TULUM, Mexico – Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo is set to become Mexico’s first female president, marking a historic milestone for the country. According to the quick count by the National Electoral Institute (INE), Sheinbaum emerges as the leader of the Executive Branch, bringing with her a rich academic and political background that promises continuity to the Fourth Transformation initiated by Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Of Jewish descent, Claudia Sheinbaum was born in Mexico City. She holds a Ph.D. in Energy Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is a National System of Researchers member with a Level 1 designation. Her political commitment, she asserts, has roots in her childhood, influenced by her parents’ activism during the 1968 student movement and her subsequent involvement in university movements.
In the academic-administrative realm, Sheinbaum participated in the Academic Committee for the Creation of the Diploma on Efficient Use of Energy in Buildings at the Faculty of Engineering in 1994. Between 1996 and 1998, she served as an associate researcher at the same institution. Additionally, she was an advisor in the Energy Secretariat for the National Commission for Energy Savings in 1995. She worked in the Economic Studies Management of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in 1996. Her international experience includes contributing to developing a climate action plan in Honduras and serving as a consultant for the United Nations on the World Energy Assessment in 2000.
Sheinbaum has been recognized for her contributions to sustainability and the environment. 1992, she received the Best International Presentation Award from the National Congress of Energy Savings. She was also awarded the Economics Award “Maestro Jesús Silva Herzog” by the Institute of Economic Research at UNAM. Other accolades include the Young Distinction 1999 and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award in 2021. She was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Sheinbaum’s political journey began in 1989 when she joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), where Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) was a presidential candidate twice. During AMLO’s tenure as Head of Government of the then Federal District, Sheinbaum became the first woman to serve as Secretary of the Environment of the capital. She left this position in 2006 to become the spokesperson for López Obrador’s presidential campaign. In the 2012 elections, AMLO proposed that she oversee national environmental policy if he won the elections.
Sheinbaum actively formed the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in 2014, the party with which AMLO became president after several campaign periods. A year later, she was elected as the head of the Tlalpan delegation, a position she held until 2017. From 2018 to 2023, she became the first woman elected as Head of Government of Mexico City (the second to hold the office). The Morena member highlights her achievements in security, reducing the homicide rate and high-impact crimes in the capital.
In June 2023, Sheinbaum resigned from her position as Head of Government to participate in her party’s survey that would nominate her as the presidential candidate for the coalition “Sigamos Haciendo Historia,” comprising Morena, PT, and PVEM.
With her virtual victory in the presidential elections, Claudia Sheinbaum prepares to become Mexico’s first female president, aiming to continue the self-proclaimed Fourth Transformation initiated by López Obrador. “Mexico is ready for a female president, an astronaut, and an engineer. Mexican women have been ready for a long time,” Sheinbaum has repeatedly asserted.
