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

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an politician and businesswoman who is the current Minister of the Environment. 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 (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

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 research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

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

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire 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 polit ...

appointed her Minister-Director of the

National Women's Service The National Women's Service ( es, Servicio Nacional de la Mujer, links=no; 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 Cooperati ...

. 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 (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...

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 conglomerate. Copesa is controlled by Álvaro Saieh, a Chilean business man. Overview Copesa was launched during the mid-1950s by the wealthy Pico-Cañas fami ...

. Representing the original host country, Schmidt serves as President of the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) held in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

References

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