Natalia Andrea González Bañados (born 26 February 1978) is a Chilean lawyer and public official. She has served as president of the Council for Transparency since April 2025. She previously served as a member of the Council's governing board from 2020 and as an expert commissioner on the Expert Commission established during Chile's 2023 constitutional process.
González studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and subsequently obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Chicago. She has worked in private practice, government, academia, and public policy organizations, including the Chilean law firm Carey, several government ministries, the think tank Libertad y Desarrollo, and the Universidad del Desarrollo.
Early life and education
González was born in Santiago, Chile, on 26 February 1978. She studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile from 1996 to 2000 and subsequently earned a Master of Laws from the University of Chicago in the United States. She received scholarships from Fulbright, the CONICYT program, and the University of Chicago.
Professional career
From 2002 to 2006, González worked as an associate attorney at the Chilean law firm Carey y Cía., specializing in corporate and financial law.
Between 2006 and 2012, she worked as a legislative adviser in the ministries of Finance, Planning, and Energy. In this capacity, she participated in the development of public policies and in the drafting and negotiation of legislation before the National Congress of Chile. Her work included matters concerning social policy, capital and financial markets, and electricity regulation.
From 2012 to 2014, González was director of the Legislative and Constitutional Program at Libertad y Desarrollo. She subsequently worked at the newspaper El Mercurio and at the consulting firm Hohmann y Asociados. She later became director of the Center for Regulatory and Business Law at the Universidad del Desarrollo. She subsequently returned to Libertad y Desarrollo, where she served as director of Legal and Legislative Affairs until 2022.
In 2017, González was identified as executive director of the Center for Regulatory and Business Law at the Universidad del Desarrollo.
Council for Transparency
In December 2020, the Senate approved González's appointment to the governing board of the Council for Transparency for a six-year term, together with Bernardo Navarrete Yáñez. The Senate approved the appointments by 32 votes to 4, with 4 abstentions.
González became president of the Council for Transparency on 29 April 2025, succeeding Navarrete. Her presidency is scheduled to last 18 months under the institution's governing rules.
From May 2024 to February 2026, she was an academic at Faro UDD, the humanities and social sciences center of the Universidad del Desarrollo.
Constitutional process
In January 2023, González was selected by the Chamber of Deputies as one of its 12 nominees to the 24-member Expert Commission established under Law No. 21,533. The Senate subsequently approved its 12 nominees, completing the appointment of the commission.
The Expert Commission was responsible for preparing a draft constitutional text that would serve as the basis for the subsequent work of the elected Constitutional Council. González was sponsored by the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) and served on the commission's Subcommission on Political System, Constitutional Reform and Form of Government.
She subsequently participated in the Mixed Commission, which was established to resolve disagreements over provisions of the proposed constitution. The constitutional process concluded with the rejection of the proposed constitution in the December 2023 referendum.
References
External links BCN profile