The Changing International Development Landscape

Speaker

Kristin Lord is President and CEO of IREX, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to building a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world by empowering youth, cultivating leaders, strengthening institutions, and extending access to quality education and information.

Prior to joining IREX in 2014, she served as Acting President and Executive Vice President of the United States Institute of Peace. While at USIP, Lord oversaw the launch of an online education initiative, the creation of the PeaceTech Lab, the expansion of programs on Africa and South/Central Asia, and the development of a five-year strategic plan.

From 2009 to 2013, Lord was Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security, where she oversaw the Center’s research and served as one of three members of the Center’s leadership team. She served as editor-in-chief of 110 CNAS publications during that period and authored significant studies on diplomacy and development, cyber security, US global engagement, and violent extremism. Prior to joining CNAS, Lord was a fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she directed the science and technology initiative of the Project on US Relations with the Islamic World and authored studies on human development in the Arab world and US public diplomacy.