President & CEO

Carol Peasley

Carol Peasley is a recognized expert in international development and U.S. foreign assistance, having worked at senior levels within the U.S. government on policy formulation, strategic planning, program development, and program implementation and monitoring.

She had a highly successful, 30-plus year career with the U.S. Agency for International Development, achieving the rank of Career Minister and earning multiple Presidential rank awards and the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award in 2005. She held senior positions in Washington and overseas, including as USAID Mission Director in both Malawi and the Russian Federation, and as Counselor to the Agency and Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa in Washington. This included two years as Acting Assistant Administrator for Africa, a period in which she oversaw 25 field missions and an annual budget of $700 million, and testified before the U.S. Senate and House Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees on a broad range of issues, from annual budgets, to the status of women in Africa, to political transition in Kenya, to HIV/AIDS and reproductive health.

Throughout her USAID career, which also included overseas assignments in Nepal, Thailand and Costa Rica, she worked closely with other U.S. foreign affairs agencies, as well as the private sector, non-governmental groups, universities, think tanks, foundations, human rights groups, other donors, and developing country counterparts and institutions.

After leaving USAID, she continued her strong interest in development and in forging partnerships among governmental and non-governmental actors. Besides serving on the board of CEDPA for three years, she also served on the boards of ShoreBank International (SBI) and Opportunities Industrialization Centers International (OICI), and worked as a Senior Advisor at the Financial Services Volunteer Corps. She is also a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs and the Society for International Development.

Ms. Peasley holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an M.S. in Development Economics from Sussex University in the United Kingdom, and a M.S. in Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (Sloan Program).