on Economic Inclusion at FDIC. Dr. Orozco is also chair of Central America at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute at the U.S. Department of State. He also taught at American University, and George Washington University.
He has testified every year before Congress and has spoken before the United Nations General Assembly.

Orozco holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Texas at Austin, masters in public administration and Latin American studies, and a BA in international relations from the National University of Costa Rica.

Manuel Orozco has published widely on migration, remittances, Latin America, globalization, democracy, conflict in war torn societies, and minority politics. His publications include studies about the intersection between remittances and finances, financial literacy and development. He has analyzed and designed development strategies in more than 100 countries globally.

His books include Centro América en la Mira: La migración en su relación con el desarrollo y oportunidades para el cambio (Ed. Teseo, 2015); Migrant remittances and development in the global economy ( Lynne Riener Spring 2013), América Latina y el Caribe: migración, remesas y desarrollo (FLACSO, 2012), Remittances: Global Opportunities for International Person-to-Person Money Transfers (London: Lafferty Group, 2005) and International Norms and Mobilization for Democracy (London: Ashgate Publishers, 2002).