Full Name
Ligia Vado
Job Title
Senior Economist
Company
Credit Union National Association
Speaker Bio
Ligia (Ligi) Vado has over 20 years of experience leveraging economics and finance policy research. She joined the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) in 2022 – the largest and most influential national trade association advocating for America's credit unions. There are over 5,000 credit unions nationwide, with a total of more than 130 million memberships and over $2 trillion in assets.
Ligi serves as a Senior Economist in CUNA’s Policy Analysis department. In that role, she conducts economic research and supports CUNA’s public relations and advocacy efforts. Her work centers on data analysis and effective data visualization and she also contributes to the department’s forecasting function.
Her views and analyses appear in trade publications such as Credit Union Magazine.
Vado has extensive experience developing data science solutions, machine learning models, as well as quantitative analysis. Before joining CUNA, she was an Adjunct Professor of Business Analytics at Thomas More University.
She knows credit unions – having served as an Insights and Analytical Services analyst for CUNA Mutual Group. Prior to that she was a Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance Specialist at the World Bank where she focused on policy research and supporting risk financing and international housing finance initiatives.
Ms. Vado earned a Ph.D. in Economics from North Carolina State University. She also has a master’s degree in Economics from N.C. State and an M.Sc. in Agricultural & Applied Economics from Texas Tech University. Her bachelor’s degree - in Economics & Finance - was earned from Thomas More University – Managua, Nicaragua. She holds dual American and Italian citizenships.
Ligi serves as a Senior Economist in CUNA’s Policy Analysis department. In that role, she conducts economic research and supports CUNA’s public relations and advocacy efforts. Her work centers on data analysis and effective data visualization and she also contributes to the department’s forecasting function.
Her views and analyses appear in trade publications such as Credit Union Magazine.
Vado has extensive experience developing data science solutions, machine learning models, as well as quantitative analysis. Before joining CUNA, she was an Adjunct Professor of Business Analytics at Thomas More University.
She knows credit unions – having served as an Insights and Analytical Services analyst for CUNA Mutual Group. Prior to that she was a Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance Specialist at the World Bank where she focused on policy research and supporting risk financing and international housing finance initiatives.
Ms. Vado earned a Ph.D. in Economics from North Carolina State University. She also has a master’s degree in Economics from N.C. State and an M.Sc. in Agricultural & Applied Economics from Texas Tech University. Her bachelor’s degree - in Economics & Finance - was earned from Thomas More University – Managua, Nicaragua. She holds dual American and Italian citizenships.
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