From the Red River Delta to the Great Rift Valley: How East Asia’s Miracle Can Inform Africa’s Future

Dr. Liesbet Steer is an international development and finance expert. She is passionate about human development, imaginative partnerships, innovative sources of finance and an openness to disruptive ideas.  

She was the Executive Director of the Global Education Commission, an international initiative established under the auspices of the UN Secretary General and chaired by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In this context she led the design and establishment of the International Financing Facility for Education (IFFEd), an innovative financing mechanism that is mobilizing $5 billion for education. She helped establish, and is a board member of Greater Share, an innovative instrument mobilizing philanthropic capital for social impact in partnership with private equity firms. She serves as the head of the Global Education Forum that brings together international leaders and drives progress on education in developing countries. 

Liesbet’s current work focuses on the human aspects of  the green economic transition. She leads a major global initiative on skills for the green economy, bringing together global organizations and working with governments and industry around the world. She is also working with Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique on the integration of human development and conservation efforts.

She is the Board Chair of ODI Global, Washington; and serves on the Global Leadership Council of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited, the High-Level Steering Group of the Education Outcomes Fund and the Advisory Group on Education Financing of the World Bank.  

Over the past three decades, Liesbet has served in numerous development and finance roles. She was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Education Development Center, a global not-for profit organization with 1600 staff working in 30 countries to advance education, wellbeing, and economic opportunity. As a fellow at the Brookings Institution, she authored the flagship report, Financing Education: Opportunities for Global Action, which led to the establishment of the Global Education Commission. She has held significant roles with several development organizations, including the World Bank and IFC, ODI and as Chief Economist at the Asia Foundation in Indonesia. Between 1997 and 2007, she lived in Vietnam and Indonesia where she worked on economic development in the ASEAN region.  

Liesbet was educated at the Universities of Antwerp, East Anglia, Georgetown University, and the London School of Economics. She holds a MSc in Quantitative Economics and a PhD in Development Economics. She is married to Sir Andrew Steer. They have two children: Charlotte, an environmental professional and Benjamin, an Indie Pop artist.