Ricardo Mena is the Programme Officer in Chile and the South Cone Countries Office in Santiago. 

Ricardo joined International IDEA on 17 March 2022. His main responsibilities are to collaborate in the constitutional process in Chile and in electoral politics and democratic strengthening in Chile and the countries of the southern cone.

Ricardo has worked as a consultant for international organizations such as UNDP and ILO, and in the Chilean Public sector, covering fields such as International Relations, implementation of projects on social policies, labor sector, transparency and public integrity, and modernization of the State. He was part of the team who implemented from the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency, the Transparency Agenda, which included the Regulation for Lobby and the Integrity Law. In addition, he was one of the coordinators for the design and implementation of the national plans for the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

He has also worked at Universities in Chile and USA, as a lecturer and Teacher Assistant in courses related to Public Policy, Public Affairs, Transparency, and Latin American history of the democratic institutions.