Photo of Ivonne Cruz

Ivonne Cruz

Research Scholar, Claudio X. González Center for the U.S. and Mexico

Biography

Ivonne Cruz, Ph.D., is a research scholar at the Claudio X. González Center for the U.S. and Mexico. She is also a faculty member of the Masters of Global Affairs program at Rice University.

Cruz’s research primarily focuses on sustainability issues, specifically the social impact of corporations, climate change topics and the human dimensions of global environmental changes. She has been an independent researcher and consultant for over 15 years and has served in a variety of roles in academia and at international agencies and public sector entities. She has worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, the United Nations Environmental Program, the United Nations Industrial Program, the Global Environmental Facility, NOAA, environmental protection agencies in Mexico and Cuba, and local governments in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe.

Her published work has covered social policy issues and sustainable development strategies, and she has participated in the advancement of sustainability reports for private and public sectors.

Cruz holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in sustainability from the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Spain.

Contact at [email protected] or 713-348-3582.

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u.s. Mexico border
The Binational Bank Tackling the Border’s Water Crisis
John Beckham, managing director of the North American Development Bank, joined center experts Tony Payan and Ivonne Cruz to discuss the bank’s work financing sustainable infrastructure projects along the border, the politics of water scarcity, and what binational cooperation looks like in an era of climate change and industrial expansion.
Tony Payan, Ivonne Cruz April 13, 2026