About Ellen

Ellen Goldstein is a former senior executive at the World Bank, with a forty-year career on the front lines of foreign aid delivery. Throughout her tenure, she channeled billions of dollars in aid to some of the world’s poorest, most fragile, and conflict-ridden countries, advising presidents and prime ministers on growth and poverty reduction while reaching out to the most marginalized members of society. She served as Director of the World Bank in Myanmar from 2017 to 2019, as the country clung to a flawed democracy amid increasing human rights abuses. Goldstein also served as Director for the Western Balkans (2013–2017) and Director for Bangladesh and Nepal (2010–2013). Ellen received the Independent Evaluation Group’s Best Practice Award for Development Effectiveness in Burkina Faso and for Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Bangladesh.

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Ellen holds a master’s degree in international development policy from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a master’s degree in international health policy from Johns Hopkins University. Today, she is the author of Damned If You Do: Foreign Aid and My Struggle to Do Right in Myanmar, a scholar and speaker on foreign aid policies and fragility. She serves on the boards of the Partnership for Transparency Fund and the Global Youth Leadership Center. Additionally, Goldstein is a certified leadership coach from Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership and is passionate about shaping the next generation of global development practitioners.