Masood Ahmed
Masood Ahmed has been president emeritus of CGD since July 2024. He joined the Center in 2017, capping a 35-year career driving economic development policy initiatives relating to debt, aid effectiveness, trade, and global economic prospects at major international institutions including the IMF, World Bank, and DFID. Prior to CGD, he served for eight years as director, Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, where he oversaw the Fund's operations in 32 countries, and managed relationships with key policymakers and stakeholders. Ahmed also served as Director General, Policy and International at the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID), where he advised UK ministers on development issues and oversaw the UK's relationship with global development institutions. At the World Bank, Ahmed served in a variety of operational and policy positions, including Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management in which role he oversaw the design and launch of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approach.
Nancy Birdsall
Nancy Birdsall is president emeritus at the Center for Global Development. Prior to launching the Center, she served for three years as senior associate and director of the Economic Reform Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on globalization, inequality, and reform of the international financial institutions. From '93-98 Birdsall was executive vice-president of the Inter-American Development Bank, where she oversaw a $30 billion public and private loan portfolio. Before that, she spent 14 years in research, policy, and management positions at the World Bank, including as director of the Policy Research Department. Birdsall is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books and monographs, and more than 100 published papers, including dozens in peer-reviewed journals. Birdsall serves on the Board of Directors of the International Food Policy Research Council, the African Population and Health Research Center, and Mathematica. She is a member of the Williams College Center for Development Economics Visiting Committee. She has chaired the board of the International Center for Research on Women and has served on the boards of the Social Science Research Council, Overseas Development Council, and Accion. She has also served on committees and working groups of the National Academy of Sciences.