Mary Cheng
Analyst, Financial Education Department
Central Bank of Brazil
Mary Cheng was born in São Paulo, Brazil. Her parents are immigrants: her mother came from Japan and her father from China, a little bit unusual mixture even in Brazil, known as a “melting pot”. Unfortunately, she speaks only a few words in Japanese. She completed her studies in Brazil. She studied Engineering for a year but eventually obtained a Bachelor degree in Business Administration. While attending college, she started her professional life. In the beginning, she worked for private companies in the banking, consultancy, publishing, and investment management sectors. In 2005, she applied for a civil service position at IPEA, a think-tank in public policies, and worked on a project to develop a journalistic magazine in partnership with UNDP. In 2008, she was appointed as Head of Staff to the President of the National School of Public Administration (ENAP) and, soon afterwards, as Head of the Internal Management Department, a huge professional challenge. In 2010, she joined the Central Bank of Brazil. Her previous experience in the public sector nurtured her desire to work with some project with a large impact on society. One year ago, she had the opportunity to do so, when she joined the Financial Education Department. Her first assignment was to develop the “Guide for Excellence of Education in the Offering of Financial Services”, with best practices for financial institutions. In her spare time, she loves to cook and travel, especially for running, as in the Berlin Marathon in 2011. She is getting married next May.