International organizations including international financial institutions (IFIs) play a significant role in shaping economic policy, development priorities, and global norms, and women’s leadership within these institutions matters for both internal governance and external impact. CGD’s research shows a clear and consistent pattern: women are hired into technical and junior professional roles at or near parity, but they are not promoted into leadership at the same rate. This “clogged pipeline” cannot be explained by a lack of qualified women. Instead, it points to institutional processes, cultures, and career structures that shape who rises into leadership, particularly during periods of reorganization, decentralization, or rapid change, when gender parity gains are most vulnerable to backsliding.
This conference will convene researchers, practitioners, and institutional leaders to examine why promotion systems that are nominally meritocratic fail to deliver equitable leadership outcomes—and why that failure matters for institutional performance. Evidence from IFIs, international organizations, and the status of women in the economics profession shows that women’s presence in decision-making roles influences policy priorities, the quality of implementation, and investments in social sectors critical for long-term growth. By integrating new quantitative and qualitative evidence on current trends and barriers to women’s career’s progression, and research on what works to address these barriers, this conference aims to identify concrete, testable reforms that can strengthen leadership pipelines, prevent backsliding during institutional transitions, and ensure that institutions charged with promoting inclusive growth are governed by leadership that reflects and serves the populations they affect.
Alan Benson, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
Amen Jalal, PhD Candidate, London School of Economics
Ana Maria Muñoz Boudet, Lead Economist, World Bank
Ana Maria Tribin, Senior Economist, World Bank
Apurva Bamezai, Visiting Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame
Caren Grown, Director and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Danila Serra, Associate Professor, Texas A&M
Diana Rodriguez, Special Advisor on Gender and Diversity, Inter-American Development Bank
Eeshani Kandpal, Senior Fellow, CGD
Eliana La Ferrara, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
Gabriella Conti, Professor, University College London
Gaurav Chiplunkar, Assistant Professor, University of Virginia
Henrietta Asiamah, Economist, Statistics Canada
Kalpana Kochhar, Interim President, Global Policy & Advocacy Division, Gates Foundation
Kelsey Harris, Senior Policy Analyst and Assistant Program Director, CGD
Laura Rawlings, Professor, Georgetown University
Louise Paul-Delvaux, Economist, World Bank
Luciana Etcheverry, Sector Specialist, Gender and Diversity, Inter-American Development Bank
Michelle Rao, Research Fellow, CGD
Nicolò Fraccaroli, Economist, World Bank
Noor Kumar, PhD Candidate, Princeton University
Olaitan Ogunnote, PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia
Oriana Bandiera, Professor, London School of Economics
Pamela Jakiela, Professor, Williams College and CGD Non-Resident Fellow
Pascaline Dupas, Professor, Princeton University
Rachel Glennerster, President, CGD
Seema Jalan, Deputy Director, Gender Equality - Program Advocacy and Communications, Gates Foundation
Seynabou Sakho, Regional Practice Director for Prosperity in the Western and Central Africa Region, World Bank
Simone Schaner, Associate Professor, University of Southern California
Yasmin Madan, Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, Co-Impact
