Karen Poniachik

Minister of Mining

Chilean Government

Karen Poniachik was appointed Mining Minister by President Michelle Bachelet in March 2006. As the Minister responsible for mining, she chairs the boards of directors of Codelco (the National Copper Company), Enap (the National Oil Company) and Enami (the National Mining Company); in addition, she chairs the Council of Ministers of the National Energy Commission. She previously served as Executive Vice-President of the Foreign Investment Committee in President Ricardo Lagos' administration (March 2000-March 2006).

Between 1995 and 2000, Ms. Poniachik was Director of Business and Financial Programs at the Council of the Americas, a New York-based institution promoting investment and trade in the Americas. Parallel to her work there, she also acted as consultant to the Chilean Ministries of Foreign Relations and Finance, and served on the board of the North American-Chilean Chamber of Commerce in New York.

Before joining the Council of the Americas, Ms. Poniachik worked as an international political analyst at the ECO/Televisa network (1990-1995). During this period, she was also the New York correspondent of Chile's Canal 13 television channel and of the Cosas magazine, and worked as an intern at Newsweek International and the United Nations Broadcasting System.

Karen Poniachik graduated with a degree in journalism from the Catholic University of Chile (1987) and holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University in New York (1990).

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