Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the
Global Development Program, oversees the foundation’s efforts to help the world’s poorest people lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. Burwell leads Global Development’s grantmaking and advocacy in
agricultural development;
financial services for the poor;
water, sanitation, and hygiene;
global libraries; and special initiatives. She joined the foundation in 2001 as executive vice president and served as chief operating officer and executive director from 2002 to April 2006.
Before joining the foundation, Burwell served in the Clinton administration as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff to the president, and chief of staff to former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin. Prior to her work in federal government, she worked for McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, where she focused on consulting for financial institutions.
Burwell is a graduate of Harvard University and a Rhodes scholar. She serves on the board of directors for MetLife Inc. and the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. She is also a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Trilateral Commission, and the Nike Foundation Advisory Group. She hails from Hinton, West Virginia.