Tavares, Rodrigo

Position 
Associate Research Fellow
Nationality 
Portugal
At UNU-CRIS 
01/12/2008 to 31/08/2022
Biographical Statement 

Rodrigo Tavares is the Founder and President of the Granito Group, a global holding company devoted to the impact economy that owns the investment bank Granito & Capital, the consulting firm Granito & Partners, and the think-tank Impact Economy Foundation. In 2011-2014, he served as Head of the São Paulo State Government’s Office of Foreign Affairs. During his mandate, São Paulo state (the world’s 19th largest economy) was often regarded as one of the most prominent subnational players in international relations. In 2008-2010 he was invited by the UN Secretariat to write Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s annual reports on Africa’s development, presented to the General Assembly. The reports involved analysis and political negotiation in several African and European countries. He was one of the youngest UN report writers in the organization’s history. He has also been a consultant to other UN agencies (FAO, UNU) and to the Swedish Armed Forces.

Earlier, he worked for five years at the UN University (in Belgium and Ethiopia), the UN think-tank (ranked among the world’s top-ten government-affiliated think tanks). He first served as a Research Fellow at UNU-CRIS and, since 2008, has worked as an Associate Research Fellow.

He has also lived in New Delhi where he worked for the Delegation of the European Union to India (Department of Political Affairs) (2004). In 2001 and 2002, he served in the Swedish NGO CIVIS on the planning and development of conflict resolution projects in South America.

Rodrigo Tavares is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network (Competitiveness), and a professor at the International Relations MBA at Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV-SP)

Rodrigo’s policy career has been complemented by academic work. He has published four books: Paradiplomacy: Cities and States as Global Players (Oxford University Press, 2016), Security in South America (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner, 2014), Regional Organizations in African Security (New York and London: Routledge, 2011, with Fredrik Söderbaum), and Regional Security (New York and London: Routledge, 2010). His publication record also includes some 30 book chapters and peer-reviewed articles in leading academic journals.

He holds a PhD in Peace and Development Studies from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2006), and has held several research scholar positions: University of California, Berkeley (2003-2004); Columbia University, Institute of Latin American Studies, where he completed his postdoctoral education (2010) and Harvard University (2014-2015), Kennedy School of Government, where he worked as a Senior Research Fellow on the global competitiveness of cities and states. Back in 2006, he received executive training in negotiation at Harvard University.

He is a regular contributor to the World Economic Forum’s Agenda and to Brazilian magazine Época. From 2006 to 2016 he was a columnist in Visão, the largest Portuguese newsmagazine.

In 2017 he was nominated Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. In 2011, he was one of seven people selected by the Government of Québec as Young Leader for his influence in foreign policy.