Liesbet Steer

Biography

Dr. Liesbet Steer is an economist and international finance expert. Her work explores the important links between human development, economic progress and sustainability. Liesbet was the Executive Director of the Global Education Commission, 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), a $5 billion innovative finance mechanism, providing portfolio guarantees to development banks. She is also the co-founder and board director of Greater Share, a philanthropic fund in partnership with private equity firms. Liesbet also serves on the global Advisory Council of the Education Outcomes Fund, an outcomes based financing instrument working in 5 African countries, and UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited, an initiative working on youth skills and employment. Her current work focuses on the human aspects of economic and climate transitions. She is the Executive Director of a global initiative on People in the New economy at Systemiq, working with governments and industry. She also chairs the Sustainable Finance Initiative for School Health and Nutrition working on financing strategies for school meals, including as a lever for wider food system reform. Over the past three decades, Liesbet has served in a range development and finance roles. She was the President and CEO of EDC – a not-for-profit with 1600 staff working in 30 countries on education, wellbeing, 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 a MSc in Quantitative Economics and a PhD in Development Economics.