Bio
Paul Weisenfeld is a globally recognized executive leader with more than 30 years of experience driving impact, innovation, and organizational growth across international development, and complex, multi-sector operations. Throughout his career, he has guided large, mission-driven institutions through disruption while strengthening financial performance, sharpening strategy, and inspiring teams to deliver results at scale.
Paul most recently served as Executive Vice President for International Development at RTI International, where he led a $380M global portfolio spanning health, agriculture, economic growth, education, governance, water and sanitation, energy, and the environment. During his 12 years on RTI’s executive leadership team, he transformed the organization’s market position, launching new business lines (e.g., a food security and nutrition practice), and integrating a major acquisition, recognized as one of RTI’s most successful. He also oversaw the Institute’s corporate communications and government relations functions, strengthening its global brand, enterprise strategies, and engagement with federal and state policymakers.
Prior to RTI, Paul spent two decades in senior leadership roles at USAID, including Mission Director in Peru and Zimbabwe and Coordinator of the U.S. Government’s response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the largest humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere in modern history. He later served as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean and as the first career leader of the Bureau for Food Security, where he built the strategy and systems for President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative. His leadership helped deliver measurable global improvements in agricultural productivity, nutrition, women’s empowerment, and poverty reduction.
A respected voice on foreign assistance effectiveness and international development policy, Paul has chaired the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA) and served on the Development Advisory Council of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, the Steering Committee of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN), and is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development. He is widely recognized for his grounding in locally led development, inclusive leadership, and his ability to galvanize teams in no-roadmap environments.
Mr. Weisenfeld holds an honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from Monmouth College, Illinois. He also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Queens College of the City University of New York. An avid musician, Mr. Weisenfeld plays saxophones and flute in a jazz band and a funk band.