DFC Announces New Members of Development Advisory Council
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
Press Release
August 4, 2020
Agency names former OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. as council chair
WASHINGTON – The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Board of Directors has approved new members of the agency’s inaugural Development Advisory Council, which advises DFC on ways to increase development impact. The Board also approved former Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Mosbacher, Jr. as chair of the council.
“I am thrilled to announce the new members and chair of DFC’s Development Advisory Council,” said DFC Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler. “DFC—and the communities it serves around the world—will benefit from experience and leadership. The new members announced today complete DFC’s inaugural Development Advisory Council that will work closely with the DFC Board and leadership to achieve the development goals set by Congress.”
The Development Advisory Council was established by the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act of 2018, which created DFC. Members are appointed by DFC’s CEO in consultation with the agency’s Chief Development Officer and with the approval of its Board.
The new members of the Development Advisory Council include:
- Frederick Kempe: Since 2007, Kempe has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Council. Under his leadership, the Washington-based think tank has expanded its work through regional centers spanning the globe and provided thought leadership on topics ranging from global development and trade to energy and international security.
- Liz Schrayer: Schrayer is President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), a broad-based coalition of over 500 businesses and NGOs that advocates for strong U.S. global leadership through development and diplomacy. In this role, she has grown the USGLC to a nationwide network of advocates in all 50 states.
- The Honorable Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Sirleaf served as President of the Republic of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. She was the first female head of state to be democratically elected on the continent of Africa. Sirleaf has significant private and public banking experience and has worked to promote peace, reconciliation, and economic development in Liberia, in West Africa, as chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and around the world, as one of the eminent persons selected by the UN Secretary-General to a High-Level Panel to review the Post-2015 Development Agenda. President Sirleaf also shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize which celebrated the role of women in peace building.
As Chairman and CEO of OPIC, DFC’s predecessor agency, from 2005 to 2009, Mosbacher brings significant experience in global development as the first chair of the Development Advisory Council. He is also Co-Chair of the Consensus for Development Reform, sits on the boards of the Center for Global Development and the Initiative for Global Development, and is Chairman of Mosbacher Energy Company.
In June, DFC announced the first members of the Development Advisory Council. In addition to Mosbacher, current members include Bashar Masri, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Massar International; Michelle Nunn, President and Chief Executive Officer of CARE USA; Damilola Ogunbiyi, Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy; Edward R. Royce, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Paul Weisenfeld, Executive Vice President for International Development at RTI International.
