Lourdes O. Montenegro

Lourdes O. Montenegro is an Ambassador for the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), supporting the organisation’s mission to drive systemic transformation through accountability and transparency. In this capacity, she champions WBA’s vision for inclusive and sustainable business practices across global sectors.

Previously, Lourdes served as Director of Research and Digitisation at WBA, where she led the organisation’s research and digital strategy – developing globally inclusive frameworks, advancing data quality, and generating impactful insights across benchmarks from climate to finance. She also spearheaded WBA’s digital sector transformation work from its inception, including the creation of the Digital Inclusion Benchmark, which now assesses 200 of the world’s most influential technology companies.

Before joining WBA, Lourdes worked as an economist at the Statistics Division of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Trained as an environmental economist, she later pivoted toward technology and telecommunications policy, bringing nearly two decades of experience delivering data-driven, policy-oriented projects for industry, UN agencies, and governments.

Originally from the island of Cebu, Philippines, Lourdes continues to advocate for equitable digital transformation and sustainable development on a global scale.