Dr. Liesbet Steer is an international development and finance expert.

She was the Executive Director of the Global Education Commission, under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General and chaired by Gordon Brown. In this context, she led the design and establishment of the International Financing Facility for Education (IFFEd), a $5 billion innovative finance mechanism for education. She co-founded and is a board member of Greater Share, a philanthropic fund in partnership with private equity firms, and serves on the advisory boards of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited and the Education Outcomes Fund.

Her current work focuses on the human aspects of economic and climate transitions. She leads a global initiative on human capital for the new economy, working with governments and industry. She also works with Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique on the integration of human development and conservation, and is the Board Chair of ODI Global, Washington, a global affairs think tank working on development and climate.

Over the past three decades, she has served in a range of development and finance roles. She was the President and CEO of EDC—a not-for-profit with 1,600 staff working in 30 countries on education, well-being, and economic opportunity—and held significant roles with the Brookings Institution, ODI Global, the World Bank in Vietnam, and the Asia Foundation in Indonesia.

She was educated at the Universities of Antwerp, East Anglia, and the London School of Economics and holds an MSc in Quantitative Economics and a PhD in Development Economics.