Evelyn Nacario-Castro is the Assistant Regional Director of DEPDev Region VII (formerly NEDA) and the Secretary of the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC 7). A development practitioner with three decades of experience, her work spans urban and metropolitan planning, local and rural development, environment and natural resources management, education and youth development, community and social development, humanitarian assistance, and governance.

Before DEPDev, she worked with civil society organizations and served as consultant and adviser to local governments and research organizations nationwide. She convened ImPACT and a multi-sector advisory group during the COVID-19 period (2020–early 2022) to support LGUs and communities responding to emergencies.

Previously, as Executive Director of the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center and Vice President for Governance and Linkages at the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., she led initiatives in youth leadership and citizenship development, recognition programs for exemplary institutions in Visayas and Mindanao, and supported metropolitan planning through the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB/Mega Cebu).

In her current roles, she helps align regional action with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Philippine Development Plan—particularly the Central Visayas Regional Development Plan—while supervising technical and administrative divisions of DEPDev 7 and supporting RDC sectoral and special committees.