Iván Petrella is the Director of Cultural Innovation at Fundación Bunge y Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In this role, he leads initiatives that bridge art, science, and technology, democratic culture and public dialogue, and historical memory. He chaired the Ethics and AI Committee for the City of Buenos Aires and served as Director of Argentina 2030, a strategic advisory body to the President of Argentina. There, he spearheaded cross-government discussions on key issues like the future of food production, CRISPR technology, populism, governance, and artificial intelligence. Petrella also held the position of Secretary for Federal Integration and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Culture, where he promoted "democratic culture" as a tool to strengthen both political institutions and public discourse. He was also an elected member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature.
He holds a Ph.D. in religious studies and law from Harvard University (GSAS). Before entering public service, he was a tenured professor at the University of Miami. Petrella is the author of several works, including Beyond Liberation Theology: A Polemic, The Future of Liberation Theology: An Argument and Manifesto, Que se metan todos: El desafío de cambiar la política argentina (Let’s All Jump In: The Challenge of Changing Argentine Politics), and Dios en el siglo XXI (God in the 21st Century). He also edited Latin American Liberation Theology: The Next Generation, co-edited Another Possible World, and regularly contributes to Argentina’s leading news outlets.