Margarita works on the Research for Effective COVID-19 Responses (RECOVR) survey as a Senior Research Associate at IPA Colombia. Prior to joining IPA, Margarita worked as Senior Advisor of the Strategic Analysis Subdivision at the Colombian Financial Intelligence Unit, leading the National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (ML/TF) and the new National Public Policy of ML/TF. Margarita also conducted academic research on applied economics at the Central Bank and Asociación Nacional de Instituciones Financieras (ANIF). She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master of Economics from Universidad de los Andes. She is pursuing a Master's degree in Development Economics from the Georg August University of Göttingen.