Ricardo Rio was born in 1972, he is married and father of three daughters. He graduated in Economics at the Faculty of Economics of Porto, where he also completed the coursework of the MSc in Economics. He also completed the Advanced Course in Political Studies of the Institute of Political Studies at the Catholic University of Lisbon. At a public level, Ricardo Rio is the Mayor of Braga since 2013. He is President of the Executive Council of the Intermunicipal Community of Cávado and chairs the Boards of Directors of Municipal Companies Theatro Circo and InvestBraga. He is a member of the Committee of the Regions, of the EUROCITIES network Excom and a member of the board of ATP (Porto Tourism Association). He is also, since 2016, one of the OECD's champions of inclusive growth. In 2022, he was awarded the “World Mayor for Sustainability”, given by The City Mayors Foundation. In 2023 he was elected as the new president of the Executive Committee of the Global Parliament of Mayors, a network that brings together mayors from all over the world. Before 2013, he was a private and public consultant to several institutions and he taught in different Universities and Polytechnic Institutes.