Leah Pedersen

Background

About Leah Pedersen

Leah formerly served as the Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Innovation, Technology, and Research (ITR) Hub at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) focusing on delivery of NextGen solutions for humanitarian aid and international development. She also provides leadership to the White House's W-GDP (Women's Global Development & Prosperity) initiative's "Invest in Women" portfolio using blended finance approaches to significantly mobilize private capital investment in women's economic empowerment in developing economies. Having decades of private/public sector and international development experience, in August 2018, Leah was appointed by USAID's Agency Head to advance the US Government's international development priorities. Prior to USAID, from 2014-2018, Leah served as Vice President of Growth at VitalPet (consolidator of animal hospitals) overseeing the M&A, Operations, and Human Capital functions. Before then, she served as short-term Turnaround CEO of mGood (a social enterprise mobile platform for nonprofits) successfully reorganizing the company and exiting it to a strategic acquirer. In 2008, Leah joined Malaria No More (MNM) as a strategy consultant and became the Co-Founder & Director of the MNM subsidiary, NetGuarantee - an innovative Blended Finance facility utilizing commercial guarantees to mitigate risks and speed trade flows of life-saving global health interventions to Africa. From 2003 to 2008, Leah held senior positions at AIG Product Development where she structured risk management solutions for emerging markets as well as launched the company's micro-insurance impact portfolio (in Africa, Asia) via public-private sector partnerships with a focus on low-income women entrepreneurs and ESG. In addition, Leah dedicated parts of her career to Strategy Consulting, having held positions at Accenture and Dalberg Global Development Advisors. Leah obtained a dual-MBA from Columbia University and London Business School, and a BA in International Economics from the University of St. Thomas. She is a founding Board Member of Healing Hands of Joy (an Ethiopian maternal health NGO) as well as on the Advisory Boards of Praava Health (a Bangladeshi healthcare start-up) and Peacock Advisors (a West African investment advisory firm). The Houston Business Journal named Leah a “40 Under 40” Award Recipient in 2016. In addition, the African Leadership Network (ALN) recognized Leah as an African Business Fellowship (ABF) winner. Upon invitation, she also served as a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).