Catalina María Alvarez has a BA in Finance and International Relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia, in Bogotá, and an MBA in Business Administration, from United Business Institutes, in Brussels, Belgium.

She is currently the sub-director of the "Colombia Clean Energy Program”, implemented by Tetra Tech Es Inc. with funding from the Agency for International Development (USAID). The Colombian Clean Energy Program main purpose is to increase access to renewable energy sources and improve energy efficient practices in Colombia through a combination of project development support, technical assistance, and the development of a financial enabling environment to promote investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Her work experience includes being the financial and administrative coordinator of the projects “Innovative models for the coffee sector in Colombia” and "Implementation of a Denomination of Origin strategy for Colombian coffees", implemented by the Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers with funding from the Inter American Development Bank (IADB). Catalina also worked for the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, where she began as a researcher in the Sector Policy Unit and later became the financial and administrative manager for the “Agricultural Transition Project”, financed by a World Bank credit operation.

She was the administrative director for the “Asociación Convenio del Buen Trato”, a partnership of private media organizations working for child protection and development in Colombia; and the administrative sub-director for the “Rural Colombia Network”, a project funded by the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom.

During a two-year period in Nanjing, China, where she was studying Mandarin and Chinese culture, Catalina worked as a business promoter for Asia International Business and Management, a private trade broker based in Nanjing. She also owns “Selva Nevada”, a small business that produces gourmet ice cream with tropical fruits provided by small, environmentally sustainable rural producers in the Colombian Amazon.