Pilar O'Leary - President and CEO of PFO Advisory Group
Pilar O'Leary serves as the President and CEO of PFO Advisory Group, a Washington, DC-based consulting practice that provides US and international organizations with program, policy, and business development strategies for their engagement with Latin America and other global markets. Through a results-driven and cross-functional approach, Pilar O’Leary helps clients to execute their core partnership plans and business priorities. Her diverse clientele ranges from top businesses to nonprofits and academic institutions.
In her capacity with PFO Advisory Group, Ms. O’Leary draws on over 20 years of experience in developing Latin America and US Latino-focused business and policy initiatives. Prior to her current endeavors, she cultivated and managed global partnerships as the director of strategic partnerships and engagement with the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). She served in this position for two years, during which time she also functioned as the IWMF’s Senior Advisor for Latin America.
Her experience also encompasses legal counsel and advisory roles, such as associate general counsel at JP Morgan & Co and Fannie Mae. At JP Morgan she served as associate general counsel in the firm's Buenos Aires, Argentina and New York offices, providing legal and compliance guidance on a wide range of banking matters across the Latin American region. At Fannie Mae, she helped to facilitate agency debt sales to South America and to launch lending programs for U.S. Latino communities. Earlier in her career, Ms. O’Leary worked a Latin American equities analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co, was an intern with the United Nations Legal Department and worked as a law clerk with the law firm Rogers and Wells’ Latin American practice group. She earned her B.S. and juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.
Throughout her career, Pilar O'Leary has been involved in many nonprofit roles to help Latin America and U.S. Latinos and has received multiple accolades for her work. The Colombian government bestowed her with an Order of San Rafael Archangel in 2018 for her service to Colombia, and Hispanic Business Magazine named her to its “Influentials" list in 2006.