Vasco Alves Cordeiro was born on March 28, 1973 into a family of farmers. He spent his childhood and adolescence in the rural village of Covoada in Ponta Delgada.
After completing basic education in Covoada and secondary school in Ponta Delgada, he pursued his studies in Mainland Portugal, where he completed his degree in Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra in 1995.
After returning to the Azores, Vasco Cordeiro attended a postgraduate course in Regional Law that was held under a partnership between the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and the University of the Azores. He presented the dissertation “A Dissolução dos Órgãos de Governo Próprio das Regiões Autónomas” (The Dissolution of Self-Government Bodies of Autonomous Regions) in 1998.
He undertook a professional traineeship in the Azores District Council of the Bar Association and presented the dissertation “Breves Notas sobre a Deontologia Profissional do Advogado” (Brief Notes on Professional Ethics for Lawyers).
He practiced Law in the Azores from 1995 to 2003 and taught, as substitute teacher, the subject of Philosophy to the 11th grade at Antero de Quental Secondary School in Ponta Delgada.
In 1996, Vasco Cordeiro was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and held the position of leader of the parliamentary group of PS/Açores in the VII Legislative Period (2000/2003).
As Member of Parliament, he also took part in the Standing Specialised Committee on Economic Affairs (1996-1997), the Standing Specialised Committee for Youth and Social Affairs (1997-2000), the Special Commission for the Revision of the Political and Administrative Statute of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (1996-1998) and the Special Commission for the Revision of the Electoral Act of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
In 2003 and 2004, he served as Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries of the VIII Government of the Azores. Between 2004 and 2008, he held the position of Secretary of the Presidency of the IX Regional Government. In 2008, he was appointed Regional Secretary for the Economy; he left office in April 2012 at his request.
As Regional Secretary, he was directly involved in cases of great importance for the Autonomous Region of the Azores, such as the defence of the Sea in face of the liberalisation decided by the European Union; the Region's contribution to the Green paper on European Maritime Policy; the restructuring of regional ports; the stabilisation of maritime passenger and vehicle transport operations and the renewal of SATA Air/Açores fleet.
While in office, he also acquired international experience in representing the Azores in several bodies, including the Committee of Regions, Conference Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the Conference of Presidents of Outermost Regions of Europe.
As Member of the Regional Parliament for PS/Açores, he was linked to structuring legislation for the Autonomy when he took part in the Special Committee for the Revision of the Political and Administrative Statute of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Special Commission for the Revision of the Electoral Act of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
Vasco Cordeiro was also a Member of Ponta Delgada Municipal Assembly in 1997 and 2001. He was the spokesman of PS at the Municipal Assembly between 1998 and 2003.
Locally, he was elected Member of Covoada Village Assembly in 1997, 2001 and 2005; he also served as President of the Village Assembly between 1997 and 2001.
On February 1st 2013 President Cordeiro was elected Vice-President for Europe of “R20- Regions of Climate Action”, a non-profit international organization that promotes green economy, environmental preservation, the use of renewable energies and the reduction of green house gases
On May 18th 2013, was elected, in Paris, during the General Assembly, for Vice-President of the Assembly of European Regions.
He is a member of the Committee of Regions, since January 2012
He has been a member of the Regional Secretariat of the Socialist Party of the Azores since 1997 and was its Spokesman from 2000 to 2003. He is also a member of the Regional Committee and Coordinator Secretary of PS on São Miguel. He also held the position of President of the Socialist Youth of the Azores from 1997 to 1999.
On October 8, 2011, the Regional Secretariat and the Regional Committee of PS/Açores unanimously chose Vasco Cordeiro as the Socialist Party candidate for the Azores presidential election that took place in October 2012.
On September 25, 2014, was elected, in the Swedish town of Umeå, President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe. On November 4, 2016, in Ponta Delgada, he was re-elected President of this interregional cooperation organisation, a body that comprises 160 regions from 28 European states, encompassing nearly 200 million citizens.
Vasco Cordeiro is married to Paula Cristina. He is the father of two sons - Tomás, born in 2010 and António, born in 2013.
He is the President of the XI Regional Government since November 6, 2012. Following the regional elections of October 16, 2016, he took office as President of the XII Regional Government of the Azores on November 4, 2016.